Collaborative Research: Sources of Black Carbon, Methane Sulfonic Acid, and Other Particulate Constituents over 45 Years in the Arctic

Clarkson University, Potsdam NY

Investigators

Abstract

Particles are important in the global climate and black carbon (BC) particles are disproportionately important because they absorb sunlight directly warming the atmosphere. Deposition of BC on ice/snow surfaces changes its albedo and enhances melting. The Arctic receives its BC from much of the northern hemisphere. Regional BC emissions have dramatically changed over these 45 years. Therefore, to develop strategies to limit BC and other PM transported to the Arctic, it is essential to determine the regional particulate mass (PM) contributions. The changing climate also affects the production of biogenic sulfate particles that increases the negative radiative forcing. This collaborative project between Clarkson University and SUNY Albany/ Health Research, Inc/ NYS Health Department with the cooperation of the Finnish Meteorological Institute will develop the world's longest record (45 year time series) of PM compositions of Arctic Haze at a single location by analyzing archived samples collected at Kevo, Finland. This work will: (1) determine the concentrations of BC, SO4 (sulfate), methane sulfonic acid (MSA), and other selected ions, cations and trace elements at Kevo for 45 continuous years; (2) investigate seasonal effects; (3) use state-of-the-art statistical methods, and air parcel back trajectories to determine the contributions of various emission regions and source types to the Arctic region. This project has the following broader impacts. The resulting long term record of Arctic PM composition variation and its analyses will improve our understanding of Arctic change over nearly a half century. Insights into atmospheric transport and chemical transformation can be gleaned from these data, and identify trends that may extend into the future. The thoroughly analyzed and quality assured data set will be available to the scientific community for comparison of long-term BC and sulfate trends in the Arctic for model evaluations. The other species and data analysis will identify the PM sources over these 45 years. The relative concentrations of absorbing and scattering particles will be determined in this critical geographical area.