References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

1680-7324

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-7-3035-2007

Arctic smoke – aerosol characteristics during a record smoke event in the European Arctic and its radiative impact

Treffeisen

¹ Tunved

² Ström

² Herber

³ Bareiss

⁴ Helbig

⁴ Stone

R. S.

⁵ Hoyningen-Huene

⁶ Krejci

⁷ Stohl

⁸ Neuber

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany

ITM – Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, S 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany

University of Trier, Department of Climatology, 54286 Trier, Germany

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, USA

University of Bremen, Institute of Environmental Physics, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28334 Bremen, Germany

Department of Meteorology (MISU), Stockholm University, S 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Instituttveien 18, 2027 Kjeller, Norway

14 06 2007

7 11 3035 3053

This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/3035/2007/acp-7-3035-2007.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/7/3035/2007/acp-7-3035-2007.pdf

In early May 2006 a record high air pollution event was observed at Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen. An atypical weather pattern established a pathway for the rapid transport of biomass burning aerosols from agricultural fires in Eastern Europe to the Arctic. Atmospheric stability was such that the smoke was constrained to low levels, within 2 km of the surface during the transport. A description of this smoke event in terms of transport and main aerosol characteristics can be found in Stohl et al. (2007). This study puts emphasis on the radiative effect of the smoke. The aerosol number size distribution was characterised by lognormal parameters as having an accumulation mode centered around 165–185 nm and almost 1.6 for geometric standard deviation of the mode. Nucleation and small Aitken mode particles were almost completely suppressed within the smoke plume measured at Ny-Ålesund. Chemical and microphysical aerosol information obtained at Mt. Zeppelin (474 m a.s.l) was used to derive input parameters for a one-dimensional radiation transfer model to explore the radiative effects of the smoke. The daily mean heating rate calculated on 2 May 2006 for the average size distribution and measured chemical composition reached 0.55 K day−1 at 0.5 km altitude for the assumed external mixture of the aerosols but showing much higher heating rates for an internal mixture (1.7 K day−1). In comparison a case study for March 2000 showed that the local climatic effects due to Arctic haze, using a regional climate model, HIRHAM, amounts to a maximum of 0.3 K day−1 of heating at 2 km altitude (Treffeisen et al., 2005).

References 1

Andreae, M. O., Rosenfeld, D., Artaxo, P., Costa, A. A., Frank, G. P., Longo, K. M., and Silva-Dias, M. A. F.: Smoking rain clouds over the Amazon, Science, 303, 1337–1341, 2004.

Barrie, L. A.: Arctic air pollution: an overview of current knowledge, Atmos. Environ., 20, 643–663, 1986.

Barrie, L. A. and Barrie, M. L.: Chemical components of lower tropospheric aerosols in the high Arctic: six years of observation, J. Atmos. Chem., 211–226, 1990.

Barrie, L. A., Yi, Y., Leaitch, R., Lohmann, U., Kasibhatla, Roelofs G.-J., Wilson, J., McGovern, F., Benkovitz, C., Mélières, M. A., Law, K., Prospero, J., Kritz, M., Bergmann, D., Bridgeman, C., Chin, M., Christensen, J., Easter, R., Feichter, J., Land, C., Jeuken, A., and Kjellström: A comparison of large-scale atmospheric sulphate aerosol models (COSAM): overview and highlights, Tellus 53B, 615–645, 2001.

Blanchet, J. P.: Towards estimation of climatic effects due to Arctic aerosols, Atmos. Environ., 23, 2609–2625, 1989.

Chang, H. and Charalampopoulos, T. T.: Determination of the wavelength dependence of refractive indices of flame soot, Proc. R. Soc. Lond A, 430, 577–591, 1990.

Davidenko E. P. and Eritsov, E.: The Wildland Fire Season 2002 in the Russian Federation. An Assessment By The Global Fire Monitoring Center, Int. Forest Fire News No 28, 29–32, 2003.

Draxler, R. R. and Rolph, G. D.: HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website (http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html), NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring,MD, 2003.

