Impact of Biomass Burning on Arctic Aerosol Composition ...

• Main Authors: Gramlich, Yvette, Siegel, Karolina, Haslett, Sophie L., Cremer, Roxana S., Lunder, Chris, Kommula, Snehitha M., Buchholz, Angela, Yttri, Karl Espen, Chen, Gang, Krejci, Radovan, Zieger, Paul, Virtanen, Annele, Riipinen, Ilona, Mohr, Claudia
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2024
• Subjects: Arctic aerosol; Zeppelin Observatory; FIGAERO-CIMS; aerosol chemical composition; biomass burning; agricultural fires; black carbon; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000669616; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/669616

Emissions from biomass burning (BB) occurring at midlatitudes can reach the Arctic, where they influence the remote aerosol population. By using measurements of levoglucosan and black carbon, we identify seven BB events reaching Svalbard in 2020. We find that most of the BB events are significantly different to the rest of the year (nonevents) for most of the chemical and physical properties. Aerosol mass and number concentrations are enhanced by up to 1 order of magnitude during the BB events. During BB events, the submicrometer aerosol bulk composition changes from an organic- and sulfate-dominated regime to a clearly organic-dominated regime. This results in a significantly lower hygroscopicity parameter κ for BB aerosol (0.4 ± 0.2) compared to nonevents (0.5 ± 0.2), calculated from the nonrefractory aerosol composition. The organic fraction in the BB aerosol showed no significant difference for the O:C ratios (0.9 ± 0.3) compared to the year (0.9 ± 0.6). Accumulation mode particles were present during ... : ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 8 (5) ...