Monitoring of nitrogen oxides from stationary and mobile sources at Svalbard

The combined emissions of air pollutants from snowmobiles may be much higher (almost 100 times) as from cars, e.g. snowmobiles with 2-stroke engines have average fuel consumption of 30 l/100km. Moreover, according to safety instructions snowmobiles should follow one after another forming a column during field work, e.g. at UNIS, therefore the time for dispersion of air pollutants emitted with the snowmobile exhaust is quite limited. Previous studies have shown highly elevated levels of volatile organic compounds along snowmobile tracks, however, no measurements of nitrogen oxides has been done. Furthermore, although the number of cars at Svalbard is little, the air quality along the roads may be quite low, because these roads are the only available tracks for transportation, and the frequency of cars passing main cross-roads may be higher than in the city with plenty of available transportation alternatives. Besides, there are emissions from the Longyearbyen coal power plant, which increase the total concentration of air pollutants in the settlement. In addition to this, during winter and spring the atmospheric conditions at Svalbard may promote accumulation of pollutants in the atmospheric boundary layer. The environmental sensors are planned to be used for the field work at the UNIS Master/PhD course of AT-831 Arctic Environmental Pollution: Atmospheric Distribution and Processes to measure air quality and meteorological parameters during the snowmobile field work trips. The combined emissions from cars and power plant are to be monitored on the main crossroads in Longyearbyen. The project applies innovative approach of using portable environmental sensors to monitor air quality and meteorological parameters at Svalbard. The project partners are Norwegian research and educational institutions UIT, UNIS and NILU. The project will contribute to increased scientific cooperation between these institutions within Svalbard research.