Spatial-Temporal Variability of Small Gas Impurities over Lake Baikal during the Forest Fires in the Summer of 2019

Galina Zhamsueva,Vadim Tcydypov,Alexander Zayakhanov,Ayuna Dementeva,Tumen Balzhanov

doi:10.3390/atmos12010020

Abstract

Lake Baikal—a unique ecosystem on a global scale—is undoubtedly of great interest for a comprehensive study of its ecosystem. In recent years, one of the most significant sources of atmospheric pollution in the Baikal region was the emission of smoke aerosol and trace gases from forest fires, the number of which is increasing in the region. The transport and accumulation of aerosol and small gas impurities over water area of Lake Baikal is observed every summer due to forest fires occurring in the boreal forests of Siberia. The atmosphere above the lake covers a huge area (31,500 km2) and is still a little-studied object. This article presents the results of experimental studies of ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere over Lake Baikal, carried out on a research vessel during the boreal forest fires in Siberia in the summer of 2019.

Highlights

All fresh-water ecosystems are exposed to the stress inherent in a complicated system of changes in the climate of the planet [1]
Results and General synoptic processes over the region were analyzed on the basis of surface In the summer of 2019, large-scale forest fires were observed in the Irkutsk Region weather maps from Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute [36]
In the summer of 2019, large-scale forest fires were observed in the Irkutsk Region, Krasnoyarsk Region and Yakutia

Summary

Introduction

All fresh-water ecosystems are exposed to the stress inherent in a complicated system of changes in the climate of the planet [1]. The principal reasons for choosing Baikal as a natural laboratory to study global climate change are determined by the unique properties of the Baikal ecosystem. The atmosphere over Lake Baikal covers a vast area (31,500 km2 ) and has more significant differences in the composition and variability of gaseous and aerosol components in atmospheric air than in coastal continental areas and is still a poorly studied object. The spatial and temporal variability of anthropogenic impurities over the Baikal is largely formed under the influence of outflows from these territories, i.e., it is determined by the geographical distribution of continental sources and the prevailing circulation of air masses in a particular area [2,3,4,5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion