1. |
- Shupe, M. D., et al.
(author)
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Overview of the MOSAiC expedition : Atmosphere
- 2022
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In: Elementa. - : University of California Press. - 2325-1026. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the Arctic rapidly changing, the needs to observe, understand, and model the changes are essential. To support these needs, an annual cycle of observations of atmospheric properties, processes, and interactions were made while drifting with the sea ice across the central Arctic during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition from October 2019 to September 2020. An international team designed and implemented the comprehensive program to document and characterize all aspects of the Arctic atmospheric system in unprecedented detail, using a variety of approaches, and across multiple scales. These measurements were coordinated with other observational teams to explore crosscutting and coupled interactions with the Arctic Ocean, sea ice, and ecosystem through a variety of physical and biogeochemical processes. This overview outlines the breadth and complexity of the atmospheric research program, which was organized into 4 subgroups: atmospheric state, clouds and precipitation, gases and aerosols, and energy budgets. Atmospheric variability over the annual cycle revealed important influences from a persistent large-scale winter circulation pattern, leading to some storms with pressure and winds that were outside the interquartile range of past conditions suggested by long-term reanalysis. Similarly, the MOSAiC location was warmer and wetter in summer than the reanalysis climatology, in part due to its close proximity to the sea ice edge. The comprehensiveness of the observational program for characterizing and analyzing atmospheric phenomena is demonstrated via a winter case study examining air mass transitions and a summer case study examining vertical atmospheric evolution. Overall, the MOSAiC atmospheric program successfully met its objectives and was the most comprehensive atmospheric measurement program to date conducted over the Arctic sea ice. The obtained data will support a broad range of coupled-system scientific research and provide an important foundation for advancing multiscale modeling capabilities in the Arctic.
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2. |
- Reddington, C. L., et al.
(author)
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THE GLOBAL AEROSOL SYNTHESIS AND SCIENCE PROJECT (GASSP) : Measurements and Modeling to Reduce Uncertainty
- 2017
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In: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 98:9, s. 1857-1877
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The largest uncertainty in the historical radiative forcing of climate is caused by changes in aerosol particles due to anthropogenic activity. Sophisticated aerosol microphysics processes have been included in many climate models in an effort to reduce the uncertainty. However, the models are very challenging to evaluate and constrain because they require extensive in situ measurements of the particle size distribution, number concentration, and chemical composition that are not available from global satellite observations. The Global Aerosol Synthesis and Science Project (GASSP) aims to improve the robustness of global aerosol models by combining new methodologies for quantifying model uncertainty, to create an extensive global dataset of aerosol in situ microphysical and chemical measurements, and to develop new ways to assess the uncertainty associated with comparing sparse point measurements with low-resolution models. GASSP has assembled over 45,000 hours of measurements from ships and aircraft as well as data from over 350 ground stations. The measurements have been harmonized into a standardized format that is easily used by modelers and nonspecialist users. Available measurements are extensive, but they are biased to polluted regions of the Northern Hemisphere, leaving large pristine regions and many continental areas poorly sampled. The aerosol radiative forcing uncertainty can be reduced using a rigorous model-data synthesis approach. Nevertheless, our research highlights significant remaining challenges because of the difficulty of constraining many interwoven model uncertainties simultaneously. Although the physical realism of global aerosol models still needs to be improved, the uncertainty in aerosol radiative forcing will be reduced most effectively by systematically and rigorously constraining the models using extensive syntheses of measurements.
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3. |
- Benavent, N., et al.
(author)
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Substantial contribution of iodine to Arctic ozone destruction
- 2022
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In: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 15, s. 770-773
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Unlike bromine, the effect of iodine chemistry on the Arctic surface ozone budget is poorly constrained. We present ship-based measurements of halogen oxides in the high Arctic boundary layer from the sunlit period of March to October 2020 and show that iodine enhances springtime tropospheric ozone depletion. We find that chemical reactions between iodine and ozone are the second highest contributor to ozone loss over the study period, after ozone photolysis-initiated loss and ahead of bromine.
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4. |
- Beck, Ivo, et al.
