On the variability of atmospheric 222Rn activity concentrations measured at Neumayer, coastal Antarctica

We report on continuously measured 222Rn activity in near surface air at Neumayer Station in the period 1995 through 2011. This 17 years record showed no long-term trend and has overall mean ± standard deviation of (0.019±0.012) Bq m-3. A distinct and persistent seasonality could be distinguished wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Main Authors: Weller, Rolf, Levin, Ingeborg, Schmithüsen, Dominik, Nachbar, Mario, Asseng, Jölund, Wagenbach, Dietmar
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH 2014
Subjects:
Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/34405/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/34405/1/acp-14-3843-2014.pdf
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/3843/2014/
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43451
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43451.d001
Description
Summary:We report on continuously measured 222Rn activity in near surface air at Neumayer Station in the period 1995 through 2011. This 17 years record showed no long-term trend and has overall mean ± standard deviation of (0.019±0.012) Bq m-3. A distinct and persistent seasonality could be distinguished with maximum values of (0.028±0.013) Bq m-3 from January through March and minimum values of (0.015±0.009) Bq m-3 from May through October. Elevated 222Rn activity concentrations were typically associated with air mass transport from the Antarctic Plateau. Our results do not support a relation between enhanced 222Rn activity concentrations at Neumayer and cyclonic activity or long-range transport from South America. The impact of oceanic 222Rn emissions could not be properly assessed but we tentatively identified regional SIE variability as a significant driver of the annual 222Rn cycle.

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