Elsevier

Atmospheric Environment

Volume 170, December 2017, Pages 184-196
Atmospheric Environment

Determination of black carbon and nanoparticles along glaciers in the Spitsbergen (Svalbard) region exploiting a mobile platform

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.09.042Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Innovative atmospheric experiment based on continuous measurements using snowmobile.

  • Aerosol and BC profile along the Kongsvegen glacier, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

  • Study the exchange processes acting within the atmospheric layer over glacier surface.

  • Comparison between the free atmosphere structure and the atmosphere above the glacier.

Abstract

An innovative approach to characterize concentration of atmospheric aerosol particles and air mass layering along the elevation profile of glaciers is presented for the first time and validated, exploiting low weight and fast response sensors deployed on a snowmobile. Two micro-Aethalometers for black carbon measurements and a miniature Diffusion Size Classifier (miniDisc) for total aerosol concentration (airborne particles) in the 14–260 nm range were used. Test experiments were conducted in the Arctic (Svalbard) in Spring (2016). Three glaciers in the Spitsbergen region were considered for this exploratory study, the Austre Brøggerbreen, the Edithbreen and the Kongsvegen. The Austre Brøggerbreen and Edithbreen were considered as test sites to setup the experiment, to optimize the sampling strategy and to identify some basic experimental artefacts. Kongsvegen glacier was chosen for the main case study, extending from the Kongsfjorden coast to roughly 700 m above sea level for a total length of ca. 25 km and with a nearly constant elevation gradient. The obtained results were rather consistent for the three glaciers and show an increase of nanoparticles with altitude. Black carbon concentration show stationary to decreasing trends going from the bottom to the top of the glaciers. These observations indicate a very active secondary aerosol formation at the highest elevations, responsible for the increase concentration of ultrafine particles at the glacier top. On the other side, black carbon shows higher levels at the lower altitudes of the glacier. This is indicative that in absence of a long-range transport as demonstrated by calculated back trajectories, black carbon might have accumulated due to the effect of katabatic winds flow along the glacier profile. The results obtained were compared and are largely consistent with the observations from concurrent soundings with a tethered balloon experiment conducted in the nearby site of Ny-Ålesund. The proposed experimental design opens new perspectives for future experiments, which may be of relevance for the understanding of black carbon and dry dust deposition on the glacier surface, which may impact the melting of ice and snow. The investigations also contribute to better understanding of the transport and surface exchange processes acting within the atmospheric layer over glacier surface.

Introduction

Enhanced human activities as well changes in land surface use are altering the atmospheric composition and hence also the concentration of dust and black carbon (McConnell et al., 2007). Black carbon (BC) annotates particles resulting from incomplete combustion during biomass and fossil fuel burning (Sharma et al., 2004). Atmospheric aerosols in the Arctic are usually transported from sources at lower latitudes or can be generated in-situ by gas to particle conversion processes. The relative impact of these processes depends on seasonality and on transport patterns (Freud et al., 2017). Dust sources can be natural (e.g. due to volcanic eruptions or lifting by wind typically from arid regions), or be produced by human activities. The atmospheric load is dependent on the characteristics of the air mass in the source regions and on the meteorological conditions during transport (Beine et al., 2001). Anthropogenic activities such as agricultural land use have been accused to have an impact on the global dust load (Moroni et al., 2015). These particles can be transported for long distances up to the northern latitudes and subsequently be deposited over the Arctic ice caps and glaciers (Isaksson et al., 2003, Serreze and Barry, 2011, Zangrando et al., 2013). The impact of the increased dust and BC atmospheric concentrations and successive deposition on snow and ice core have been the targets of several studies (Bond et al., 2013, Flanner, 2013, Jacobi et al., 2015, Law and Stohl, 2007, McConnell et al., 2007, Pedersen et al., 2015).

