Investigating processes affecting wintertime air pollution variability and estimating contributions of power plant emissions relative to the surface in the stratified Arctic boundary layer

• Main Authors: Brett, Natalie, Law, Kathy S., Arnold, Stephen, Barrett, Brice, Dieudonné, Elsa, Fochesatto, Gilberto, Raut, Jean-Christophe, Onishi, Tatsuo, Pohorsky, Roman, Baccarini, Andrea, Schmale, Julia, Savarino, Joël, Albertin, Sarah, Bekki, Slimane, d'Anna, Barbara, Temime-Roussel, Brice, Simpson, William, Cesler-Maloney, Meeta, Decesari, Stefano, Donateo, Antonio
• Other Authors: STRATO - 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), Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science Leeds (ICAS), School of Earth and Environment Leeds (SEE), University of Leeds-University of Leeds, TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire d'aérologie (LAERO), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l'Atmosphère (LPCA), Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), Geophysical Institute Fairbanks, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Extreme Environments Research Laboratory (EERL), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratory of Atmospheric Processes and their Impacts (LAPI), 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), Laboratoire Chimie de l'environnement (LCE), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CNR Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC), National Research Council of Italy
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2024
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Alaska
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-04508315; https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15899

International audience The Arctic is warming rapidly compared to the global average. As Arctic warming continues, urbanisation and industrial activities are predicted to increase, along with complex climate and ecosystem feedbacks. Therefore, local sources of air pollutants are expected to play an increasingly significant role in Arctic environmental changes in the coming years. Poor air quality is already a growing public health issue in Arctic and sub-Arctic cities. During wintertime, stable meteorological conditions and the persistence of strong surface-based temperature inversions suppress the dispersion of pollutants, which accumulate due to enhanced emissions linked to high energy demands. Fairbanks, in central Alaska, is an example of a sub-Arctic city that suffers from acute wintertime pollution episodes. The city’s topography (situated in a basin), strong stratification of the Arctic boundary layer (ABL), and high emissions, primarily from domestic heating at the surface, and power plant stacks aloft, are known to contribute to the problem. However, interactions between vertical stratification of the ABL and dispersal of pollutants from surface and elevated sources are poorly quantified due to a lack of observations and complexities of the ABL structure and dynamics. To address these uncertainties, comprehensive atmospheric composition and meteorological measurements were collected at the surface, and vertical profiles were obtained using a tethered balloon during the international ALPACA (Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis) field campaign in January and February 2022.Here, we explore the contribution of power plants and surface emission sources to pollution concentrations in the Fairbanks region. We use the FLEXPART-Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Lagrangian particle dispersion model, driven by meteorological fields from US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WRF simulations including data assimilation of meteorological observations, to simulate the evolution of selected ...