Atmospheric Bromine and Chlorine Chemistry in the Changing Arctic
Abstract
Due to extensive sea ice loss and increasing temperatures, the Arctic environment is undergoing rapid change. Additionally, oil and gas extraction and the recent opening of new shipping lanes are altering an otherwise pristine atmosphere with increased anthropogenic pollution. The Arctic troposphere is uniquely influenced by halogen chemistry that impacts the fates of greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants, including mercury. Given snowpack production of molecular halogens, this chemistry, which leads to ozone and mercury depletion, is coupled to the changing Arctic climate. However, a lack of observations limits our understanding of the many sources and production mechanisms involved in polar atmospheric halogen chemistry, and therefore impacts predictions of future Arctic atmospheric composition with the changing climate. In March-May 2016, a suite of trace gases were measured using chemical ionization mass spectrometry near Utqiaġvik, Alaska during the Photochemical Halogen and Ozone Experiment: Mass Exchange in the Lower Troposphere (PHOXMELT). We use zero-dimensional box modeling and our comprehensive observations of numerous bromine and chlorine species to characterize and predict the major production and removal pathways of the halogen gases. This in-depth, observation-based approach provides new insights into the coupling of bromine and chlorine chemistry in the coastal Arctic.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.U14B..11M
- Keywords:
-
- 0810 Post-secondary education;
- EDUCATION