Overview of the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) Field Experiment

• Published in: ACS ES&T Air
• Main Authors: Simpson, William, Mao, Jingqiu, Fochesatto, Gilberto, Law, Kathy S., Decarlo, Peter, Schmale, Julia, Pratt, Kerri, Arnold, Steve, Stutz, Jochen, Dibb, Jack, Creamean, Jessie, Weber, Rodney, Williams, Brent, Alexander, Becky, Hu, Lu, Yokelson, Robert, Shiraiwa, Manabu, Decesari, Stefano, Anastasio, Cort, D’anna, Barbara, Gilliam, Robert, Nenes, Athanasios, St. Clair, Jason, Trost, Barbara, Flynn, James, Savarino, Joel, Conner, Laura, Kettle, Nathan, Heeringa, Krista, Albertin, Sarah, Baccarini, Andrea, Barret, Brice, Battaglia, Michael, Bekki, Slimane, Brado, T.J., Brett, Natalie, Brus, David, Campbell, James, Cesler-Maloney, Meeta, Cooperdock, Sol, Cysneiros de Carvalho, Karolina, Delbarre, Hervé, Demott, Paul, Dennehy, Conor J.S., Dieudonné, Elsa, Dingilian, Kayane, Donateo, Antonio, Doulgeris, Konstantinos, Edwards, Kasey, Fahey, Kathleen, Fang, Ting, Guo, Fangzhou, Heinlein, Laura, Holen, Andrew, Huff, Deanna, Ijaz, Amna, Johnson, Sarah, Kapur, Sukriti, Ketcherside, Damien, Levin, Ezra, Lill, Emily, Moon, Allison, Onishi, Tatsuo, Pappaccogli, Gianluca, Perkins, Russell, Pohorsky, Roman, Raut, Jean-Christophe, Ravetta, François, Roberts, Tjarda, Robinson, Ellis, Scoto, Federico, Selimovic, Vanessa, Sunday, Michael, Temime-Roussel, Brice, Tian, Xinxiu, Wu, Judy, Yang, Yuhan
• Other Authors: Geophysical Institute Fairbanks, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Fairbanks, College of Natural Science and Mathematics Fairbanks, TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Extreme Environments Research Laboratory (EERL), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science Leeds (ICAS), School of Earth and Environment Leeds (SEE), University of Leeds-University of Leeds, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Los Angeles (AOS), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Earth Systems Research Center Durham (ESRC), University of New Hampshire (UNH), Department of Atmospheric Science Fort Collins, Colorado State University Fort Collins (CSU), Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Washington University in Saint Louis (WUSTL), Department of Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota Twin Cities (UMN), University of Minnesota System (UMN)-University of Minnesota System (UMN), Department of Atmospheric Sciences Seattle, University of Washington Seattle, University of Montana, Department of Chemistry Irvine, University of California Irvine (UC Irvine), Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima Bologna (ISAC), National Research Council of Italy, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis (UC Davis), Laboratoire Chimie de l'environnement (LCE), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Laboratory of Atmospheric Processes and their Impacts (LAPI), Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II Center (GESTAR II), University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Houston, University of Houston, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2024
• Subjects: air pollution; aerosol particles; cold climate; atmospheric chemistry; Arctic; Alaska; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Fairbanks
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-04476422; https://insu.hal.science/insu-04476422/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-04476422/file/simpson-et-al-2024-overview-of-the-alaskan-layered-pollution.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.3c00076

International audience The Alaskan Layered Pollution And Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) field experiment was a collaborative study designed to improve understanding of pollution sources and chemical processes during winter (cold climate and low-photochemical activity), to investigate indoor pollution, and to study dispersion of pollution as affected by frequent temperature inversions. A number of the research goals were motivated by questions raised by residents of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the study was held. This paper describes the measurement strategies and the conditions encountered during the January and February 2022 field experiment, and reports early examples of how the measurements addressed research goals, particularly those of interest to the residents. Outdoor air measurements showed high concentrations of particulate matter and pollutant gases including volatile organic carbon species. During pollution events, low winds and extremely stable atmospheric conditions trapped pollution below 73 m, an extremely shallow vertical scale. Tethered-balloon-based measurements intercepted plumes aloft, which were associated with power plant point sources through transport modeling. Because cold climate residents spend much of their time indoors, the study included an indoor air quality component, where measurements were made inside and outside a house to study infiltration and indoor sources. In the absence of indoor activities such as cooking and/or heating with a pellet stove, indoor particulate matter concentrations were lower than outdoors; however, cooking and pellet stove burns often caused higher indoor particulate matter concentrations than outdoors. The mass-normalized particulate matter oxidative potential, a health-relevant property measured here by the reactivity with dithiothreiol, of indoor particles varied by source, with cooking particles having less oxidative potential per mass than pellet stove particles.