Emery, C. A., Haberle, R., and Ackermann, T. P.: A one-dimensional modelling study of carbonaceous haze effects on the spring time Arctic environment, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 20 599–20 613, 1992.

Fishman, J.: Identification of widespread pollution in the Southern Hemisphere deduced from satellite analysis, Science, 252, 1693–1696, 1991.

French, N. N. F.: The impact of fire disturbance on carbon and energy exchange in the Alaskan boreal region: A geospatial data analysis, Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Mich., Ann Arbor, 105 pp., 2002.

Goldammer, J. G.: Russian Federation Fire 2002 Special Part I., Int. Forest Fire News No 28, 2–14, 2003.

Greenaway, K. R.: Experiences with Arctic flying weather, report, Roy. Meteor. Soc. Can. Branch, Toronto, Ont., Canada, 12~pp., 1950.

Hara, K., Yamagata, S., Yamanouchi, T., Sato, K., Herber, A., Iwasaka, Y., Nagatani, M., and Nakada, A.: Mixing states of individual aerosol particles in spring Arctic troposphere during ASTAR 2000 campaign, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4209, doi:10.1029/2002JD002513, 2003.

Harvey, V. L., Hitchman, M. H., Pierce, R. B., and Fairlie, T. D.: Tropical aerosol in the Aleutian High, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D6), 6281–6290, 1999.

Heitzenberg, J.: The chemical composition of Arctic Haze at Ny-Ålesund, Spitzbergen, Tellus, 33, 162–171, 1981.

Heintzenberg, J. and Covert, D. S.: Chemically resolved submicrometric size distribution and external mixing of the Arctic haze aerosols, Tellus, 39B, 374–382, 1987.

Herber, A., Thomason, L. W., Gernandt, H., Leiterer, U., Nagel, D., Schulz, K. H., Kaptur, J., Albrecht, T., and Notholt, J.: Continuous day and night aerosol optical depth observations in the Arctic between 1991 and 1999, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D10), doi:10.1029/2001JD000536, AAC 6-1–6-14, 2002.

Hess, M., Koepke, P., and Schult, I.: Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds: The software package OPAC, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 79, 831–844, 1998.

Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Tanre, D. Buis, J. P., Setzer, A., Vermonte, E. Reagan, J. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Nakajima, T., Lavenu, F., Jankowiak, I., and Smirnow, A.: AERONET-a fedral instrument network and data archive for aerosol characterization, Rem. Sens. Environ., 66, 1–16, 1998.

Hopfer, J. F., Worthy, D. E., Barrie, L. A., and Trivett, N. B.: Atmospheric observation of aerosol black carbon, carbon dioxide and methane in the high Arctic, Atmos. Environ., 28, 3047–3054, 1994.

Kasten, F.and Young, A. T.: Revised optical airmass tables and approximation formula, Appl. Opt., 28, 4735–4738, 1989.

Kaufman, Y. J., Tanre, D., Gordon, H. R., Nakajima, T., Lenoble, J., Frouin, R., Grassl, H., Herman, B. M., King, M. D., and Teillet, P. M.: Passive remote sensing of tropospheric aerosol and atmospheric correction for the aerosol effect, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 16 815–16 830, 1997.

Kokhanovsky, A. A. and Rozanov, V. V.: The reflection function of optically thick, weakly absorbing turbid layers: a simple approximation, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 77, 165–175, 2003.

Kokhanovsky, A. A.: Cloud optics, Springer, Dordrecht, 2006.

Konzelmann, T., Cahoon Jr., D. R., and Whitlock, C. H.: Impact of biomass burning in equatorial Africa on the downward surface shortwave irradiance: Observations versus calculations, J. Geophys. Res., 101(D17), 2833–2844, 1996.

Korontzi, S., McCarty, J., Loboda, T., Kumar, S., and Justice, C.: Global distribution of agricultural fires in croplands from 3 years of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 20, GB2021, doi:10.1029/2005GB002529, 2006.

Köpke P., Hess, H., Schult, I., and Shettle, E.: The Global Aerosol Data Set (GADS), MPI-Rep., Hamburg, 243, 44~pp., 1997.

