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SSF-Svalbard Science Forum

Aerosol Flux in Arctic, Ris-ID: 11390

Awarded: NOK 40,999

Project Number:

310658

Project Period:

2020 - 2021

Funding received from:

A fundamental understanding of Arctic feedbacks, between polar changing ocean and atmosphere, is necessary for the prediction of both Arctic and Global Climate. Furthermore, lack of fundamental understanding of processes controlling the source of aerosols is isolated by the IPCC as the main reason for model discrepancies in predicting how emissions, properties and concentrations of aerosols respond to Climate Change. Black carbon influences climate through direct absorption of solar radiation, semi-direct and indirect clouds and snow-albedo effects. The latter consisting in the deposition on surfaces with high albedo, such as snow and ice, that reduces surface albedo and increases surface solar heating, accelerating melting. Estimates of black carbon concentration in the Arctic atmosphere are associated with large uncertainties. To better constrain the radiative forcing and the associated uncertainties of the BC/particles snow-albedo effect in the Arctic, it is crucial to improve our knowledge on the depositional mechanism/efficiency and their effects. Measurement of particles exchange fluxes and velocities over icy and snowy surfaces are relatively few despite the wide variability of process modelling. The objective is to evaluate aerosol dry deposition/emission in the Arctic on icy/snowy surface and its dependence on particle size and micrometeorological parameters (atmospheric stability, friction velocity and turbulence intensity). The observed data-set of a size-segregated deposition velocity could be used for the development/validation of numerical models of deposition on surfaces. Aerosol sources will be identified by inverse Lagrangian methods using FLEXPART and FLEXINVERT models. The measures of the particles exchange rate will be carried out with the technique of eddy-correlation in size-segregated mode (2-3000 nm). Aerosol size distribution, optical scattering coefficients, aerosol chemical and physical characterization will be analyzed at Ny Ålesund.

Funding scheme:

SSF-Svalbard Science Forum