Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Local anthropogenic impact on particulate elemental carbon

• Main Authors: G. S. W. Hagler, M. H. Bergin, E. A. Smith, M. Town, J. E. Dibb
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Arctic; Camp A; Greenland; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.389.3237; http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/29/65/42/PDF/acp-8-2485-2008.pdf

Abstract. Summit, Greenland is a remote Arctic research station allowing for field measurements at the highest point of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Due to the current reliance on diesel generators for electricity at Summit, unavoidable local emissions are a potential contamination threat to the measurement of combustion-related species in the air and snow. The effect of fossil-fuel combustion on particulate elemental carbon (EC) is assessed by a combination of ambient measurements (∼1 km from the main camp), a series of snow pits, and Gaussian plume modeling. Ambient measurements indicate that the air directly downwind of the research station generators experiences particulate absorption coefficient (closely related to EC) values that are up to a factor of 200 higher than the summer 2006 non-camp-impacted ambient average. Local anthropogenic influence on snow EC content