Leck, C., Nilsson, E. D., Bigg, E. K., and Bäcklin, L.: Atmospheric program on the Arctic Ocean Expedition 1996 (AOE-96): An overview of scientific goals, experimental approach, and instruments, J. Geophys. Res., 106(D23), 32 051–32 067, 2001.

Levine, J. S. (Ed.): Biomass Burning and Global Change, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, Vol 2, 902 pp., 1996.

MacDonald, R. W., Barrie, L. A., Bidleman, T. F., Diamond, M. L., Gregor, D. J., Semkin, R. G., Strachan, W. M. J., Li, Y. F., Wania, F., Alaee, M., Aleseeva, L. B., Backus, S. M., Bailey, R., Bewers, J. M., Gobeil C., Halsall, C. J., Harner, T., Hoff, J. T., Jantunen, L. M., Lockhart, W. L., Mackay, D., Muir, D. C., Pudykiewicz, J., Reimer, K. J., Smith, J. N., Stern, G. A., Schroeder, W. H., Wagemann, R., and Yunker M. N.: Contaminants in the Canadian Arctic: 5 years of progress in understanding sources, occurrence and pathways, Sci. Total Environ., 254, 93–234, 2000.

Mitchell, J. M.: Visual range in the polar regions with particular reference to the Alaskan Arctic, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys. Spec. Suppl., 195–211, 1957.

Norman, A. L., Barrie, L. A., Toom-Sauntry, D., Sirois, A,, Krouse, H. R., Li, S. M., and Sharma, S.: Sources of aerosol sulphate at Alert: apportionment using stable isotopes, J. Geopys. Res., 103(D15), 19 045–19 057, 1999.

Oliver, J. E. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of World Climatology, Springer, 854~pp., 2005.

Ramanathan, V., Crutzen, P. J., Kiehl, J. T., and Rosenfeld, D.: Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle, Science, 294(5549), 2119–2124, 2001.

Ricard, V., Jaffrezo, J. L., Kerminen, V. M., Hillamo, R. E., Sillanpaa, M., Ruellan, S., Liousse, C., and Cachier, H.: Two years of continuous aerosol measurements in northern Finland, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D11), 4129, doi:101029/2001JD000952, 2002.

Richiazzi, P., Yang, S., Gautier, C., and Sowle, D.: SBDART: A research and teaching software tool for plane-parallel radiative transfer in the earth's atmosphere, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 79, 2101–2114 (available at: http://arm.mrcsb.com/sbdart), 1998.

Rinsland, C. P., Goldman, A., Murcray, F. J., Stephen, T. M., Pougatchev, N. S., Fishman, J., David, S. J., Blatherwick, R. D., Novelli, P. C., Jones, N. B., and Connor, B. J.: Infrared solar spectroscopic measurements of free tropospheric CO, C2H$_6$, and HCN above Mauna Loa, Hawaii: Seasonal variations and evidence for enhanced emissions from the southeast Asian tropical fires of 1997–1998, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D15), 18 667–18 680, 1999.

Ritter, C., Kische, A., and Neuber, R.: Tropospheric Aerosol characterized by a Raman Lidar over Spitsbergen Reviewed and revised papers presented at the 22nd International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC 2004): 12–16 July 2004, Matera, Italy/European Space Agency, ESA Publications Div., 459–462, 2004.

Robock, A.: Surface cooling due to forest fire smoke, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 20 869–20 878, 1991.

Shaw, G. E., Stamnes, K., and Hu, K.: Arctic haze – Perturbation to the Radiation Field, Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 51, 227–235, 1993.

Shaw, G. E.: The Arctic Haze Phenomenon, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 76(12), 2403–2413, 1995.

Stohl, A.: Characteristics of atmospheric transport into the Arctic troposphere, J. Gephys. Res, 111, D11306, doi:10.1029/2005JD006888, 2006.

