Abstract
Background arctic aerosol properties generally observed during the summer were studied at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in a six-week campaign where the aerosol size distribution and chemical composition were measured. The results presented here demonstrate the marked difference between the background arctic aerosol composition in comparison to the aged aerosol arriving in the area by long-range transport from southern latitudes. It is found that sulphate is the major water-soluble component of background aerosol followed by sea salt. Aged aerosol arriving in the Arctic from polluted areas is recognised by an increase in black carbon and in the refractory aerosol fraction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beine, H. J., Engardt, M., Jaffe, D. A., Hov Ø., Holmén K. and Stordal, F.: 1996, ‘Measurements of Nox and aerosol particles at the Ny Ålesund Zeppelin mountain station on Svalbard: influence of regional and local pollution sources’, Atmos. Environ. 30, 1067-1079.
Burtscher, H., Baltensperger, U., Bukowiecki, N., Cohn, P., Huglin, C., Mohr, M., Matter, U., Nyeki, S., Schmatlock, V., Streit, N. and Weingartner, E.: 2001, ‘Separation of volatile and nonvolatile aerosol fractions by thermodesorption: instrumental development and applications’, J. Aerosol Sci. 32, 427-442.
Covert, D. S. and Heintzenberg, J.: 1993, ‘Size distributions and chemical properties of aerosol at Ny Ålesund, Svalbard’, Atmos. Environ. 27, 2989-2997.
Draxler, R. R. and Rolph, G. D.: 2003, HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Inte-grated Trajectory) Model Access via NOAA ARL READY, Website (http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ ready/hysplit4.html). NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD.
Eleftheriadis, K., Balis, D., Ziomas, I., Colbeck, I. and Manalis, N.: 1998, ‘Atmospheric aerosol and gaseous species in Athens, Greece’, Atmos. Environ. 32(12), 2183-2191.
Eleftheriadis, K. Nyeki S., Tørseth K., and Colbeck I.: 2001, Black Carbon and Ionic Species in the Arctic Aerosol, Memoirs National Inst. Polar Res. (Special Issue, No 54), pp 91-99.
Heintzenberg, J.: 1988, ‘A processor controlled multisample soot photometer’, Aerosol Sci. Tech. 8, 227-233.
Heintzenberg, J. and Leck, C.: 1994, 'Seasonal variation of the atmospheric aerosol near the top of the marine boundary layer over Spitsbergen related to the Arctic sulphur cycle, Tellus 46B, 52-67.
Lannefors, H., Heintzenberg, J. and Hansson, H.-C. 1983, 'A comprehensive study of physical and chemical parameters of the Arctic summer aerosol; results from the Swedish expedition Ymer-80, Tellus 35B, 40-54.
Maenhaut, W., Ducastel, G., Beyaert, K. and Hanssen, J. E.: 1994, ‘Chemical composition of the summer aerosol at Ny Ålesund, Spitzbergen, and relative contribution of natural and anthropogenic sources to the non-sea-salt sulphate’, in P. M. Borrell, P. Borrell, T. Civitas and W. Seiler (eds.), Proceedings of EUROTRAC Symposium, 467-471.
Maenhaut, W., Ducastel, G., Leck, C., Nilsson, D. and Heintzenberg, J.: 1996, 'Multi-elemental composition and sources of the high Arctic atmospheric aerosol during summer and autumn, Tellus 48B, 300-321.
Seinfeld, J. and Pandis, S.: 1998, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Wiley, New York.
Tørseth, K., Semb, A., Schaug, J., Hanssen, J. E. and Aamlid, D.: 2000, Processes affecting deposition of oxidised nitrogen and associated species in the coastal areas of Norway. Atmos. Environ. 34, 207-217.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Eleftheriadis, K., Nyeki, S., Psomiadou, C. et al. Background Aerosol Properties in the European Arctic. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus 4, 23–30 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WAFO.0000044783.70114.19
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WAFO.0000044783.70114.19