Vertical distribution of aerosols in dust storms during the Arctic winter

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavla, Renard, Jean-Baptiste, Olafsson, Haraldur, Vignelles, Damien, Berthet, Gwenaël, Verdier, Nicolas, Duverger, Vincent
• Other Authors: Agricultural University of Iceland, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES), University of Iceland Reykjavik, Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES), ANR-10-LABX-0100,VOLTAIRE,Geofluids and Volatil elements – Earth, Atmosphere, Interfaces – Resources and Environment(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Arctic; black carbon; Iceland
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-02483471; https://insu.hal.science/insu-02483471/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-02483471/file/s41598-019-51764-y.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51764-y

International audience High Latitude Dust (HLD) contributes 5% to the global dust budget, but HLD measurements are sparse. Dust observations from Iceland provide dust aerosol distributions during the Arctic winter for the first time, profiling dust storms as well as clean air conditions. Five winter dust storms were captured during harsh conditions. Mean number concentrations during the non-dust flights were <5 particles cm −3 for the particles 0.2-100 µm in diameter and >40 particles cm −3 during dust storms. A moderate dust storm with >250 particles cm −3 (2 km altitude) was captured on 10 th January 2016 as a result of sediments suspended from glacial outburst flood Skaftahlaup in 2015. Similar concentrations were reported previously in the Saharan air layer. Detected particle sizes were up to 20 µm close to the surface, up to 10 µm at 900 m altitude, up to 5 µm at 5 km altitude, and submicron at altitudes >6 km. Dust sources in the Arctic are active during the winter and produce large amounts of particulate matter dispersed over long distances and high altitudes. HLD contributes to Arctic air pollution and has the potential to influence ice nucleation in mixed-phase clouds and Arctic amplification. The Arctic surface atmosphere has undergone radical changes in past decades resulting in at least two times larger warming (~1.5 °C) than the global mean temperature change. Such Arctic warming, often referred to as Arctic amplification, is attributed to greenhouse gas feedback while short-lived aerosols act as important forcing agents as well 1-4. The most radiation absorbing aerosols known in the Arctic atmosphere are black carbon and dark-coloured dust, but they have been also identified as strong light absorbing impurities when deposited on snow or ice 1,5-11. Although the direct radiative forcing of aerosols in the Arctic atmosphere is estimated to be larger than indirect radiative forcing via snow feedback, early snow cover removal can result in comparatively larger climate effects 12. The ...