Stohl, A., Andrews, E., Burkhart, J. F., Forster, C., Herber, A., Hoch, S. W., Kowal, D., Lunder, C., Mefford, T., Ogren, J. A., Sharma, S., Spichtinger, N., Stebel, K., Stone, R., Ström, J., Tørseth, K. Wehrli, C., and Yttri K. E.: Pan-Arctic enhancements of light absorbing aerosol concentrations due to North American boreal forest fires during summer 2004, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D22214, doi:10.1029/2006JD007216, 2006a.

Stohl, A. , Berg, T., Burkhart, J. F., Fjǽraa, A. M., Forster, C., Herber, A., Hov, Ø., Lunder, C., McMillan, W. W., Oltmans, S., Shiobara, M., Simpson, D., Solberg, S., Stebel, K., Ström, J., Tørseth, K., Treffeisen, R., Virkkunen, K., and Yttri, K. E.: Arctic smoke record high air pollution levels in the European Arctic due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 511–534, 2007.

Stone, R. S.: Monitoring aerosol optical depth at Barrow, Alaska and South Pole; Historical overview, recent results, and future goals, in: Procceedings of the 9th Workshop Italian Research on Antarctic Atmosphere, Rome, Italy, 22–24 October 2001, edited by: Colacino, M., Ital. Phys. Soc., Bologna, Italy, 123–144, 2002.

Stokes, R. H. and Robinson, R. A.: Interactions in aqueous nonelectrolyte solutions: I. Solute-solvent equilibria, J. Phys. Chem., 70, 2126–2130, 1966.

Treffeisen, R., Rinke, A., Fortmann, M., Dethloff, K., Herber, A., and Yamanouchi, T.: A case study of the radiative effects of Arctic aerosols in March 2000, Atmos. Environ., 39, 899–911, 2005.

Wendling, P., Wendling, R., Renger, W., Covert, D. S., Heintzenberg, J., and Moerl, P.: Calculated radiative effects of Arctic haze during a pollution episode in Spring 1983 based on ground-based and airborne measurements, Atmos. Environ., 19, 2181–2193, 1985.

Wiedensohler, A.: An approximation of the bipolar charge-distribution for particles in the sub-micron range, J. Aerosol Sci., 19, 387–389, 1988.

Wild, M.: Discrepancies between model-calculated and observed shortwave atmospheric absorption in areas with high aerosol loadings, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 27 361–27 371, 1999.

Wiscombe, W.: Mie scattering calculations: Advances in technique and fast, vector-speed computer codes, NCAR Technical Note NCAR/TN-140+STR, available from National Technical Information Service as NTIS PB 301388, 1979.

Treffeisen, R., Rinke, A., Fortmann, M., Dethloff, K., Herber, A., and Yamanouchi, T.: A case study of the radiative effects of Arctic aerosols in March 2000, Atmos. Environ., 39, 899–911, 2005.

von Hoyningen-Huene, W., Freitag, M., and Burrows, J. B.: Retrieval of aerosol optical thickness over land surfaces from top-of-atmosphere radiance, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D9), 4260, doi:10.1029/2001JD002018, 2003.

von Hoyningen-Huene, W., Kokhanovsky, A. A., Burrows, J. P., Bruniquel-Pinel; V., Regner, P., and Barét, F.: Simultaneous Determination of Aerosol- and Surface Characteristics from Top-of-Atmosphere Reflectance using MERIS on board of ENVISAT, J. Adv. Space Res., 37, 2172–2177, 2006.

von Hoyningen-Huene, W., Kokhanovsky, A.A., Wuttke, M.W., Buchwitz, M., Noel, S., Gerilowski, K., Burrows, J. P., Latter, B., Siddans, R., and Kerridge, B. J.: Validation of SCIAMACHY top-of-atmosphere reflectance for aerosol remote sensing using MERIS L1 data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 97–106, 2007.

Yamanouchi, T., Treffeisen, R., Hereber, A., Shiobara, M., Yamagata, S., Hara, K., Sato, K., Yabuki, M., Tomikawa, Y., Rinke, A., Neuber, R., Schumachter, R., Kriews, M., Ström, J., Schrems, O., and Gernandt, H.: Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol and Radiation (ASTAR) 2000: Arctic haze case study, Tellus B, 141–152, 2005.