Year-round records of gas and particulate formic and acetic acids in the boundary layer at Dumont d’Urville, coastal Antarctica

Multiple year-round levels of acetate and formate in gas and aerosol phases were investigated at Dumont d’Urville (DDU, a coastal Antarctic site) by using mist chamber and aerosol filter sampling. Formate and acetate aerosol levels range from <0.5 ppt in winter to 3 ppt in summer. With correspond...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michel Legrand, Susanne Preunkert, Bruno Jourdain, Bernard Aumont
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.64.9080
http://www.lisa.univ-paris12.fr/mod/publis/legrand2004.pdf
Description
Summary:Multiple year-round levels of acetate and formate in gas and aerosol phases were investigated at Dumont d’Urville (DDU, a coastal Antarctic site) by using mist chamber and aerosol filter sampling. Formate and acetate aerosol levels range from <0.5 ppt in winter to 3 ppt in summer. With corresponding gas phase levels of more than a hundred of pptv, formic and acetic acids are mainly (99%) present in the gas phase, representing the 2 major acidic gases before inorganic species (HCl, HNO3 and SO2) there. Mixing ratios of formic acid are minimal from May to August (70 pptv) and increase regularly toward November–February months when levels reach 200 pptv. Mixing ratios of acetic acid exhibit a more well-marked seasonal cycle with values remaining close to 70 pptv from April to October and strongly increase during November–February months (mean value of 400 pptv). These seasonal changes suggest that the 2 carboxylic acids mainly originate from biogenic emissions of the Antarctic ocean whose variations follow the annual cycle of sea ice extent and solar radiation via photochemical production of alkenes from dissolved organic carbon released by phytoplankton. In summer, acetic acid levels show daily variations with maxima at noon and minima at night whereas formic acid