Aerosol carbonaceous, elemental and ionic composition variability and origin at the Siberian High Arctic, Cape Baranova

Abstract

Aerosol particles are major short-lived climate forcers, because of their ability to interact with incoming solar radiation. Therefore, addressing mean levels and sources of Arctic aerosols is of high importance in the battle against climate change, due to the Arctic amplification. In the Eastern Arctic, from Finland to Alaska, only one monitoring station exists (HMO Tiksi) and the levels of the Arctic aerosols are usually recorded by sporadic campaigns, while other stations exist in Canada, Finland and Europe. From April 2015 to December 2016, the research station "Ice Base Cape Baranova" (79 16.82'N, 101 37.05'E), located on the Bolshevik island was established in the Siberian high Arctic. Samples were analyzed for equivalent Black Carbon (eBC), Organic Carbon (OC), Elemental Carbon (EC), water-soluble ions, and elements. To identify the spatial origin of the sources, the Potential Source Contributions Function (PSCF) was used in combination with FLEXPART emission sensitivities. OC is the most dominant PM compound in the Ice Cape Baranova station and mostly originates from gas flaring and other industrial regions at lower latitudes, as well as from biomass burning during summertime. Sulfate concentrations were affected by anthropogenic sources in the cold seasons and by natural sources in the warm ones showing distinct seasonal patterns. K þ and Mg 2þ originate from sea-salt in winter and from forest fires in summer. The interannual variability of eBC was in good agreement with the general Arctic seasonal trends and was mainly affected by gas flaring, low latitude industrial sources and from biomass burning emissions. Cl À depletion was very low, while Na þ and Cl À originated from the locally formed sea spray.

Source Apportionment and Assessment of Air Quality Index of PM2.5–10 and PM2.5 in at Two Different Sites in Urban Background Area in Senegal

“…As many studies have shown in the past, air pollution is a significant problem due to the multiple effects it has on human health, the environment [1][2][3], and climate [4]. Many resources and effort have been spent to reduce the particulate matter (PM) concentration levels and, consequently, their effects on human health and understand their behavior and properties in different environments [5,6]. Human health effects associated with PM pollution are premature death, hospital admissions, emergency room visit, asthma attack, chronic bronchitis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and restricted activity [7][8][9][10].…”

Siberian Arctic black carbon: gas flaring and wildfire impact

“…Eleftheriadis et al (2009) and Tunved et al (2013) identified these regions as a key source for the highest measured BC concentrations and sub-micrometer aerosol mass concentrations, respectively, at Zeppelin station. The impact of BC long-range transport from northwestern Siberia was also observed at Ice Base Cape Baranova station located on Severnaya Zemlya archipelago (eastern Siberia) (Manousakas et al, 2020). Accordingly, possible gas flaring impact was observed at Tiksi station (northeastern Siberia) despite the large distance of the station from the largest oil and gas producing regions (Winiger et al, 2017).…”

Siberian Arctic black carbon: gas flaring and wildfire impact

“…(Eleftheriadis et al, 2009) and (Tunved et al, 2013) identified these regions as a key source for the highest measured BC concentrations and sub-micrometer aerosol mass concentration, respectively, at the Zeppelin station. The impact of BC long-range transport from northwestern Siberia was also observed at the Ice Base Cape Baranova station located on Severnaya Zemlya archipelago (Eastern Siberia) (Manousakas et al, 2020). Accordingly, possible gas flaring impact was observed at the Tiksi station (northeastern Siberia), despite the large distance of the station from the largest oil and gas producing regions (Winiger et al, 2017).…”

“…Simulations combined with observations of BC at the proximity of the source regions (e.g., the plumes from gas flaring regions over the Kara Sea) provide a better consistency (Popovicheva et al, 2017). In addition, measurements of BC coupled by conditional probability simulations performed at the Polar circle inside the oil and gas producing region of the northwestern Siberia have successfully separated the multiple industrial and urban sources (Popovicheva et al, 2020). (Huang et al, 2015).…”