Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the Arctic lower troposphere
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:egusphere112617 2024-01-21T10:03:00+01:00 Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the Arctic lower troposphere Gilardoni, Stefania Heslin-Rees, Dominic Mazzola, Mauro Vitale, Vito Sprenger, Michael Krejci, Radovan 2023-12-20 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1376 https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1376/ eng eng doi:10.5194/egusphere-2023-1376 https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1376/ eISSN: Text 2023 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1376 2023-12-25T17:24:18Z 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 Arctic black carbon Climate change Svalbard Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
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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 Arctic lower troposphere |
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 Arctic lower troposphere |
title_short |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the Arctic lower troposphere |
title_full |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the Arctic lower troposphere |
title_fullStr |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the Arctic lower troposphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the Arctic lower troposphere |
title_sort |
drivers controlling black carbon temporal variability in the arctic lower troposphere |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1376 https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1376/ |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
genre |
Arctic black carbon Climate change Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic black carbon Climate change Svalbard |
op_source |
eISSN: |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/egusphere-2023-1376 https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-1376/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1376 |
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1788693247681363968 |