We introduce long term dataset of aerosol scattering and absorption properties and combined aerosol optical properties measured in Pallas Atmosphere-Ecosystem Supersite in Northern Finland. The station is located 170 km north of the Arctic Circle. The station is affected by both pristine Arctic air masses as well as long transported air pollution from northern Europe. We studied the optical properties of aerosols and their radiative effects in continental and marine air masses, including seasonal cycles and long-term trends.

 The location of the Mount Bachelor Observatory (MBO; 2764 meters asl), is an ideal site for the frequent sampling of long range transported biomass burning (BB) and pollution events. During the summer aged BB plumes are frequently observed at MBO, and Asian long-range transport (ALRT) pollution events are observed in the spring. Black carbon (BC) aerosols are short-lived but are strongly absorbing and have a significant aerosol radiative forcing globally.

Black carbon (BC) absorbs visible light efficiently and warms the atmosphere. The significance of BC as a climate forcer is very important in the Arctic, because atmospheric light absorption is enhanced above the reflecting snow and ice surfaces, and also because the deposited BC particles darken the snow and ice, which affects the melt rate.

Wet deposition of black carbon (BC) in the Arctic lowers snow albedo, thus contributing to warming in the Arctic. However, key processes and the magnitude of the effect of the BC deposition on radiative forcing in the Arctic are poorly understood due to uncertainties in the measurements of BC in snow. We measured the size distribution of BC in snowpack and falling snow using a single particle soot photometer combined with a nebulizer. We sampled snowpack at two sites (11 m and 300 m asl) at Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, in April 2013.

Russia’s Black Carbon Emissions: The Arctic and Beyond Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has worked on BC emission study in Russia. The study consists of three part: BC diesel emission inventory for Murmansk, Russia-wide emission inventory from diesel sources and all-Russia inventory of BC emissions from all sources. The study estimates BC emissions from diesel sources in Murmansk Region and Murmansk City, the largest city in the world above the Arctic Circle.

Long-term observation of atmospheric black carbon (BC) mass concentration and CO mixing ratios at Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (Alaska, USA; 65.12N, 147.43W; 491 m asl) started on 28 April 2016. BC mass concentration and CO mixing ratios were measured by a continuous short monitoring system (COSMOS) and a nondispersive infrared (NDIR) absorption photometer respectively.

Both emission strengths and wet removal rates of black carbon (BC) particles need to be well constrained to test if particles transported from Asia dominate the Arctic burden. To study these key factors, we analyzed BC mass concentration data at Fukue Island (32.75°N, 128.68°E), western Japan since 2009 based on a continuous soot-monitoring system (COSMOS). The observed data were categorized into two classes, i.e., with and without a wet removal effect, using the accumulated precipitation along a backward trajectory (APT) for the last 3 days as an index.

The Investigation of Multi-scale Processes Affecting Atmospheric Chemistry Transport (IMPAACT) is a proposed multi-pronged study to look at atmospheric chemistry in the Arctic and Pacific regions. The experiment will include an airborne component, likely in the year 2021, and a ground-based component that could begin sooner. Black carbon (BC) aerosol is a key climate forcing agent with some of the largest uncertainties with respect to transport, sources and deposition.

We implemented a tagged tracer method of black carbon (BC) into a global chemistry-transport model GEOS-Chem, examined the pathways and efficiency of long-range transport from a variety of anthropogenic and biomass burning emission sources to the Arctic, and quantified the source contributions of individual emissions. Firstly, we evaluated the simulated BC by comparing it with observations at the Arctic sites and found that the simulated seasonal variations were improved by implementing an aging parameterization and reducing the wet scavenging rate by ice clouds.

Black carbon plays a unique role in the Arctic climate system due to its multiple climatic effects. As the country that flares the largest quantity of associated petroleum gas, Russia’s gas flaring emissions have been rarely evaluated especially for black carbon emission due to incomplete combustion. In this study, we reconstruct BC emissions for Russian Federation, which is the country that has the largest area in the Arctic Circle. In 2010, total anthropogenic BC emission of Russia is estimated to be around 224 Gg.