Atmospheric particle evolution during a nighttime atmospheric mercury depletion event in sub-Arctic at Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui, Québec, Canada

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Gauchard, Pierre-Alexis, Ferrari, Christophe P., Dommergue, Aurélien, Poissant, Laurier, Pilote, Martin, Guehenneux, Gaëlle, Boutron, Claude F., Baussand, Patrick
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polytech' Grenoble, Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF), Service Météorologique du Canada (SMC), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Groupe de Recherche sur l'Environnement et la Chimie Atmosphérique (GRECA), UFR de Mécanique et de Physique
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2005
• Subjects: Atmospheric mercury depletion events; Particles; Ozone; Transport; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Arctic; Canada; Kuujjuarapik; Whapmagoostui
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00374351; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.05.022

International audience During a field experiment at Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui (55.31°N, 77.75°W), Québec, we observed increases of concentrations of particles with diameters larger than 0.3 μm in the ambient air during a nighttime atmospheric mercury depletion event (AMDE). These increases were strongly correlated with decreases of ozone and atmospheric mercury, and we also observed a change in the particle size distribution during this AMDE. Assuming that these phenomena imply either a chemical link or an association through transport, we also studied the nature of this AMDE. We hypothesize that the observed AMDE was a result of an influx of already depleted air masses and that it was not a product of local chemical reactions.