Impact of biomass burning on the chemical composition of Arctic aerosols using mass spectrometry

<p>Biomass burning releases numerous aerosol particles into the air, influencing the radiative budget by scattering or absorbing solar radiation and by influencing cloud properties through acting as cloud condensation nuclei. These aerosol particles contain black and organic carbon and can be transported over large distances, reaching also pristine environments such as the Arctic. Due to the rising global temperature the fire activity has increased, and record-breaking black carbon concentrations have been observed in the Arctic (Stohl et al., 2007). Biomass burning events reaching the Arctic have been observed to increase the aerosol number concentration by about one to two orders of magnitude (Lathem et al., 2013). Although a lot of attention has been drawn to the physical characteristics of fire plumes, changes in chemical composition, specifically in the Arctic, are studied to a lesser extent. In this study we report molecular-level information on the chemical characteristics of biomass burning aerosol particles measured during different plumes reaching the island of Svalbard during 2020. These measurements were part of the year-long NASCENT (Ny-&#197;lesund aerosol cloud experiment; Pasquier et al., 2022) campaign, and were conducted using a filter inlet for gases and aerosols coupled to a high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (FIGAERO-CIMS) using iodide as reagent ion. We use the particle-phase levoglucosan, a well-known tracer for biomass burning released from cellulose combustion, obtained from the FIGAERO-CIMS to identify biomass burning events, and will discuss the chemical characteristics of the properties of the events compared to non-events and implications for aerosol radiative and hygroscopic properties. In addition to a better understanding of the chemical composition of aged fire plumes reaching the Arctic, our study will also give insights on the time scales on which the background Arctic air can be disturbed by fire activity.&#160;</p> <p>References:<br />Stohl <em>et al., Atmospheric Chem. Phys.,</em> 7, 511&#8211;534, 2007<br />Lathem <em>et al., Atmospheric Chem. Phys.,</em> 13, 2735&#8211;2756, 2013<br />Pasquier <em>et al., Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc.,</em> 103, E2533&#8211;E2558, 2022</p>