Analysis of nitrate in the snow and atmosphere at Summit, Greenland: Chemistry and transport

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Fibiger, Dorothy L., Dibb, Jack E., Chen, Dexian, Thomas, Jennie L., Burkhart, John F., Huey, L. Gregory, Hastings, Meredith G.
• Other Authors: NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Chemistry Providence, Brown University, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space Durham (EOS), University of New Hampshire (UNH), School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Atlanta, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Geosciences Oslo, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Oslo, University of Oslo (UiO)-University of Oslo (UiO), Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California (UC), Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Providence
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: photolysis; nitrate; Summit; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Greenland
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-01304385; https://insu.hal.science/insu-01304385/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-01304385/file/2015JD024187.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024187

International audience As a major sink of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO x = NO + NO 2 ), nitrate (NO 3 - ) in polar snow can reflect the long-range transport of NO x and related species (e.g., PAN). On the other hand, because NO 3 - in snow can be photolyzed, potentially producing gas-phase NO x locally, NO 3 - in snow (and thus, ice) may reflect local processes. Here we investigate the relationship between local atmospheric composition at Summit, Greenland (72°35’N, 38°25’W) and the isotopic composition of NO 3 - to determine the degree to which local processes influence atmospheric and snow NO 3 -. Based on snow and atmospheric observations during May-June 2010 and 2011, we find no connection between the local atmospheric concentrations of a suite of gases (BrO, NO, NO y , HNO 3 and nitrite (NO 2 - )) and the NO 3 - isotopic composition or concentration in snow. This suggests that 1) the snow NO 3 - at Summit is primarily derived from long-range transport and 2) this NO 3 - is largely preserved in the snow. Additionally, three isotopically distinct NO 3 - sources were found to be contributing to the NO 3 - in the snow at Summit during both 2010 and 2011. Through the complete isotopic composition of NO 3 - , we suggest that these sources are local anthropogenic particulate NO 3 - from station activities (δ 15 N = 16‰, Δ 17 O = 4‰ and δ 18 O = 23‰), NO 3 - formed from mid-latitude NO x (δ 15 N = -10‰, Δ 17 O = 29‰, δ 18 O = 78‰) and a NO 3 - source that is possibly influenced or derived from stratospheric ozone NO 3 - (δ 15 N = 5‰, Δ 17 O = 39‰, δ 18 O = 100‰).