Measurements of Volatile Organic Compounds at Barrow, Alaska during the OASIS Spring 2009 Field Campaign

In the spring of 2009 an extensive suite of instrumentation was assembled to measure gas and aerosol chemistry during the polar sunrise. Of particular interest was the cryosphere-atmosphere interactions that were expected to impact the oxidizing potential of the atmosphere in the boundary layer. In order to help test the current understanding of the chemistry in this environment a proton-transfer mass spectrometer was employed to obtain fast time resolution measurements of volatile organic compounds. Ambient samples were obtained at heights of 18ft, 6ft, and 2ft from a tower throughout the campaign to look for gradients in VOCs above the snow pack. Periodic measurements also were obtained at the snow surface, in the firn air and from heights up to 500ft from a helium balloon. Preliminary results will be discussed with a focus on the oxygenates that may be photochemically generated in the snowpack.