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, Service Météorologique du Canada (SMC), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Groupe de Recherche sur l'Environnement et la Chimie Atmosphérique (GRECA), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF), 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; Kuujjuarapik
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/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.