Abstract
This study presents the year-round variability of the water-soluble fraction of trace elements (wsTE) and rare earth elements (wsREE) among size segregated airborne particulate matter samples collected at Ny-Ålesund in the Svalbard Archipelago from 26 February 2018 to 26 February 2019. Six different aerosol dimensional fractions were collected using a multi-stage Andersen impactor to better understand local and global circulation with the aim of disentangling the source of inorganic tracers from specific natural or anthropogenic sources. The wsTE and wsREE content, especially in the finest fractions in remote areas, is primarily related to long-range transport and it gives valuable information on (1) the global circulation, (2) the natural sources and (3) the contribution of human activities to aerosol composition. A Factor Analysis was applied to the dataset, including levoglucosan and methanesulfonic acid (MSA), to assess the possibility of using certain inorganic tracers as indicators of specific transport events or circulation regimes. We also investigate back-trajectories to determine potential source areas.
Highlights
Polar regions are widely acknowledged as important areas for studying the effect of climate change, the impact of anomaly natural events and human activities on the climate itself
To understand the role that aerosol could have in variation in the budget of solar radiation, reduction of visibility and possible pollution of the ecosystem [4,5], it is useful to know the geochemical characteristics of the particulate matter (PM) that reach Arctic areas
The concentrations of water-soluble fraction of trace elements (wsTE) and wsREE determined in the PM10 samples are shown in Supplementary Tables S2 and S3
Summary
Polar regions are widely acknowledged as important areas for studying the effect of climate change, the impact of anomaly natural events and human activities on the climate itself. Particulate matter can influence the chemical and radiative properties of the atmosphere These particles can transport material through the atmosphere, and they can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), affecting the optical properties of the atmosphere [3]. The transport of particulate matter (PM) from low and medium latitudes towards the polar regions may dramatically impact the quality of these fragile areas. The aerosol composition could significantly affect the snow pack chemical composition and the load of specific elements [6]. Another important property of the aerosols is their size distribution, giving valuable information on the sources of these aerosols and on the atmospheric processes modifying their properties during atmospheric transportation
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