Contributions of transported Prudhoe Bay oil field emissions to the aerosol population in Utqiaġvik, Alaska ...

• Main Authors: Gunsch, Matthew J., Kirpes, Rachel M., Kolesar, Katheryn R., Barrett, Tate E., China, Swarup, Sheesley, Rebecca J., Laskin, Alexander, Wiedensohler, Alfred, Tuch, Thomas, Pratt, Kerri A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU 2017
• Subjects: aerosol; atmospheric transport; carbon emission; chemical composition; oil field; particle size; scanning electron microscopy; size distribution; X-ray spectroscopy; Alaska; Barrow; Prudhoe Bay; United States; 550; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.34657/10960; https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/11927

Loss of sea ice is opening the Arctic to increasing development involving oil and gas extraction and shipping. Given the significant impacts of absorbing aerosol and secondary aerosol precursors emitted within the rapidly warming Arctic region, it is necessary to characterize local anthropogenic aerosol sources and compare to natural conditions. From August to September 2015 in Utqiaġvik (Barrow), AK, the chemical composition of individual atmospheric particles was measured by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (0.13-4 μm projected area diameter) and real-time single-particle mass spectrometry (0.2-1.5 μm vacuum aerodynamic diameter). During periods influenced by the Arctic Ocean (70 % of the study), our results show that fresh sea spray aerosol contributed ∼ 20 %, by number, of particles between 0.13 and 0.4 μm, 40-70 % between 0.4 and 1 μm, and 80-100 % between 1 and 4 μm particles. In contrast, for periods influenced by emissions from Prudhoe Bay (10 ...