(author)
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Characteristics and sources of fluorescent aerosols in the central Arctic Ocean
- 2024
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In: Elementa. - 2325-1026. ; 12:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Arctic is sensitive to cloud radiative forcing. Due to the limited number of aerosols present throughout much of the year, cloud formation is susceptible to the presence of cloud condensation nuclei and ice nucleating particles (INPs). Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) contribute to INPs and can impact cloud phase, lifetime, and radiative properties. We present yearlong observations of hyperfluorescent aerosols (HFA), tracers for PBAP, conducted with a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor, New Electronics Option during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition (October 2019–September 2020) in the central Arctic. We investigate the influence of potential anthropogenic and natural sources on the characteristics of the HFA and relate our measurements to INP observations during MOSAiC. Anthropogenic sources influenced HFA during the Arctic haze period. But surprisingly, we also found sporadic “bursts” of HFA with the characteristics of PBAP during this time, albeit with unclear origin. The characteristics of HFA between May and August 2020 and in October 2019 indicate a strong contribution of PBAP to HFA. Notably from May to August, PBAP coincided with the presence of INPs nucleating at elevated temperatures, that is, >−9°C, suggesting that HFA contributed to the “warm INP” concentration. The air mass residence time and area between May and August and in October were dominated by the open ocean and sea ice, pointing toward PBAP sources from within the Arctic Ocean. As the central Arctic changes drastically due to climate warming with expected implications on aerosol–cloud interactions, we recommend targeted observations of PBAP that reveal their nature (e.g., bacteria, diatoms, fungal spores) in the atmosphere and in relevant surface sources, such as the sea ice, snow on sea ice, melt ponds, leads, and open water, to gain further insights into the relevant source processes and how they might change in the future.
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5. |
- Lawler, M. J., et al.
(author)
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New Insights Into the Composition and Origins of Ultrafine Aerosol in the Summertime High Arctic
- 2021
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In: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 48:21
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The summertime high Arctic atmosphere is characterized by extremely low aerosol abundance, such that small natural aerosol inputs have a strong influence on cloud formation and surface temperature. The physical sources and the mechanisms responsible for aerosol formation and development in this climate-critical and changing region are still uncertain. We report time-resolved measurements of high Arctic Aitken mode (∼20–60 nm diameter) aerosol composition during August–September 2018. During a significant Aitken mode formation event, the particles were composed of a combination of primary and secondary materials. These results highlight the importance of primary aerosol sources for high Arctic cloud formation, and they imply the action of a poorly understood atmospheric mechanism separating larger particles into multiple sub-particles.
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6. |
- Smith, Madison M., et al.
(author)
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Thin and transient meltwater layers and false bottoms in the Arctic sea ice pack—Recent insights on these historically overlooked features
- 2023
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In: Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. - 2325-1026. ; 11:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rapid melt of snow and sea ice during the Arctic summer provides a significant source of low-salinity meltwater to the surface ocean on the local scale. The accumulation of this meltwater on, under, and around sea ice floes can result in relatively thin meltwater layers in the upper ocean. Due to the small-scale nature of these upper-ocean features, typically on the order of 1 m thick or less, they are rarely detected by standard methods, but are nevertheless pervasive and critically important in Arctic summer. Observations during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition in summer 2020 focused on the evolution of such layers and made significant advancements in understanding their role in the coupled Arctic system. Here we provide a review of thin meltwater layers in the Arctic, with emphasis on the new findings from MOSAiC. Both prior and recent observational datasets indicate an intermittent yet longlasting (weeks to months) meltwater layer in the upper ocean on the order of 0.1 m to 1.0 m in thickness, with a large spatial range. The presence of meltwater layers impacts the physical system by reducing bottom ice melt and allowing new ice formation via false bottom growth. Collectively, the meltwater layer and false bottoms reduce atmosphere-ocean exchanges of momentum, energy, and material.The impacts on the coupled Arctic system are far-reaching, including acting as a barrier for nutrient and gas exchange and impacting ecosystem diversity and productivity.
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7. |
- Welti, André, et al.
