Large Circulation Patterns Strongly Modulate Long‐Term Variability of Arctic Black Carbon Levels and Areas of Origin

Stathopoulos, Vasileios; Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Stohl, Andreas; Vratolis, Stergios; Matsoukas, C.; Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos

doi:10.1029/2021gl092876

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The Eurasian continent has been shown to be one of the most important contributors to BC measured at ZEP (see Fig. S9); a finding which is in agreement with multiple other studies (Hirdman et al, 2010;Backman et al, 2014;Stathopoulos et al, 2021). The fact that this region contributes most to observations of σ ap is the result of a combination of source strength, transportation, and removal processes.…”

Section: Biomass Burning Eventssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Previous studies have suggested that this increase in the contribution of more marine air masses is likely the result of changes in air circulation patterns (Heslin-Rees et al, 2020). The phase of the Scandinavian pattern, a large-scale circulation pattern, was shown to affect the variability in transported BC (Stathopoulos et al, 2021); during the cold period, higher concentrations of BC were present when sources were limited to more northern regions, as opposed to when source regions extended further south, and experienced more wet removal.…”

Section: Biomass Burning Eventsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Comparisons of how the measurements from the various instruments have changed are given in section 2 in the supplement. Additionally, a comparison between each set of instrument measurements is compared with the long-term data set of absorption coefficient measurements from an Aethalometer (adjusted to 637 nm; see also Stathopoulos et al (2021) and Fig. S4).…”

Section: Harmonisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An area of particular interest is the Yamal-Nenets gas flaring region in central Russia; this potential source appears in Fig. S9 in 2005, where there are elevated CWT values (AMAP, 2015;Stohl et al, 2013;Klimont et al, 2017;Stathopoulos et al, 2021). It also appears as the region exhibiting the largest reductions in CWT (see Fig.…”

Section: Biomass Burning Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increase in precipitation scavenging contributes to long-term reductions of black carbon in the Arctic

Heslin-Rees

Tunved

Ström

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. Black carbon (BC), the most efficient atmospheric aerosol for absorbing light in the visible spectrum, exerts a warming effect on a region undergoing unprecedented climatic changes. Here, BC is studied indirectly using filter-based methods to ascertain aerosol light absorption parameters. We investigated long-term changes using a harmonised 21-year data set of light absorption measurements, in conjunction with air mass source analysis. The measurements were performed at Zeppelin Observatory (ZEP), Svalbard, from 2002 to 2022. We report a statistically significant (s.s.) decreasing long-term trend for the light absorption coefficient, measured at the site for the entirety of the data set. However, the last 7 years, 2016–2022, showed a slightly increasing s.s. trend for the haze season. In addition, we observed an increasing trend in the single scattering albedo from 2002 to 2022. Five distinct source regions were identified; the trends involving air masses from the five regions showed decreasing absorption coefficients, except for the air masses influenced by emissions from Eurasia. We show that the changes in the occurrences of each transport pathway cannot explain the reductions in the absorption coefficient observed at the Zeppelin station; an increase in contributions of air masses from more marine regions, with lower absorption coefficients, is compensated by the influence from high-emission regions. Along with aerosol optical properties, we also show an increasing trend in accumulated surface precipitation experienced by air masses en route to the Zeppelin Observatory. We argue that rainfall, as a sink of aerosol, plays a role in the long-term trends in the absorption coefficient, explaining approximately a quarter of the overall trend. A decreasing trend in the scavenging ratio further suggests an increase in the aerosol removal processes. We note that there is an increasing potential influence from active forest fires, particularly in the last few summers (i.e. 2015–2022). Active fires have been shown to have a significant impact on the mean seasonal absorption coefficient especially during northern hemispheric summer. However, no noticeable alteration in annual long-term trends can be observed.

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Section: Biomass Burning Eventssupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Biomass Burning Eventsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Harmonisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biomass Burning Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Increase in precipitation scavenging contributes to long-term reductions of black carbon in the Arctic

Heslin-Rees

Tunved

Ström

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…The eBC mass concentrations are higher in the winter months compared to the summer months, reflecting the expected annual cycle of this species at the measurement site. , The annual mean of eBC (18.9 ± 35.0 ng m –3 ) is lower than the reported average of long-term observations (average 39 ng m –3 , median 27 ng m –3 ) at the observatory from 1998 to 2007 . The lower eBC mass concentrations in 2020 compared to the period 1998–2007 agree with the reported decreasing trend of eBC at the Zeppelin Observatory .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Impact of Biomass Burning on Arctic Aerosol Composition

Gramlich,

Siegel,

Haslett

et al. 2024

ACS Earth Space Chem.

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Emissions from biomass burning (BB) occurring at midlatitudes can reach the Arctic, where they influence the remote aerosol population. By using measurements of levoglucosan and black carbon, we identify seven BB events reaching Svalbard in 2020. We find that most of the BB events are significantly different to the rest of the year (nonevents) for most of the chemical and physical properties. Aerosol mass and number concentrations are enhanced by up to 1 order of magnitude during the BB events. During BB events, the submicrometer aerosol bulk composition changes from an organic-and sulfate-dominated regime to a clearly organic-dominated regime. This results in a significantly lower hygroscopicity parameter κ for BB aerosol (0.4 ± 0.2) compared to nonevents (0.5 ± 0.2), calculated from the nonrefractory aerosol composition. The organic fraction in the BB aerosol showed no significant difference for the O:C ratios (0.9 ± 0.3) compared to the year (0.9 ± 0.6). Accumulation mode particles were present during all BB events, while in the summer an additional Aitken mode was observed, indicating a mixture of the advected air mass with locally produced particles. BB tracers (vanillic, homovanillic, and hydroxybenzoic acid, nitrophenol, methylnitrophenol, and nitrocatechol) were significantly higher when air mass back trajectories passed over active fire regions in Eastern Europe, indicating agricultural and wildfires as sources. Our results suggest that the impact of BB on the Arctic aerosol depends on the season in which they occur, and agricultural and wildfires from Eastern Europe have the potential to disturb the background conditions the most.

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Impacts of Climate Change on Particulate Matter (PM)

Liu,

Matsui

2023

Handbook of Air Quality and Climate Change

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Large Circulation Patterns Strongly Modulate Long‐Term Variability of Arctic Black Carbon Levels and Areas of Origin

Cited by 13 publications

References 65 publications

Increase in precipitation scavenging contributes to long-term reductions of black carbon in the Arctic

Increase in precipitation scavenging contributes to long-term reductions of black carbon in the Arctic

Impact of Biomass Burning on Arctic Aerosol Composition

Impacts of Climate Change on Particulate Matter (PM)

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