Measurements of nitrogen oxides at Barrow, Alaska during spring: Evidence for regional and northern hemispheric sources of pollution

Abstract

Total reactive nitrogen oxide (NO,) and NO were measured at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geophysical Monitorihg for Climatic Change (NOAA GMCC) site at Barrow, Alaska, for 5 weeks during the spring of 1989. The data demonstrate the existence of a complex array of pollution sources which influence arctic air chemistry. During periods when 10-day back-trajectories indicated southerly flow, median NO, concentrations ranged from 284 to 467 ppt. When the 10-day back-trajectories originated in the Arctic, median NO_ concentrations ranged from 617 to 734 ppt, providing evidence for the long-range transport .r o o o . o of pollutants to the Archc known as 'arctic haze.' The NO. concentrations observed during the spnng ß o o o o J, o background periods are s•gmficanfiy h•gher than prevmus measurements of NO_ at Barrow taken dunng ß o o • j, o summer, regardless of where the a•r mass originated. These observatmns provide evidence for a greatly increased NO. lifetime during the colder months over a large region of the background troposphere as well as the presence of much h•gher NO. concentrations m the Axct•c. During four 12-60 hour events, substantmlly ß o J, .... elevated NO_ were observed •n a•r not •mpacted by enussmns from the town of Barrow. During these four .r o ß o events, peal• NOy concentrahons of 3 to 16 ppb were observed. Other data, including NO, SO 2, SOs, and meteorology, were used to help identify the source region for the elevated NO, levels. These data prosent a consistent picture which indicates that during certain periods, elevated NO. levels are associated with air coming from the Prudhoe Bay industrial area approximately 300 km to the'ESE and demonstrate that this facility is a major source of nitrogen oxides, and possibly other air pollutants, to the Alaskan Arctic.

Chlorine and bromine atom ratios in the springtime Arctic troposphere as determined from measurements of halogenated volatile organic compounds

“…Wintertime and springtime NO concentrations at Barrow are at times heavily influenced by local emissions from the town and the Prudhoe Bay petroleum facilities, reaching values as high as 1400 ppt [ Jaffe et al , 1991]. Other measurements indicate unpolluted air masses from the Arctic Ocean that move into the Barrow area exhibit daytime NO concentrations as low as 3 ppt [ Honrath and Jaffe , 1992].…”

Changes in Tundra Pond Limnology: Re-sampling Alaskan Ponds After 40 Years

“…Nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere has likely doubled in the Arctic since the 1950s (Mayewski et al 1986;Goto-Azuma and Koerner 2001), and long-range transport of these pollutants has been recorded in Barrow (Jaffe et al 1991). This deposition of nitrogen may have important implications for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem structure and function (Baron et al 2000), including primary production.…”

Siberian CO2 efflux in winter as a CO2 source and cause of seasonality in atmospheric CO2

“…We suggest that some combination of regional or global warming (Hansen and Lebedeff, 1987;Chapman and Walsh, 1993;Oechel et al, 1993) or a decline in the thermally insulating cover of lichens and mosses (Van Cleve et al, 1991) may have increased heat flux into northern soils. Any decline in mosses and lichens due to their sensitivity to pollutants, which have increased substantially in the Arctic in recent decades (Jaffe et al, 1991), could increase the summer energy influx to arctic permafrost soils, perhaps contributing to the unexplained warming of Alaskan permafrost in the past 40 years (Lachenbruch and Marshall, 1986). Because of the positive feedback caused by the heat input from respiration, small changes in surface thermal regime could be amplified through time, melting the permafrost, exposing additional soil carbon to decomposition, and increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and its greenhouse effect on global temperature.…”