The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets
Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2012 We use observations of the absorption properties of black carbon and non-black-carbon impurities in near-surface snow collected near the research stations at South Pole and Dome C, Antarctica and Summit, Greenland combined with a snowpack actini...
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ftunivwashington:oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/20903 2023-05-15T13:32:22+02:00 The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets Zatko, Maria Christine Alexander, Becky 2012 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1773/20903 en_US eng Zatko_washington_0250O_10325.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1773/20903 Copyright is held by the individual authors. actinic flux e-folding depth nitrate NOx photochemistry photodenitrification Atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric sciences Thesis 2012 ftunivwashington 2023-03-12T18:50:03Z Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2012 We use observations of the absorption properties of black carbon and non-black-carbon impurities in near-surface snow collected near the research stations at South Pole and Dome C, Antarctica and Summit, Greenland combined with a snowpack actinic flux parameterization to estimate the vertical profile and e-folding depth of ultraviolet/near-visible (UV/near-vis) actinic flux in the snowpack at each location. We have developed a simple and broadly applicable parameterization to calculate the depth and wavelength dependent snowpack actinic flux that can be easily integrated into large scale (e.g. 3D) models of the atmosphere. The calculated e-folding depths of actinic flux at 305 nm, the peak wavelength of nitrate photolysis in the snowpack, are 8-12 cm near the stations and 15-31 cm away (> 11 km) from the stations. We find that the e-folding depth is strongly dependent on impurity content and wavelength in the UV/near-vis region, which explains the relatively shallow e-folding depths near stations where local activities lead to higher impurity levels. We calculate the lifetime of NO x in the snowpack interstitial air produced by photolysis of snowpack nitrate against escape (τ escape ) from the snowpack via diffusion and wind pumping and compare this to the calculated lifetime of NO x against chemical conversion to HNO 3 (τ chemical ) to determine whether the NO x produced at a given depth can escape from the snowpack to the overlying atmosphere. Comparison of τ escape and τ chemical suggests efficient escape of photoproduced NO x in the snowpack to the overylying atmosphere. Calculated vertical actinic flux profiles and observed snowpack nitrate concentrations are used to determine the flux of NO x from the snowpack. Calculated NO x fluxes of 4.4x10 8 -2.8x10 9 molecules cm -2 s -1 in remote polar locations and 3.2-8.2x10 8 molecules cm -2 s -1 near polar stations in January at Dome C and South Pole and in June at Summit suggest that NO x flux measurements ... Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland South pole South pole University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks Antarctic The Antarctic Greenland South Pole |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwashington |
language |
English |
topic |
actinic flux e-folding depth nitrate NOx photochemistry photodenitrification Atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric sciences |
spellingShingle |
actinic flux e-folding depth nitrate NOx photochemistry photodenitrification Atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric sciences Zatko, Maria Christine The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets |
topic_facet |
actinic flux e-folding depth nitrate NOx photochemistry photodenitrification Atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric sciences |
description |
Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2012 We use observations of the absorption properties of black carbon and non-black-carbon impurities in near-surface snow collected near the research stations at South Pole and Dome C, Antarctica and Summit, Greenland combined with a snowpack actinic flux parameterization to estimate the vertical profile and e-folding depth of ultraviolet/near-visible (UV/near-vis) actinic flux in the snowpack at each location. We have developed a simple and broadly applicable parameterization to calculate the depth and wavelength dependent snowpack actinic flux that can be easily integrated into large scale (e.g. 3D) models of the atmosphere. The calculated e-folding depths of actinic flux at 305 nm, the peak wavelength of nitrate photolysis in the snowpack, are 8-12 cm near the stations and 15-31 cm away (> 11 km) from the stations. We find that the e-folding depth is strongly dependent on impurity content and wavelength in the UV/near-vis region, which explains the relatively shallow e-folding depths near stations where local activities lead to higher impurity levels. We calculate the lifetime of NO x in the snowpack interstitial air produced by photolysis of snowpack nitrate against escape (τ escape ) from the snowpack via diffusion and wind pumping and compare this to the calculated lifetime of NO x against chemical conversion to HNO 3 (τ chemical ) to determine whether the NO x produced at a given depth can escape from the snowpack to the overlying atmosphere. Comparison of τ escape and τ chemical suggests efficient escape of photoproduced NO x in the snowpack to the overylying atmosphere. Calculated vertical actinic flux profiles and observed snowpack nitrate concentrations are used to determine the flux of NO x from the snowpack. Calculated NO x fluxes of 4.4x10 8 -2.8x10 9 molecules cm -2 s -1 in remote polar locations and 3.2-8.2x10 8 molecules cm -2 s -1 near polar stations in January at Dome C and South Pole and in June at Summit suggest that NO x flux measurements ... |
author2 |
Alexander, Becky |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Zatko, Maria Christine |
author_facet |
Zatko, Maria Christine |
author_sort |
Zatko, Maria Christine |
title |
The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets |
title_short |
The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets |
title_full |
The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets |
title_fullStr |
The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and NOx associated emissions on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets |
title_sort |
influence of snow grain size and impurities on the vertical profiles of actinic flux and nox associated emissions on the antarctic and greenland ice sheets |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/20903 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Greenland South Pole |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Greenland South Pole |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland South pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland South pole South pole |
op_relation |
Zatko_washington_0250O_10325.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1773/20903 |
op_rights |
Copyright is held by the individual authors. |
_version_ |
1766026186300850176 |