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Black carbon in the Arctic: the underestimated role of gas flaring and residential combustion emissions
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Abstract
Abstract. Arctic Haze is a seasonal phenomenon with high concentrations of accumulation-mode aerosols occurring in the Arctic in winter and early spring. Chemistry transport models and climate chemistry models struggle to reproduce this phenomenon, and this has recently prompted changes in aerosol removal schemes to remedy the modeling problems. In this paper, we show that shortcomings in current emission data sets are at least as important. We perform a 3 yr model simulation of black carbon (BC) with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. The model is driven with a new emission data set which includes emissions from gas flaring. While gas flaring is estimated to contribute less than 3% of global BC emissions in this data set, flaring dominates the estimated BC emissions in the Arctic (north of 66° N). Putting these emissions into our model, we find that flaring contributes 42% to the annual mean BC surface concentrations in the Arctic. In March, flaring even accounts for 52% of all Arctic BC near the surface. Most of the flaring BC remains close to the surface in the Arctic, so that the flaring contribution to BC in the middle and upper troposphere is small. Another important factor determining simulated BC concentrations is the seasonal variation of BC emissions from domestic combustion. We have calculated daily domestic combustion emissions using the heating degree day (HDD) concept based on ambient air temperature and compare results from model simulations using emissions with daily, monthly and annual time resolution. In January, the Arctic-mean surface concentrations of BC due to domestic combustion emissions are 150% higher when using daily emissions than when using annually constant emissions. While there are concentration reductions in summer, they are smaller than the winter increases, leading to a systematic increase of annual mean Arctic BC surface concentrations due to domestic combustion by 68% when using daily emissions. A large part (93%) of this systematic increase can be captured also when using monthly emissions; the increase is compensated by a decreased BC burden at lower latitudes. In a comparison with BC measurements at six Arctic stations, we find that using daily-varying domestic combustion emissions and introducing gas flaring emissions leads to large improvements of the simulated Arctic BC, both in terms of mean concentration levels and simulated seasonality. Case studies based on BC and carbon monoxide (CO) measurements from the Zeppelin observatory appear to confirm flaring as an important BC source that can produce pollution plumes in the Arctic with a high BC/CO enhancement ratio, as expected for this source type. Our results suggest that it may not be "vertical transport that is too strong or scavenging rates that are too low" and "opposite biases in these processes" in the Arctic and elsewhere in current aerosol models, as suggested in a recent review article (Bond et al., 2013), but missing emission sources and lacking time resolution of the emission data that are causing opposite model biases in simulated BC concentrations in the Arctic and in the mid-latitudes.
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“Transport from lower latitude Asia and Eurasia increases their content in the upper atmosphere, whereas local emissions of aerosols substantially affect the transparency of the atmosphere and the formation and structure of clouds (Stohl et al ., 2013; Zhao and Garrett, 2015).”
From Ecological and conceptual consequences of Arctic pollution (2020) · cites this paper as Stohl et al., 2013
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“In the past years, it has been recognized that fl aring linked to oil and gas extraction, particularly in northern Russia, is an important source of BC, suggested to be 66% of the total Arctic BC emissions (Stohl et al., 2013, 2015).”
From Local Arctic Air Pollution: A Neglected but Serious Problem (2018) · cites this paper as Stohl et al., 2013
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“It has been recognized for some time that metal smelting activities in northern Russia at Norilsk and the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia are a large source of SO2 emissions in the Arctic (e.g., Stohl et al., 2013).”
From Local Arctic Air Pollution: A Neglected but Serious Problem (2018) · cites this paper as Stohl et al., 2013
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Metadata
- Authors
- Stohl, A., Klimont, Z., Eckhardt, S., Kupiainen, K., Shevchenko, V. P., Kopeikin, V. M., & Novigatsky, A. N.
- Affiliations
- NILU (NO)
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT)
- Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
- Venue
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
- Publisher
- Copernicus GmbH
- Published
- 2013-09-05
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- 8833-8855
- ISSN
- 1680-7316 (ISSN-L)
- 1680-7324
- OpenAlex
- W2023409911
- Cited by
- 383
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 18.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Atmospheric chemistry and physics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- IIASA PURE (International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway)) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- European Commission (282688)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
- Keywords
- black carbon, Arctic haze, gas flaring, domestic combustion, emission inventory, heating degree days, seasonal variation, pollution plumes, Zeppelin Observatory, Lagrangian dispersion modeling, FLEXPART, carbon monoxide, biomass burning
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