Abstract
In the present paper, the inter-seasonal Hg variability in snow cover was examined based on multivariate statistical analysis of chemical and meteorological data. Samples of freshly fallen snow cover were collected at the semi-urban site in Poznań (central Poland), during 3-month field measurements in winter 2013. It was showed that concentrations of atmospherically deposited Hg were highly variable in snow cover, from 0.43 to 12.5 ng L−1, with a mean value of 4.62 ng L−1. The highest Hg concentration in snow cover coincided with local intensification of fossil fuel burning, indicating large contribution from various anthropogenic sources such as commercial and domestic heating, power generation plants, and traffic-related pollution. Moreover, the variability of Hg in collected snow samples was associated with long-range transport of pollutants, nocturnal inversion layer, low boundary layer height, and relatively low air temperature. For three snow episodes, Hg concentration in snow cover was attributed to southerly advection, suggesting significant contribution from the highly polluted region of Poland (Upper Silesia) and major European industrial hotspots. However, the peak Hg concentration was measured in samples collected during predominant N to NE advection of polluted air masses and after a relatively longer period without precipitation. Such significant contribution to the higher Hg accumulation in snow cover was associated with intensive emission from anthropogenic sources (coal combustion) and atmospheric conditions in this area. These results suggest that further measurements are needed to determine how the Hg transformation paths in snow cover change in response to longer/shorter duration of snow cover occurrence and to determine the interactions between mercury and absorbing carbonaceous aerosols in the light of climate change.
Highlights
Urban snow is a key parameter in hydrological, meteorological, and ecological non-linear processes in the environment (Engelhard et al 2007)
Snow experiments were divided according to the month of sampling, i.e., J—snow experiments that were performed in January, F—snow samples collected in February, and M— snow cover sampled in March
5.50 of samples of the freshly fallen snow, Hg concentration was in the range between 0.98 and 10.5 ng L−1
Summary
Urban snow is a key parameter in hydrological, meteorological, and ecological non-linear processes in the environment (Engelhard et al 2007). In-situ long-term measurements of gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) and its oxidized species (RGM, reactive gaseous mercury: HgP, particulate mercury) in the snowpack and overlaying atmosphere have been intensively undertaken over the past decade by various polar research groups in the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica, and Greenland. It was observed that GEM can be removed during springtime from lower atmosphere via photochemical processes and rapidly deposited on the snow cover, resulting in extremely low values of GEM above the polar snowpack. Recent studies at polar sunrise revealed that total mercury concentrations in the Environ Sci Pollut Res (2016) 23:24316–24326 surface snowpack are elevated, up to 100 ng L−1 (Lahoutifard et al 2005, Larose et al 2013), compared to other non-polar locations
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