(author)
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Ship-based measurements of ice nuclei concentrations over the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans
- 2020
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 20:23, s. 15191-15206
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ambient concentrations of ice-forming particles measured during ship expeditions are collected and summarised with the aim of determining the spatial distribution and variability in ice nuclei in oceanic regions. The presented data from literature and previously unpublished data from over 23 months of ship-based measurements stretch from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean and include a circumnavigation of Antarctica. In comparison to continental observations, ship-based measurements of ambient ice nuclei show 1 to 2 orders of magnitude lower mean concentrations. To quantify the geographical variability in oceanic areas, the concentration range of potential ice nuclei in different climate zones is analysed by meridionally dividing the expedition tracks into tropical, temperate and polar climate zones. We find that concentrations of ice nuclei in these meridional zones follow temperature spectra with similar slopes but vary in absolute concentration. Typically, the frequency with which specific concentrations of ice nuclei are observed at a certain temperature follows a log-normal distribution. A consequence of the log-normal distribution is that the mean concentration is higher than the most frequently measured concentration. Finally, the potential contribution of ship exhaust to the measured ice nuclei concentration on board research vessels is analysed as function of temperature. We find a sharp onset of the influence at approximately -36 degrees C but none at warmer temperatures that could bias ship-based measurements.
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8. |
- Boyer, Matthew, et al.
(author)
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A full year of aerosol size distribution data from the central Arctic under an extreme positive Arctic Oscillation : insights from the Multidisciplinarydrifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition
- 2023
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 23:1, s. 389-415
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Arctic environment is rapidly changing due to accelerated warming in the region. The warming trend is driving a decline in sea ice extent, which thereby enhances feedback loops in the surface energy budget in the Arctic. Arctic aerosols play an important role in the radiative balance and hence the climate response in the region, yet direct observations of aerosols over the Arctic Ocean are limited. In this study, we investigate the annual cycle in the aerosol particle number size distribution (PNSD), particle number concentration (PNC), and black carbon (BC) mass concentration in the central Arctic during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. This is the first continuous, year-long data set of aerosol PNSD ever collected over the sea ice in the central Arctic Ocean. We use a k-means cluster analysis, FLEXPART simulations, and inverse modeling to evaluate seasonal patterns and the influence of different source regions on the Arctic aerosol population. Furthermore, we compare the aerosol observations to land-based sites across the Arctic, using both long-term measurements and observations during the year of the MOSAiC expedition (2019–2020), to investigate interannual variability and to give context to the aerosol characteristics from within the central Arctic. Our analysis identifies that, overall, the central Arctic exhibits typical seasonal patterns of aerosols, including anthropogenic influence from Arctic haze in winter and secondary aerosol processes in summer. The seasonal pattern corresponds to the global radiation, surface air temperature, and timing of sea ice melting/freezing, which drive changes in transport patterns and secondary aerosol processes. In winter, the Norilsk region in Russia/Siberia was the dominant source of Arctic haze signals in the PNSD and BC observations, which contributed to higher accumulation-mode PNC and BC mass concentrations in the central Arctic than at land-based observatories. We also show that the wintertime Arctic Oscillation (AO) phenomenon, which was reported to achieve a record-breaking positive phase during January–March 2020, explains the unusual timing and magnitude of Arctic haze across the Arctic region compared to longer-term observations. In summer, the aerosol PNCs of the nucleation and Aitken modes are enhanced; however, concentrations were notably lower in the central Arctic over the ice pack than at land-based sites further south. The analysis presented herein provides a current snapshot of Arctic aerosol processes in an environment that is characterized by rapid changes, which will be crucial for improving climate model predictions, understanding linkages between different environmental processes, and investigating the impacts of climate change in future Arctic aerosol studies.
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9. |
- Duplessis, P., et al.
