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| Titel |
Arctic smoke – record high air pollution levels in the European Arctic due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe in spring 2006 |
| VerfasserIn |
A. Stohl, T. Berg, J. F. Burkhart, A. M. Fjǽraa, C. Forster, A. Herber, O. Hov, C. Lunder, W. W. McMillan, S. Oltmans, M. Shiobara, D. Simpson, S. Solberg, K. Stebel, J. Ström, K. Tørseth, R. Treffeisen, K. Virkkunen, K. E. Yttri |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1680-7316
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ; 7, no. 2 ; Nr. 7, no. 2 (2007-01-26), S.511-534 |
| Datensatznummer |
250004475
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/acp-7-511-2007.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| In spring 2006, the European Arctic was abnormally warm, setting new
historical temperature records. During this warm period, smoke from
agricultural fires in Eastern Europe intruded into the European Arctic and
caused the most severe air pollution episodes ever recorded there. This paper
confirms that biomass burning (BB) was indeed the source of the observed air
pollution, studies the transport of the smoke into the Arctic, and presents
an overview of the observations taken during the episode. Fire detections
from the MODIS instruments aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites were used to
estimate the BB emissions. The FLEXPART particle dispersion model was used to
show that the smoke was transported to Spitsbergen and Iceland, which was
confirmed by MODIS retrievals of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and AIRS
retrievals of carbon monoxide (CO) total columns. Concentrations of
halocarbons, carbon dioxide and CO, as well as levoglucosan and potassium,
measured at Zeppelin mountain near Ny Ålesund, were used to further
corroborate the BB source of the smoke at Spitsbergen. The ozone (O3) and
CO concentrations were the highest ever observed at the Zeppelin station, and
gaseous elemental mercury was also elevated. A new O3 record was also set
at a station on Iceland. The smoke was strongly absorbing – black carbon
concentrations were the highest ever recorded at Zeppelin – and strongly
perturbed the radiation transmission in the atmosphere: aerosol optical
depths were the highest ever measured at Ny Ålesund. We furthermore
discuss the aerosol chemical composition, obtained from filter samples, as
well as the aerosol size distribution during the smoke event. Photographs
show that the snow at a glacier on Spitsbergen became discolored during the
episode and, thus, the snow albedo was reduced. Samples of this polluted snow
contained strongly elevated levels of potassium, sulphate, nitrate and
ammonium ions, thus relating the discoloration to the deposition of the smoke
aerosols. This paper shows that, to date, BB has been underestimated as a
source of aerosol and air pollution for the Arctic, relative to emissions
from fossil fuel combustion. Given its significant impact on air quality over
large spatial scales and on radiative processes, the practice of agricultural
waste burning should be banned in the future. |
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