Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Arctic atmosphere: determining important driving forces using a global atmospheric transport model, 1979-2010 ...

• Main Author: Friedman, Carey
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2016
• Subjects: PCBs; Arctic; long range transport; re-emissions; volatilization
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2w08wh4p; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2W08WH4P

We present a spatially and temporally resolved global atmospheric polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) model, driven by meteorological data, that is skilled at simulating mean atmospheric PCB concentrations and seasonal cycles in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes and mean Arctic concentrations. However, the model does not capture the ob- served Arctic summer maximum in atmospheric PCBs. We use the model to estimate global budgets for seven PCB con- geners, and we demonstrate that congeners that deposit more readily show lower potential for long-range transport, consistent with a recently described "differential removal hypothesis" regarding the hemispheric transport of PCBs. Using sensitivity simulations to assess processes within, outside, or transport to the Arctic, we examine the influence of climate- and emissions-driven processes on Arctic concentrations and their effect on improving the simulated Arctic seasonal cycle. We find evidence that processes occurring outside the Arctic have a greater influence ...