(author)
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Highly Hygroscopic Aerosols Facilitate Summer and Early-Autumn Cloud Formation at Extremely Low Concentrations Over the Central Arctic Ocean
- 2024
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. - 2169-897X .- 2169-8996. ; 129:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Arctic clouds are sensitive to atmospheric particles since these are sometimes in such low concentrations that clouds cannot always form under supersaturated water vapor conditions. This is especially true in the late summer, when aerosol concentrations are generally very low in the high Arctic. The environment changes rapidly around freeze-up as the open waters close and snow starts accumulating on ice. We investigated droplet formation during eight significant fog events in the central Arctic Ocean, north of 80 degrees, from August 12 to 19 September 2018 during the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition onboard the icebreaker Oden. Calculated hygroscopicity parameters (kappa) for the entire study were very high (up to kappa = 0.85 +/- 0.13), notably after freeze-up, suggesting that atmospheric particles were very cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)-active. At least one of the events showed that surface clouds were able to form and persist for at least a couple hours at aerosol concentrations less than 10 cm-3, which was previously suggested to be the minimum for cloud formation. Among these events that were considered limited in CCN, effective radii were generally larger than in the high CCN cases. In some of the fog events, droplet residuals particles did not reactivate under supersaturations up to 0.95%, suggesting either in-droplet reactions decreased hygroscopicity, or an ambient supersaturation above 1%. These results provide insight into droplet formation during the clean late-summer and fall of the high Arctic with limited influence from continental sources. The Arctic atmosphere can be very clean in the summer, to the point that clouds cannot form because there are insufficient particles present for the water vapor to condense upon. This has important implications for the radiation budget, which is highly dependent on clouds. As part of the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition in the central Arctic Ocean near the North Pole, we investigated the ability of particles to turn into droplets throughout the whole cruise (August 12 to 19 September 2018), and during eight significant fog events. Overall, we found that after the sea ice started to freeze, the particles were more capable of turning into cloud droplets. During one fog event, we observed fog droplets forming when the particle concentrations were lower than the limit that past studies had suggested that fog/cloud could be sustained. During several fog events, the dried fog droplets did not always re-form droplets when exposed to cloud-like conditions, which suggests that the original droplets must have formed under extreme conditions. Our results show that in the summer/fall in the high Arctic, liquid droplets sometimes form under unusual circumstances that are likely not always considered in models. Aerosol hygroscopicity was greater after surface water freeze-up than beforeHygroscopicity of Aitken mode particles was generally greater than accumulation mode particlesCloud droplet effective radii during aerosol-limited periods were larger generally than periods with higher aerosol concentrations
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10. |
- Karlsson, Linn, et al.
(author)
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Physical and Chemical Properties of Cloud Droplet Residuals and Aerosol Particles During the Arctic Ocean 2018 Expedition
- 2022
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. - 2169-897X .- 2169-8996. ; 127:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detailed knowledge of the physical and chemical properties and sources of particles that form clouds is especially important in pristine areas like the Arctic, where particle concentrations are often low and observations are sparse. Here, we present in situ cloud and aerosol measurements from the central Arctic Ocean in August–September 2018 combined with air parcel source analysis. We provide direct experimental evidence that Aitken mode particles (particles with diameters ≲70 nm) significantly contribute to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) or cloud droplet residuals, especially after the freeze-up of the sea ice in the transition toward fall. These Aitken mode particles were associated with air that spent more time over the pack ice, while size distributions dominated by accumulation mode particles (particles with diameters ≳70 nm) showed a stronger contribution of oceanic air and slightly different source regions. This was accompanied by changes in the average chemical composition of the accumulation mode aerosol with an increased relative contribution of organic material toward fall. Addition of aerosol mass due to aqueous-phase chemistry during in-cloud processing was probably small over the pack ice given the fact that we observed very similar particle size distributions in both the whole-air and cloud droplet residual data. These aerosol–cloud interaction observations provide valuable insight into the origin and physical and chemical properties of CCN over the pristine central Arctic Ocean.
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11. |
- Porter, Grace C.E., et al.
(author)
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Highly Active Ice-Nucleating Particles at the Summer North Pole
- 2022
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. - 2169-8996 .- 2169-897X. ; 127:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The amount of ice versus supercooled water in clouds is important for their radiative properties and role in climate feedbacks. Hence, knowledge of the concentration of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) is needed. Generally, the concentrations of INPs are found to be very low in remote marine locations allowing cloud water to persist in a supercooled state. We had expected the concentrations of INPs at the North Pole to be very low given the distance from open ocean and terrestrial sources coupled with effective wet scavenging processes. Here we show that during summer 2018 (August and September) high concentrations of biological INPs (active at >−20°C) were sporadically present at the North Pole. In fact, INP concentrations were sometimes as high as those recorded at mid-latitude locations strongly impacted by highly active biological INPs, in strong contrast to the Southern Ocean. Furthermore, using a balloon borne sampler we demonstrated that INP concentrations were often different at the surface versus higher in the boundary layer where clouds form. Back trajectory analysis suggests strong sources of INPs near the Russian coast, possibly associated with wind-driven sea spray production, whereas the pack ice, open leads, and the marginal ice zone were not sources of highly active INPs. These findings suggest that primary ice production, and therefore Arctic climate, is sensitive to transport from locations such as the Russian coast that are already experiencing marked climate change.
