Abstract
Abstract. During the period of scientific campaign "Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosols, Clouds and Radiation 2004" (ASTAR2004), precipitation samples were collected in late spring at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard and their ionic components were analyzed in parallel with the measurement of properties of atmospheric aerosol particles at the same place. Backward trajectory analyses indicated that the air mass above the observatory initially dominated by air masses from the Arctic Ocean, then those from western Siberia and later those from Greenland and the Arctic Ocean. In the measurement period, six precipitation samples were obtained and five of them were analyzed their ionic components by ionchromatography. The concentrations of nss-sulphate in precipitations were between 1.8 and 24.6 ppm from which the scavenging ratio and scavenging coefficients were calculated using the data such as the concentrations of nss-sulphate in aerosol particles, amounts of precipitations, and the heights of precipitations obtained from radar echo data. The scavenging ratio ranged from 1.0×106 to 17×106 which are comparable values reported in other areas. A detailed comparison between precipitation events and the number concentration of aerosol particles obtained from optical particle counters suggests that the type of precipitations, i.e. rain or snow, significantly affects the number concentrations of aerosol particles.
Highlights
Arctic haze is widespread anthropogenic pollution over arctic regions from winter to spring
The major reasons for the generation of arctic haze are considered to be the entrainment of source areas of anthropogenic pollutants into the arctic air mass and the decreased activity of the removal process due to less convective conditions in those seasons. (Shaw and Khalil, 1989 and references therein) Both reasons derive from distinct meteorological conditions in polar areas, i.e. a deficit of solar radiation during the winter season
Five-day backward trajectories (Murao et al, 1997) from the height of 925 hPa at the sampling site are shown in Fig. 2, which indicates that the air mass above the sampling site was initially influenced by the Arctic Ocean in the days between and 137JD
Summary
Arctic haze is widespread anthropogenic pollution over arctic regions from winter to spring. (Shaw and Khalil, 1989 and references therein) Both reasons derive from distinct meteorological conditions in polar areas, i.e. a deficit of solar radiation during the winter season. This situation is clearly illustrated by seasonal variations observed during continuous monitoring of aerosol particles in the arctic region over several years (Shaw, 1995; Quinn et al, 2005; Herber et al, 2002), which show contamination maxima in spring and minima in summer.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
