• Energy Research

The concentrations and particle-size distribution of sugars in Arctic aerosol samples were studied to investigate their potential sources and transport. Sugars are constituents of the water-soluble organic compounds (WSOC) fraction in aerosol particles where some saccharides are used as tracers of Primary Biological Aerosol Particles (PBAPs). Monosaccharides (arabinose, fructose, galactose, glucose, mannose, ribose, xylose), disaccharides (sucrose, lactose, maltose, lactulose), alcohol-sugars (erythritol, mannitol, ribitol, sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, galactitol) and anhydrosugars (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan) were quantified in aerosol samples collected during three different sampling campaigns (spring and summer 2013, spring 2014 and 2015). The mean total concentrations of sugars were 0.4 ± 0.3, 0.6 ± 0.5 and 0.5 ± 0.6 ng m-3 for 2013, 2014 and 2015 spring campaigns, while the mean concentration increased to 3 ± 3 ng m-3 in the summer of 2013. This work identified a reproducibility in the sugars trend during spring, while the summer data in 2013 allowed to us to demonstrate strong local inputs when the ground was free of snow and ice. Furthermore, the study aims to show that the two specific ratios of sorbitol & galactiol to arabinose were diagnostic for the type of biomass that was burnt. This study demonstrates that not only is long-range atmospheric transport significant. But depending on seasonality, local inputs can also play an important role in the chemical composition of sugars in Arctic aerosol.

The produced dataset (in MS Excel format) contains concentrations of mercury, trace elements and organic contaminants in snow samples collected in the Ny-Alesund area (Svalbard - Norway) (78.917° N 11.933° E) and from the Antarctic Plateau, Dome C (75.103°S, 123.35°E). The Arctic sampling sites are reported in figure 1. The concentrations for trace elements and mercury are in ngg-1 while for the organic contaminants they are reported in ngL-1. The inorganic contaminants dataset reports concentration of Hg, Trace elements and Black Carbon in Arctic and Antarctic site. The Arctic sites are subdivided in annual snow pack on the glacier and surface snow sampling close to the Gruvebadet Aerosol Laboratory. In Antarctica mercury concentrations in surface snow are also reported. The organic contaminants dataset reports the concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface snow samples collected close to the Gruvebadet Aerosol Laboratory (78.91622°N 11.89536°E, Ny Alesund, Norway). Samplings were performed from 04/10/2018 to 13/05/2019, obtaining a total of 35 samples, encompassing the entire winter season with an approximatively weekly resolution. Total PAH (sum of naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k) fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(ghi)perylene, indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene) concentrations range from 0.8 to 37 ng L-1. Individual PAHs were mean blank corrected and average percentage abundances in the samples are reported in the dataset. {"references": ["Pet\u00e4j\u00e4, T., et al., Overview: Integrative and Comprehensive Understanding on Polar Environments (iCUPE) \u2013 concept and initial results. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2020. 20(14): p. 8551-8592.", "Bert\u00f2, M., et al., Variability in black carbon mass concentration in surface snow at Svalbard. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2021. 21(16): p. 12479-12493.", "Cairns, W.R.L., et al., Mercury in precipitated and surface snow at Dome C and a first estimate of mercury depositional fluxes during the Austral summer on the high Antarctic plateau. Atmospheric Environment, 2021. 262: p. 118634."]}

Abstract. The role of polar regions increases in terms of megatrends such as globalization, new transport routes, demography and use of natural resources consequent effects of regional and transported pollutant concentrations. We set up the ERA-PLANET Strand 4 project iCUPE – integrative and Comprehensive Understanding on Polar Environments to provide novel insights and observational data on global grand challenges with an Arctic focus. We utilize an integrated approach combining in situ observations, satellite remote sensing Earth Observations (EO) and multi-scale modeling to synthesize data from comprehensive long-term measurements, intensive campaigns and satellites to deliver data products, metrics and indicators to the stakeholders concerning the environmental status, availability and extraction of natural resources in the polar areas. The iCUPE work consists of thematic state-of-the-art research and provision of novel data in atmospheric pollution, local sources and transboundary transport, characterization of arctic surfaces and their changes, assessment of concentrations and impacts of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants and their cycling, quantification of emissions from natural resource extraction and validation and optimization of satellite Earth Observation (EO) data streams. In this paper we introduce the iCUPE project and summarize initial results arising out of integration of comprehensive in situ observations, satellite remote sensing and multiscale modeling in the Arctic context.

AbstractIodine has a significant impact on promoting the formation of new ultrafine aerosol particles and accelerating tropospheric ozone loss, thereby affecting radiative forcing and climate. Therefore, understanding the long-term natural evolution of iodine, and its coupling with climate variability, is key to adequately assess its effect on climate on centennial to millennial timescales. Here, using two Greenland ice cores (NEEM and RECAP), we report the Arctic iodine variability during the last 127,000 years. We find the highest and lowest iodine levels recorded during interglacial and glacial periods, respectively, modulated by ocean bioproductivity and sea ice dynamics. Our sub-decadal resolution measurements reveal that high frequency iodine emission variability occurred in pace with Dansgaard/Oeschger events, highlighting the rapid Arctic ocean-ice-atmosphere iodine exchange response to abrupt climate changes. Finally, we discuss if iodine levels during past warmer-than-present climate phases can serve as analogues of future scenarios under an expected ice-free Arctic Ocean. We argue that the combination of natural biogenic ocean iodine release (boosted by ongoing Arctic warming and sea ice retreat) and anthropogenic ozone-induced iodine emissions may lead to a near future scenario with the highest iodine levels of the last 127,000 years.

Sea ice decline in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas has been proposed to contribute to the repeated abrupt atmospheric warmings recorded in Greenland ice cores during the last glacial period, known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events. However, the understanding of how sea ice changes were coupled with abrupt climate changes during D-O events has remained incomplete due to a lack of suitable high-resolution sea ice proxy records from northwestern North Atlantic regions. Here, we present a subdecadal-scale bromine enrichment (Br enr ) record from the NEEM ice core (Northwest Greenland) and sediment core biomarker records to reconstruct the variability of seasonal sea ice in the Baffin Bay and Labrador Sea over a suite of D-O events between 34 and 42 ka. Our results reveal repeated shifts between stable, multiyear sea ice (MYSI) conditions during cold stadials and unstable, seasonal sea ice conditions during warmer interstadials. The shift from stadial to interstadial sea ice conditions occurred rapidly and synchronously with the atmospheric warming over Greenland, while the amplitude of high-frequency sea ice fluctuations increased through interstadials. Our findings suggest that the rapid replacement of widespread MYSI with seasonal sea ice amplified the abrupt climate warming over the course of D-O events and highlight the role of feedbacks associated with late-interstadial seasonal sea ice expansion in driving the North Atlantic ocean–climate system back to stadial conditions.