Characteristics of aerosol at the research base “Ice Cape Baranova” in 2018–2023

Abstract

Atmospheric aerosol plays an important role in the processes of radiative transfers and mass exchange by different substances in the “continent–atmosphere–ocean” system. In this paper we discuss the results of a five-year measurement cycle of the atmospheric aerosol characteristics at the polar station “Ice base Cape Baranov”, located on the Bolshevik Island (the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago). The set of the characteristics analyzed includes: the aerosol optical depth (AOD) of the atmosphere; the ground concentration of aerosol particles in the radius range of 0.15–5 microns; the content of the absorbing substance (soot) in the aerosol in the equivalent of elemental black carbon. The average values of the aerosol characteristics for the general measurement period (from April 2018 to May 2023) were: volumes of submicron and coarse aerosol particles 0.43 and 0.46 μm3/cm3, respectively; mass concentration of black carbon — 45.8 ng/m3; AOT of the atmosphere at a wavelength of 0.5 µm — 0.08; Angstrom selectivity exponent — 1.67. The average annual variation of aerosol and black carbon concentrations is characterized by a maximum in winter (January–March) and a minimum in summer (June–August). A comparison is made against the data from analogous measurements of aerosol characteristics at the polar station in Barentsburg (the Spitsbergen Archipelago) and against the data from model calculations, i. e., MERRA-2 reanalysis. A distinctive feature of the data in the Cape Baranov area is the low content of coarse aerosol — 1.7 less than in Barentsburg. There is agreement with the annual variation of black carbon concentrations at other polar stations, but the opposite nature of the seasonal variability of model (MERRA-2) concentrations: low values in winter and high values in summer. It is shown that the average spectral AODs of the atmosphere at the “Cape Baranov” are intermediate values between the data from polar stations in NyÅlesund and Barentsburg.