Mixing State of Size-Selected Submicrometer Particles in the Arctic in May and September 2012Show others and affiliations
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2014 (English)In: Environmental Science and Technology, ISSN 0013-936X, E-ISSN 1520-5851, Vol. 48, no 2, p. 909-919Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Aerosols have been associated with large uncertainties in estimates of the radiation budget and cloud formation processes in the Arctic. This paper reports the results of a study of in situ measurements of hygroscopicity, fraction of volatile species, mixing state, and off-line morphological and elemental analysis of Aitken and accumulation mode particles in the Arctic (Ny-Alesund, Svalbard) in May and September 2012. The accumulation mode particles were more abundant in May than in September. This difference was due to more air mass flow from lower latitude continental areas, weaker vertical mixing, and less wet scavenging in May than in September, which may have led to a higher amount of long-range transport aerosols entering the Arctic in the spring. The Aitken mode particles observed intermittently in May were produced by nucleation, absent significant external mixing, whereas the accumulation mode particles displayed significant external mixing. The occurrence of an external mixing state was observed often in May than in September and more often in accumulation mode particles than in Aitken mode particles, and it was associated more with continental air masses (Siberian) than with other air masses. The external mixing of the accumulation mode particles in May may have been caused by multiple sources (i.e., long-range transport aerosols with aging and marine aerosols). These groups of externally mixed particles were subdivided into different mixing structures (internal mixtures of predominantly sulfates and volatile organics without nonvolatile species and internal mixtures of sulfates and nonvolatile components, such as sea salts, minerals, and soot). The variations in the mixing states and chemical species of the Arctic aerosols in terms of their sizes, air masses, and seasons suggest that the continuous size-dependent measurements observed in this study are useful for obtaining better estimates of the effects of these aerosols on climate change.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2014. Vol. 48, no 2, p. 909-919
Research subject
SWEDARCTIC 2006, Zeppelin; SWEDARCTIC 2007, Zeppelin 2007
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-2291DOI: 10.1021/es404622nISI: 000330205000011PubMedID: 24328132OAI: oai:DiVA.org:polar-2291DiVA, id: diva2:858178
2015-10-012015-10-012017-12-01