Cited by 173Atmospheric chemistry and aerosolsAtmospheric aerosols and cloudsAtmospheric Ozone and Climate

Pan-Arctic aerosol number size distributions: seasonality and transport patterns

Open access
Freud, Eyal, Krejci, Radovan, Tunved, Peter, Leaitch, Richard, Nguyen, Quynh T., Massling, Andreas, Skov, Henrik, Barrie, Leonard·2017·Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Abstract. The Arctic environment has an amplified response to global climatic change. It is sensitive to human activities that mostly take place elsewhere. For this study, a multi-year set of observed aerosol number size distributions in the diameter range of 10 to 500 nm from five sites around the Arctic Ocean (Alert, Villum Research Station – Station Nord, Zeppelin, Tiksi and Barrow) was assembled and analysed.A cluster analysis of the aerosol number size distributions revealed four distinct distributions. Together with Lagrangian air parcel back-trajectories, they were used to link the observed aerosol number size distributions with a variety of transport regimes. This analysis yields insight into aerosol dynamics, transport and removal processes, on both an intra- and an inter-monthly scale. For instance, the relative occurrence of aerosol number size distributions that indicate new particle formation (NPF) event is near zero during the dark months, increases gradually to ∼ 40 % from spring to summer, and then collapses in autumn. Also, the likelihood of Arctic haze aerosols is minimal in summer and peaks in April at all sites.The residence time of accumulation-mode particles in the Arctic troposphere is typically long enough to allow tracking them back to their source regions. Air flow that passes at low altitude over central Siberia and western Russia is associated with relatively high concentrations of accumulation-mode particles (Nacc) at all five sites – often above 150 cm−3. There are also indications of air descending into the Arctic boundary layer after transport from lower latitudes.The analysis of the back-trajectories together with the meteorological fields along them indicates that the main driver of the Arctic annual cycle of Nacc, on the larger scale, is when atmospheric transport covers the source regions for these particles in the 10-day period preceding the observations in the Arctic. The scavenging of these particles by precipitation is shown to be important on a regional scale and it is most active in summer. Cloud processing is an additional factor that enhances the Nacc annual cycle.There are some consistent differences between the sites that are beyond the year-to-year variability. They are the result of differences in the proximity to the aerosol source regions and to the Arctic Ocean sea-ice edge, as well as in the exposure to free-tropospheric air and in precipitation patterns – to mention a few. Hence, for most purposes, aerosol observations from a single Arctic site cannot represent the entire Arctic region. Therefore, the results presented here are a powerful observational benchmark for evaluation of detailed climate and air chemistry modelling studies of aerosols throughout the vast Arctic region.

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Crossref · 10.5194/acp-17-8101-2017

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  • Freud et al. (2017) reported concentrations 190-250 cm-3 in size range 10-500 nm at Utqiaġvik/Barrow for Jan-Feb.

    “Additionally, Freud et al. (2017) reported concentrations between roughly 190 and 250 cm -3 in the size range 10 to 500 nm at Utqiaġvik/Barrow for the months of January and February.”

    From In situ vertical observations of the layered structure of air pollution in a continental high-latitude urban boundary layer during winter (2025) · cites this paper as Freud et al. (2017)

    Section 3.1 describes monthly total aerosol number concentrations for particles from 10 to 500 nm, and section 3.2 discusses monthly distributions at Barrow. The passages in our copy do not state the claimed January–February concentrations of roughly 190–250 cm⁻³; searches for those values and months did not establish them. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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  • The observed LBL distribution is very similar to the distribution observed by Freud et al. (2017) at Utqiaġvik/Barrow for January and February and to their accumulation mode cluster representative of Arctic haze.

    “The observed distribution is very similar to the distribution observed by Freud et al. (2017) at Utqiaġvik/Barrow for the months of January and February and to their accumulation mode cluster (cluster 1) representative of Arctic haze.”

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  1. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2017-62, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 7 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3.0 License. References · DOI
  2. Boucher, O., Randall, D., Artaxo, P., Bretherton, C., Feingold, G., Forster, P., Kerminen, V.-M., Kondo, Y., Liao, H., Lohmann, U., Rasch, P., Satheesh, S. K., Sherwood, S., Stevens, B. and Zhang, X. Y.: Clouds and Aerosols, in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment 30 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by T. F. Stocker, D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S. K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex, and P. M. Midgley, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA., 2013.
  3. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2017-62, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 7 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3. · DOI
  4. Draxler, R. R. and Hess, G. D.: An overview of the HYSPLIT_4 modelling system for trajectories, Aust. Meteorol. Mag., 47(4), 295-308, 1998.
  5. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2017-62, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 7 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3. · DOI
  6. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2017-62, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 7 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3. · DOI
  7. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2017-62, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 7 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3. · DOI
  8. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., doi:10.5194/acp-2017-62, 2017 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Published: 7 February 2017 c Author(s) 2017. CC-BY 3.0 License. · DOI

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Authors
Freud, E., Krejci, R., Tunved, P., Leaitch, R., Nguyen, Q. T., Massling, A., Skov, H., & Barrie, L.
Affiliations
  • Stockholm University (SE)
  • Aarhus University (DK)
Corresponding author
Freud, Eyal
Venue
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Published
2017-07-04
Volume
17
Issue
13
Pages
8101-8128
ISSN
  • 1680-7316 (ISSN-L)
  • 1680-7324
OpenAlex
W2586516499
Cited by
169
References
90
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 4
FWCI
6.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Atmospheric chemistry and physics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Villum Fonden
  • Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
  • Naturvårdsverket
  • Vetenskapsrådet
  • Miljøstyrelsen
  • Ministère de la Défense Nationale
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric Ozone and Climate
Keywords
Arctic aerosols, aerosol number size distribution, new particle formation, Arctic haze, accumulation mode particles, aerosol transport, Lagrangian back trajectories, seasonal cycle, precipitation scavenging, cloud processing, Arctic boundary layer, sea ice edge, Arctic climate change

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