Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic
Black carbon (BC) is a short-lived climate forcer affecting the Arctic climate through multiple mechanisms, which vary substantially from winter to summer. Several models still fail in reproducing BC seasonal variability, limiting the ability to fully describe BC climate implications. This study aim...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:acp112617 2024-09-15T17:59:57+00:00 Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic Gilardoni, Stefania Heslin-Rees, Dominic Mazzola, Mauro Vitale, Vito Sprenger, Michael Krejci, Radovan 2023-12-20 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/15589/2023/ eng eng doi:10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/15589/2023/ eISSN: 1680-7324 Text 2023 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023 2024-08-28T05:24:15Z Black carbon (BC) is a short-lived climate forcer affecting the Arctic climate through multiple mechanisms, which vary substantially from winter to summer. Several models still fail in reproducing BC seasonal variability, limiting the ability to fully describe BC climate implications. This study aims at gaining insights into the mechanisms controlling BC transport from lower latitudes to the Arctic lower troposphere. Here we investigate the drivers controlling black carbon daily and seasonal variability in the Arctic using generalized additive models (GAMs). We analysed equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations measured at the Gruvebadet Atmospheric Laboratory (GAL – Svalbard archipelago) from March 2018 to December 2021. The eBC showed a marked seasonality with higher values in winter and early spring. The eBC concentration averaged 22 ± 20 ng m −3 in the cold season (November–April) and 11 ± 11 ng m −3 in the warm season (May–October). The seasonal and interannual variability was mainly modulated by the efficiency of wet scavenging removal during transport towards higher latitudes. Conversely, the short-term variability was controlled by boundary layer dynamics as well as local-scale and synoptic-scale circulation patterns. During both the cold and warm seasons, the transport of air masses from Europe and northern Russia was an effective pathway for the transport of pollution to the European Arctic. Finally, in the warm season we observed a link between the intrusion of warm air from lower latitudes and the increase in eBC concentration. Changes in the synoptic-scale circulation system and precipitation rate in the Northern Hemisphere, linked to climate change, are expected to modify the BC burden in the Arctic. Text black carbon Climate change Svalbard Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 23 24 15589 15607 |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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English |
description |
Black carbon (BC) is a short-lived climate forcer affecting the Arctic climate through multiple mechanisms, which vary substantially from winter to summer. Several models still fail in reproducing BC seasonal variability, limiting the ability to fully describe BC climate implications. This study aims at gaining insights into the mechanisms controlling BC transport from lower latitudes to the Arctic lower troposphere. Here we investigate the drivers controlling black carbon daily and seasonal variability in the Arctic using generalized additive models (GAMs). We analysed equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations measured at the Gruvebadet Atmospheric Laboratory (GAL – Svalbard archipelago) from March 2018 to December 2021. The eBC showed a marked seasonality with higher values in winter and early spring. The eBC concentration averaged 22 ± 20 ng m −3 in the cold season (November–April) and 11 ± 11 ng m −3 in the warm season (May–October). The seasonal and interannual variability was mainly modulated by the efficiency of wet scavenging removal during transport towards higher latitudes. Conversely, the short-term variability was controlled by boundary layer dynamics as well as local-scale and synoptic-scale circulation patterns. During both the cold and warm seasons, the transport of air masses from Europe and northern Russia was an effective pathway for the transport of pollution to the European Arctic. Finally, in the warm season we observed a link between the intrusion of warm air from lower latitudes and the increase in eBC concentration. Changes in the synoptic-scale circulation system and precipitation rate in the Northern Hemisphere, linked to climate change, are expected to modify the BC burden in the Arctic. |
format |
Text |
author |
Gilardoni, Stefania Heslin-Rees, Dominic Mazzola, Mauro Vitale, Vito Sprenger, Michael Krejci, Radovan |
spellingShingle |
Gilardoni, Stefania Heslin-Rees, Dominic Mazzola, Mauro Vitale, Vito Sprenger, Michael Krejci, Radovan Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic |
author_facet |
Gilardoni, Stefania Heslin-Rees, Dominic Mazzola, Mauro Vitale, Vito Sprenger, Michael Krejci, Radovan |
author_sort |
Gilardoni, Stefania |
title |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic |
title_short |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic |
title_full |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the European Arctic |
title_sort |
drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the lower troposphere of the european arctic |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/15589/2023/ |
genre |
black carbon Climate change Svalbard |
genre_facet |
black carbon Climate change Svalbard |
op_source |
eISSN: 1680-7324 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/15589/2023/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
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23 |
container_issue |
24 |
container_start_page |
15589 |
op_container_end_page |
15607 |
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1810437066528391168 |