Gaseous mercury emissions from a fire in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, during January 2000

Brunke, Ernst-Günther; Labuschagne, Casper; Šlemr, F.

doi:10.1029/2000gl012193

Cited by 100 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…These results are in agreement with a previous study in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Engle et al, 2006) which reported that dominant losses of Hg from a prescribed fire originated from the combustion of litter while a wildfire site showed larger Hg losses through removal of both litter and aboveground vegetation. Our study is also in support of many fire studies which indicate substantial losses of Hg to the atmosphere by wildfires mainly due to combustion of above-ground biomass and litter Sigler et al, 2003;Friedli et al, 2001Friedli et al, , 2003aArtaxo et al, 2000;Brunke et al, 2001;Ebinghaus et al, 2007).…”

Section: Effects Of Fires On C and Hg Poolssupporting

confidence: 64%

Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen

2009

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Abstract. This study presents data on mercury (Hg) concentrations, stochiometric relations to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and Hg pool sizes in four Sierra Nevada forest sites of similar exposure and precipitation regimes, and hence similar atmospheric deposition, to evaluate how ecosystem parameters control Hg retention in ecosystems. In all four sites, the largest amounts of Hg reside in soils which account for 94-98% of ecosystem pools. Hg concentrations and Hg/C ratios increase in the following order: Green Needles/Leaves

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Section: Effects Of Fires On C and Hg Poolssupporting

confidence: 64%

Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen

2009

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“…Annual medians (cruise medians) are used to suppress the influence of occasional high TGM values due to episodes of local or regional pollution such as by biomass burning at Cape Point [Brunke et al, 2001] or low values due to polar springtime TGM depletion [Schroeder et al, 1998;Ebinghaus et al, 2002a]. All points are presented with 95% median confidence ranges [Sachs, 1978], the latter being sometimes smaller than the median symbols.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[3] The data used for the reconstruction of the TGM trend were collected at Rörvik, Wank, Lista, Mace Head, Ny Å lesund, Alert in the NH, Cape Point, Neumayer in the SH, and during 8 ship cruises over the Atlantic Ocean made since 1977 (RS Walther Herwig in 1977and 1978, RS Meteor in 1979and 1980, and RS Polarstern in 1990/2000.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worldwide trend of atmospheric mercury since 1977

Šlemr

Brunke

Ebinghaus

et al. 2003

Geophysical Research Letters

197

138

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The inventories of global anthropogenic emissions of mercury for years from 1979/1980 to 1995 suggest a substantial reduction in the 1980s and almost constant emissions afterwards. In contrast to emission inventories, measurements of atmospheric mercury suggest a concentration increase in the 1980s and a decrease in the 1990s. Here we present a first attempt to reconstruct the worldwide trend of atmospheric mercury concentrations from direct measurements since the late 1970s. In combination, long term measurements at 6 sites in the northern, 2 sites in the southern hemispheres, during 8 ship cruises over the Atlantic Ocean (1977–2000) provide a consistent picture, suggesting that atmospheric mercury concentrations increased in the late 1970s to a peak in the 1980s, then decreased to a minimum at about 1996, and have been nearly constant since. The observed trend is not consistent with the published inventories of anthropogenic emissions and the assumed ratios of anthropogenic/natural emissions, and suggests the need to improve the mercury emission inventories and to re‐evaluate the contribution of natural sources.

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“…14). Measurements of GEM in BB plumes are rare but the following ER to CO have been reported: 0.067×10 −6 ppb GEM/ppb CO (Friedli et al, 2003a) for a mixture of conifers, grass and shrubs, 0.204×10 −6 ppb GEM/ppb CO (Friedli et al, 2003b) for black spruce, 0.21×10 −6 ppb GEM/ppb CO (Brunke et al, 2001) for fynbos, and 0.086×10 −6 ppb GEM/ppb CO (Sigler et al, 2003) for black spruce and jack pine. Assuming the highest reported ER of 0.21×10 −6 ppb GEM/ppb CO, the observed maximum CO enhancement at Zeppelin of 100 ppb would correspond to 182 pg m −3 GEM enhancement.…”

Section: Gaseous Elemental Mercurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic smoke – record high air pollution levels in the European Arctic due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe in spring 2006

et al. 2007

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Abstract. In spring 2006, the European Arctic was abnormally warm, setting new historical temperature records. During this warm period, smoke from agricultural fires in Eastern Europe intruded into the European Arctic and caused the most severe air pollution episodes ever recorded there. This paper confirms that biomass burning (BB) was indeed the source of the observed air pollution, studies the transport of the smoke into the Arctic, and presents an overview of the observations taken during the episode. Fire detections from the MODIS instruments aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites were used to estimate the BB emissions. The FLEX-PART particle dispersion model was used to show that the smoke was transported to Spitsbergen and Iceland, which was confirmed by MODIS retrievals of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and AIRS retrievals of carbon monoxide (CO) total columns. Concentrations of halocarbons, carbon dioxide and CO, as well as levoglucosan and potassium, measured at Zeppelin mountain near NyÅlesund, were used to further corroborate the BB source of the smoke at Spitsbergen. The ozone (O 3 ) and CO concentrations were the highest ever observed at the Zeppelin station, and gaseous elemental mercury was also elevated. A new O 3 record was also set at a station on Iceland. The smoke was strongly absorbingblack carbon concentrations were the highest ever recorded Correspondence to: A. Stohl (ast@nilu.no) at Zeppelin -and strongly perturbed the radiation transmission in the atmosphere: aerosol optical depths were the highest ever measured at NyÅlesund. We furthermore discuss the aerosol chemical composition, obtained from filter samples, as well as the aerosol size distribution during the smoke event. Photographs show that the snow at a glacier on Spitsbergen became discolored during the episode and, thus, the snow albedo was reduced. Samples of this polluted snow contained strongly elevated levels of potassium, sulphate, nitrate and ammonium ions, thus relating the discoloration to the deposition of the smoke aerosols. This paper shows that, to date, BB has been underestimated as a source of aerosol and air pollution for the Arctic, relative to emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Given its significant impact on air quality over large spatial scales and on radiative processes, the practice of agricultural waste burning should be banned in the future.

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Gaseous mercury emissions from a fire in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, during January 2000

Cited by 100 publications

References 23 publications

Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen

Mercury concentrations and pools in four Sierra Nevada forest sites, and relationships to organic carbon and nitrogen

Worldwide trend of atmospheric mercury since 1977

Arctic smoke – record high air pollution levels in the European Arctic due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe in spring 2006

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