Biofuel Burning Influences Refractory Black Carbon Concentrations in Seasonal Snow at Lower Elevations of the Dudh Koshi River Basin of Nepal

Khan, Alia L.; Rittger, Karl; Xian, Peng; Katich, Joseph M.; Armstrong, R. L.; Kayastha, Rijan Bhakta; Dana, Jacob; McKnight, Diane M.

doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00371

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The median of BC concentrations was about 3 ng/g (Fig. 2), which is close to the median of BC concentrations in snow samples collected in Greenland 5,6 but is still well below BC concentrations measured in any other distant region such as the Arctic [3][4][5][6][7] , North America 8,9 , Northern China 10 , the Tibetan Plateau 11 , the Nepalese Himalayas 12 , and the Andes 13,14 . The BC content of snow in remote regions of the northern hemisphere is on the order of 20 ng/g 37 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Soot or black carbon (BC) is primarily produced during combustion in diesel engines, coal burning, wildfires, and residential wood burning 2 and may undergo regional and intercontinental transport during its short atmospheric lifetime. As a result, BC has been found (although at concentrations much lower than in source regions) in snow samples from remote regions in the Arctic [3][4][5][6][7] , North America 8,9 , Northern China 10 , the Tibetan Plateau 11 , the Nepalese Himalayas 12 , and the Andes 13,14 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Black carbon footprint of human presence in Antarctica

et al. 2022

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Black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel and biomass combustion darkens the snow and makes it melt sooner. The BC footprint of research activities and tourism in Antarctica has likely increased as human presence in the continent has surged in recent decades. Here, we report on measurements of the BC concentration in snow samples from 28 sites across a transect of about 2,000 km from the northern tip of Antarctica (62°S) to the southern Ellsworth Mountains (79°S). Our surveys show that BC content in snow surrounding research facilities and popular shore tourist-landing sites is considerably above background levels measured elsewhere in the continent. The resulting radiative forcing is accelerating snow melting and shrinking the snowpack on BC-impacted areas on the Antarctic Peninsula and associated archipelagos by up to 23 mm water equivalent (w.e.) every summer.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 61%

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confidence: 99%

Black carbon footprint of human presence in Antarctica

et al. 2022

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“…In the NFP forest region, the SOC stock varied from 1 to 53 g of C/kg (dw), and in the FP forest region SOC varied in the range of 1.4 to 69 g of C/kg (dw). The SOC stock ranged from 1.2 to 6 g of C/kg (dw) in the UN region, which is low compared to the Himalayan Tibet plateau (Gokyo Ri valley: 0.88) (e.g., Khan et al, 2020)…”

Section: Spatial Distributions Of Soc and Bc Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black carbon flux in terrestrial and aquatic environments of Kodaikanal in the Western Ghats, South India: Estimation, source identification, and implication

Karthik

Bhaskar

Ramachandran

et al. 2023

Science of The Total Environment

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“…measurement studies, utilizing similar detection methods, have not detected the occurrence of larger sized BC particles in their size distributions (e.g., Schnaiter et al, 2019b;Mori et al, 2019;Khan et al, 2020). Inherent difficulties of measuring particles of such vast size ranges persist, and additional research is needed.…”

Section: Size Distributions Of Soot Particlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soot-on-snow experiment: artificial deposition of light-absorbing particles onto snow surfaces in 2018

Svensson,

Leppänen,

Hannula

et al. 2024

Front. Earth Sci.

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The absorption of shortwave irradiance in snow depends on the physical properties of snow (e.g., snow grain size and shape, liquid water content, etc.) and light-absorbing particles (LAP). Originating from natural and anthropogenic sources, LAP has been reported to accelerate snowmelt significantly in different regions globally. Yet, our process-level understanding of LAP after deposition onto snow remains rather limited. Here we investigate the impacts of artificial deposition of different LAP onto snow surfaces in an outdoor environment of northern Finland. Following LAP dry deposition into a custom-made tent standing on top of the snowpack, the albedo was followed along with the properties of snow in snow pit measurements throughout the spring season. The results showed that the albedo decay at the end of the season for the different spots were linked to the initial amount and type of LAP that were deposited onto the snowpack. Measured snow temperature profiles from LAP doped snow versus natural reference snow illustrated that the LAP affected snow had higher temperatures in the subsurface snow layers. Collected snow samples analyzed for size distribution of soot particles revealed no apparent agglomeration of soot particles during thaw-freezing events taking place during the experiment. Despite the relatively large perturbation of the experimentally deposited LAP, their impact on the season length was only up to 3 days. Additional experiments are, nevertheless, needed to better constrain the effects of LAP on snow albedo, melt rate, and other associated processes.

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Biofuel Burning Influences Refractory Black Carbon Concentrations in Seasonal Snow at Lower Elevations of the Dudh Koshi River Basin of Nepal

Cited by 10 publications

References 45 publications

Black carbon footprint of human presence in Antarctica

Black carbon footprint of human presence in Antarctica

Black carbon flux in terrestrial and aquatic environments of Kodaikanal in the Western Ghats, South India: Estimation, source identification, and implication

Soot-on-snow experiment: artificial deposition of light-absorbing particles onto snow surfaces in 2018

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