Aircraft-based measurements of High Arctic springtime aerosol show evidence for vertically varying sources, transport and composition

2019

The sources, chemical transformations and removal mechanisms of aerosol transported to the Arctic are key factors that control Arctic aerosol–climate interactions. Our understanding of sources and processes is limited by a lack of vertically resolved observations in remote Arctic regions. We present vertically resolved observations of trace gases and aerosol composition in High Arctic springtime, made largely north of 80∘ N, during the NETCARE campaign. Trace gas gradients observed on these flights defined the polar dome as north of 66–68∘ 30′ N and below potential temperatures of 283.5–287.5 K. In the polar dome, we observe evidence for vertically varying source…