Estimation of the average atmospheric composition can be derived from analysis of the annual snow accumulated during the winter months (normally from the October to the end of April) since it can be considered as a climate archive reflecting the average composition of the surrounding air (Petit et al., 1999, Spolaor et al., 2013). The concentration of dust and black carbon in the snow is dependent on the average atmospheric load, on wet and dry deposition processes as well on remobilization after deposition due to snow wind drift. Predominant wind patterns could be able to distribute∖accumulate dust and black carbon deposited over glaciers and ice caps and enhance∖decrease their abundance in particular areas. It is well known that dust and BC can affect the global Earth radiation budget as well as the surface snow albedo (Kaufman et al., 2002). Considering the capacity of these particles (BC in particular) to absorb incoming solar radiation they have a direct effect on the surface energy balance of the glaciers increasing the energy absorption (by reducing the albedo) and in the worst case enhance the melt of glaciers (Andreae and Gelencsér, 2006). Studying the abundance and vertical distribution of dust particles and BC in the atmospheric aerosol is therefore critical for understanding the processes controlling the transport and their deposition patterns in the Arctic region. Vertical profiles of aerosol properties can be studied using aircraft, helicopters and drones or tethered balloons (Bates et al., 2013, Corrigan et al., 2008, Ferrero et al., 2014, Kupiszewski et al., 2013, Lawson et al., 2011, Maletto et al., 2003, Moroni et al., 2015, Stone et al., 2014). The use of these platforms depends on the instrumental payloads they can lift in the atmosphere, the maximum elevation that can be reached as is described e.g. in Lawson et al., (2011) and Mazzola et al., 2016.

The Ny-Ålesund research facility is well known for it's long records of a wide range of atmospheric measurements and also provides very accurate data and longer time series about atmospheric composition (Eleftheriadis et al., 2009, Gong et al., 2010, Mazzola et al., 2016, Moroni et al., 2016, Udisti et al., 2016). Atmospheric measurements are generally conducted in the free atmosphere trying to standardize and reduce as much as possible the effects due to the surrounding orography and thus making the measurements globally comparable. However, limited data exist examining the atmospheric structure and the aerosol concentration as a function of the height along elevation profiles of mountain slopes or glaciers, which has the potential to characterize the atmosphere directly in contact with the snow surface. Considering the importance of ultrafine particles and black carbon concentrations in the polar atmosphere, as well as in the surface snow, no studies exist investigating the concentration and distribution of such particles in the atmospheric layer close to the glaciers surface. The general wind pattern over Arctic glaciers is normally controlled by katabatic flow, which drains colder and denser air from the top downward towards the tongue of the glaciers and even further into the forelands (Argentini et al., 2003, Beine et al., 2001, Maturilli et al., 2013).

To determine the composition of the aerosol in terms of the airborne particles (AP hereafter), and black carbon concentration in the atmospheric layer in contact with the glacier surface, we designed an innovative experiment based on continuous measurements using a Diffusion Size Classifier (minidisc) and a micro-Aethalometer AE51 installed at the front of the snowmobile. Three glaciers have been selected in the Ny-Ålesund area for conducting basic experiments: the AustreBrøggerbreen and Edithbreen served as test sites, while Kongsvegen glacier was considered as the major investigation site. The measurements obtained along the Kongsvegen glacier surface were finally compared with tethered balloon measurements conducted in the free atmosphere close to the Ny-Ålesund research facility.

Section snippets

Instruments and experiment set-up

Airborne particles number concentration (AP) in the 14–200 nm size range and equivalent black carbon mass concentration (eBC) were been measured continuously (1 s and 1 min resolution respectively) along the glacier elevation profile using a set of portable devices installed on the front of a snowmobile (see Fig. S1 in the supplementary information). In detail, the AP number concentration was measured using a miniature Diffusion Size Classifier (miniDiSC, Fierz et al., 2011), a small and

Kongsvegen meteorological conditions

The meteorological conditions at KNG glacier are generally characterized by a katabatic wind that moves further into the Kongsfjord (Argentini et al., 2003, Beine et al., 2001, Jocher et al., 2015, Obleitner and Lehning, 2004). Konsvegen is a well-studied glacier for snow and mass balance studies (Karner et al., 2013) where continuous meteorological measurements (wind speed, direction, incoming solar radiation, snow-depth) are available thanks to installed AWSs. The two weather stations are

Conclusion

In this paper we report results from a systematic measurement study of total aerosol concentration and black carbon along the slope of three Arctic glaciers, in the Spitsbergen region (Svalbard Islands). The experiments have been conducted driving a snowmobile at low speed along the centre line of the glaciers, which was equipped with a scientific payload installed at the front of the snowmobile (micro-Aethalometers AE51 and a miniature Diffusion Size Classifier). The tests conducted allowed to

Acknowledgments

The research leading to some of the presented results has received funding from the Polish-Norwegian Research Programme operated by the National Centre for Research and Development under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 in the frame of Project Contract No Pol-Nor/196911/38/2013. The scientific activity in Ny-Ålesund was carried out in the framework of the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Polar Program. Set-up and operation of the considered automatic weather stations

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