Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic
Abstract A record spanning ten years of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) data from the Pico Mountain Observatory (PMO), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, was analyzed for seasonal NMHC behavior, atmospheric processing, and trends, focusing on ethane and propane. The location of this site in the central N...
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University of California Press
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crunicaliforniap:10.12952/journal.elementa.000054 2023-11-12T04:18:03+01:00 Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic Helmig, Detlev Muñoz, Mauricio Hueber, Jacques Mazzoleni, Claudio Mazzoleni, Lynn Owen, Richard C. Val-Martin, Maria Fialho, Paulo Plass-Duelmer, Christian Palmer, Paul I. Lewis, Alastair C. Pfister, Gabriele Chang, Michael E. Flocke, Frank 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000054 http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.12952/journal.elementa.000054/467381/61-619-1-ce.pdf en eng University of California Press Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene volume 3 ISSN 2325-1026 Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography journal-article 2015 crunicaliforniap https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000054 2023-10-15T17:40:37Z Abstract A record spanning ten years of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) data from the Pico Mountain Observatory (PMO), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, was analyzed for seasonal NMHC behavior, atmospheric processing, and trends, focusing on ethane and propane. The location of this site in the central North Atlantic, at an elevation of 2225 m asl, allows these data to be used to investigate the background conditions and pollution transport events occurring in the lower free North Atlantic troposphere. The quantity ln([propane]/[ethane]) was used as an indicator of both photochemical processing and a marker for the occurrence of pollution transport events detected at the station. The Pico data were compared with three other continuous NMHC data sets from sites bordering the North Atlantic, i.e. the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) stations at Summit, Greenland, Hohenpeisssenberg, Germany, and Cape Verde, using ln([propane]/[ethane]) results as an indicator for the degree of photochemical processing (‘aging’) seen in the data. Comparisons of these three data sets showed some significant differences in the seasonal background and range of observed values. The statistical distribution of binned monthly data was determined, and individual sample events were then scaled to the monthly median observed value. Back trajectories, determined by the HYSPLIT model were used to investigate the geographic origin of the observed trace gases as a function of the degree of photochemical processing. Results show that PMO samples have been subjected to a diversity of air transport and aging, from highly processed air to freshly emitted air throughout the year, and in particular during summer months. The predominant air transport is from North America, with only occasional influence from continental areas located east and southeast (Europe and Africa). The available record was found to be too variable and still too short to allow deciphering NMHC trends from the data. Ethane and propane measurements at the PMO were compared with the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland North Atlantic University of California Press (via Crossref) Greenland Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 3 000054 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California Press (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crunicaliforniap |
language |
English |
topic |
Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography Helmig, Detlev Muñoz, Mauricio Hueber, Jacques Mazzoleni, Claudio Mazzoleni, Lynn Owen, Richard C. Val-Martin, Maria Fialho, Paulo Plass-Duelmer, Christian Palmer, Paul I. Lewis, Alastair C. Pfister, Gabriele Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Atmospheric Science Geology Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology Ecology Environmental Engineering Oceanography |
description |
Abstract A record spanning ten years of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) data from the Pico Mountain Observatory (PMO), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, was analyzed for seasonal NMHC behavior, atmospheric processing, and trends, focusing on ethane and propane. The location of this site in the central North Atlantic, at an elevation of 2225 m asl, allows these data to be used to investigate the background conditions and pollution transport events occurring in the lower free North Atlantic troposphere. The quantity ln([propane]/[ethane]) was used as an indicator of both photochemical processing and a marker for the occurrence of pollution transport events detected at the station. The Pico data were compared with three other continuous NMHC data sets from sites bordering the North Atlantic, i.e. the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) stations at Summit, Greenland, Hohenpeisssenberg, Germany, and Cape Verde, using ln([propane]/[ethane]) results as an indicator for the degree of photochemical processing (‘aging’) seen in the data. Comparisons of these three data sets showed some significant differences in the seasonal background and range of observed values. The statistical distribution of binned monthly data was determined, and individual sample events were then scaled to the monthly median observed value. Back trajectories, determined by the HYSPLIT model were used to investigate the geographic origin of the observed trace gases as a function of the degree of photochemical processing. Results show that PMO samples have been subjected to a diversity of air transport and aging, from highly processed air to freshly emitted air throughout the year, and in particular during summer months. The predominant air transport is from North America, with only occasional influence from continental areas located east and southeast (Europe and Africa). The available record was found to be too variable and still too short to allow deciphering NMHC trends from the data. Ethane and propane measurements at the PMO were compared with the ... |
author2 |
Chang, Michael E. Flocke, Frank |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Helmig, Detlev Muñoz, Mauricio Hueber, Jacques Mazzoleni, Claudio Mazzoleni, Lynn Owen, Richard C. Val-Martin, Maria Fialho, Paulo Plass-Duelmer, Christian Palmer, Paul I. Lewis, Alastair C. Pfister, Gabriele |
author_facet |
Helmig, Detlev Muñoz, Mauricio Hueber, Jacques Mazzoleni, Claudio Mazzoleni, Lynn Owen, Richard C. Val-Martin, Maria Fialho, Paulo Plass-Duelmer, Christian Palmer, Paul I. Lewis, Alastair C. Pfister, Gabriele |
author_sort |
Helmig, Detlev |
title |
Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic |
title_short |
Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic |
title_full |
Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic |
title_sort |
climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the north atlantic |
publisher |
University of California Press |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000054 http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/doi/10.12952/journal.elementa.000054/467381/61-619-1-ce.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Greenland North Atlantic |
op_source |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene volume 3 ISSN 2325-1026 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000054 |
container_title |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
container_volume |
3 |
container_start_page |
000054 |
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1782334765927497728 |