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12. |
- Tatzelt, C., et al.
(author)
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Circum-Antarctic abundance and properties of CCN and INPs
- 2022
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 22:14, s. 9721-9745
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aerosol particles acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) or ice-nucleating particles (INPs) play a major role in the formation and glaciation of clouds. Thereby they exert a strong impact on the radiation budget of the Earth. Data on abundance and properties of both types of particles are sparse, especially for remote areas of the world, such as the Southern Ocean (SO). In this work, we present unique results from ship-borne aerosol-particle-related in situ measurements and filter sampling in the SO region, carried out during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) in the austral summer of 2016-2017. An overview of CCN and INP concentrations over the Southern Ocean is provided and, using additional quantities, insights regarding possible CCN and INP sources and origins are presented. CCN number concentrations spanned 2 orders of magnitude, e.g. for a supersaturation of 0.3% values ranged roughly from 3 to 590 cm(-3). CCN showed variable contributions of organic and inorganic material (inter-quartile range of hygroscopicity parameter kappa from 0.2 to 0.9). No distinct size dependence of kappa was apparent, indicating homogeneous composition across sizes (critical dry diameter on average between 30 and 110 nm). The contribution of sea spray aerosol (SSA) to the CCN number concentration was on average small. Ambient INP number concentrations were measured in the temperature range from -5 to -27 degrees C using an immersion freezing method. Concentrations spanned up to 3 orders of magnitude, e.g. at -16 degrees C from 0.2 to 100 m(-3). Elevated values (above 10 m(-3) at 16 degrees C) were measured when the research vessel was in the vicinity of land (excluding Antarctica), with lower and more constant concentrations when at sea. This, along with results of backward-trajectory analyses, hints towards terrestrial and/or coastal INP sources being dominant close to ice-free (non-Antarctic) land. In pristine marine areas INPs may originate from both oceanic sources and/or long-range transport. Sampled aerosol particles (PM10) were analysed for sodium and methanesulfonic acid (MSA). Resulting mass concentrations were used as tracers for primary marine and secondary aerosol particles, respectively. Sodium, with an average mass concentration around 2.8 mu gm(-3), was found to dominate the sampled, identified particle mass. MSA was highly variable over the SO, with mass concentrations up to 0.5 mu g m(-3) near the sea ice edge. A correlation analysis yielded strong correlations between sodium mass concentration and particle number concentration in the coarse mode, unsurprisingly indicating a significant contribution of SSA to that mode. CCN number concentration was highly correlated with the number concentration of Aitken and accumulation mode particles. This, together with a lack of correlation between sodium mass and Aitken and accumulation mode number concentrations, underlines the important contribution of non-SSA, probably secondarily formed particles, to the CCN population. INP number concentrations did not significantly correlate with any other measured aerosol physico-chemical parameter.
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13. |
- Waege, J., et al.
(author)
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Microcapillary sampling of Baltic Sea copepod gut microbiomes indicates high variability among individuals and the potential for methane production
- 2019
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In: FEMS Microbiology Ecology. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0168-6496 .- 1574-6941. ; 95:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The paradox of methane oversaturation in oxygenated surface water has been described in many pelagic systems and still raises the question of the source. Temora sp. and Acartia sp. commonly dominate the surface and subsurface waters of the central Baltic Sea. It is hypothesised that their gut microbiome at least partly contributes to the methane anomaly in this ecosystem. However, the potential pathway for this methane production remains unclear. Using a microcapillary technique, we successfully overcame the challenge of sampling the gut microbiome of copepods <1 mm. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed differences among the dominant bacterial communities associated with Temora sp. (Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia) and Acartia sp. (Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria) and the surrounding water (Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Verrucomicrobia), but also intraspecific variability. In both copepods, gut-specific prokaryotic taxa and indicative species for methane production pathways (methanogenesis, dimethylsulfoniopropionate or methylphosphonate) were present. The relative abundance of archaea and methanogens was investigated using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction and showed a high variability among copepod individuals, underlining intra- and interspecific differences in copepod-associated prokaryotic communities. Overall, this work highlights that the guts of Temora sp. and Acartia sp. have the potential for methane production but are probably no hotspot.
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