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Radon as a natural tracer for quantifying the effects of atmospheric stability on local and long range transported pollutants in Arctic (RADA)
IADC_id: 34
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Call year: 2015
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The state of the planetary boundary layer is one of the factors controlling surface–atmosphere interactions. In particular, the knowledge of the dilution properties of the lower air layers is an essential tool for understanding the accumulation of particulate matter and, in general, the time evolution of pollution processes. The atmospheric concentration of any pollutant, in fact, depends not only on its emission, transformation and deposition rate but also on its dilution in the planetary boundary layer. In short, any atmospheric pollution event is the result of a complex interaction between chemistry and meteorology, that is, between the intensity of pollutants production and the capacity of the atmosphere to dilute them (Allegrini et al., 1994; Perrino et al., 2001; Chambers et al., 2015).rnWe can obtain useful information about the dilution potential of the atmosphere, which is not directly measured by any standard meteorological procedure, by monitoring the natural radioactivity due to Radon short-lived decay products. Natural radioactivity as a tracer of Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) dynamic is a used method which allows a clear distinction of the relative weight of the emission flux variations and of the atmospheric dilution in determining the modulation of the air concentration of both primary and secondary pollutants. Natural pollution events (desert dust, sea-spray) are generally recorded during advection periods. The study of natural radioactivity will allow us also to evaluate the contribution of natural events to particulate matter concentration.rnIn this project proposal we will evaluate a simple, low maintenance and economical method, as the continuous measurement of natural radioactivity near the ground, makes possible the qualitative and quantitative measurement of the intensity of vertical atmospheric diffusion and the behavior of temporal evolution of some air pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in Arctic (Bjorkman et al., 2014; Becagli et al., 2012; Udisti et al., 2012). We will analyze the applicability of the natural radioactivity as tracer in the determination of atmospheric stability at Ny-Alesund (Svalbard). The aim of this work is to understand to what extent the radon-based method can be adopted in future campaigns, combining the radon method with other complementary methods to estimate the height of the PBL such as with lidar or with sodar at Ny-Alesund (Di Liberto et al., 2012). Since both the lidar- and radon-based methods have different limitations which apply mainly under different conditions, we hypothesize that using a combination of the two techniques might lead to obtain reliable picture of the dilution properties of the lower atmosphere and to a mixing height estimate superior to that possible using either technique in isolation. In fact, Lidar method is inadequate when the PBL height is extremely low (below few hundreds meters), or when the PBL is not well mixed. Conversely, the radon method might be affected by short-term and fetch-related changes in radon emissions.rnTo determine the variation of the equivalent mixing height (EMH) from the continuous measurement of natural radioactivity at ground level, we will use a boundary layer model (Pasini et al., 2003; 2009; 2014). The above mentioned approach is based on a box model that consider the vertical entrainment of the residual layer, the conversion between radon air activity and beta progeny counts, and it can estimate variations of the radon soil flux.rnrnReferencesrnI. Allegrini, A. Febo, A. Pasini, S. Schiarini (1994). Monitoring of the nocturnal mixed layer by means of participate radon progeny measurement. J. Geophys. Res., 99, 18765–18777. doi:10.1029/94JD00783.rnS. Becagli, C. Scarchilli, R. Traversi, U. Dayan, M. Severi, D. Frosini, V. Vitale, M. Mazzola, A. Lupi, S. Nava, R. Udisti (2012). Study of present-day sources and transport processes affecting oxidised sulphur compounds in atmospheric aerosols at Dome C (Antarctica) from year-round sampling campaigns. Atmos. Environ, 52, 98-108. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.07.053.rnM. P. Bjorkman, C. P. Vega, R. Kuhnel, F. Spataro, A. Ianniello, G. Esposito, J. Kaiser, A. Marca, A. Hodson, E. Isaksson, T. J. Roberts (2014). Nitrate postdeposition processes in Svalbard surface snow. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 12,953-12,976. doi:10.1002/2013JD021234.rnS. D. Chambers, F. Wang, A.G. Williams, D. Xiaodong, H. Zhang, G. Lonati, J. Crawford, A. Griffiths, A. Ianniello, I. Allegrini (2015). Quantifying the influences of atmospheric stability on air pollution in Lanzhou, China, using a radon-based stability monitor. Atmos. Environ.,107, 233-243. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.02.016.rnL. Di Liberto, F. Angelini, I. Pietroni, F. Cairo, G. Di Donfrancesco, A. Viola, S. Argentini, F. Fierli, G. Gobbi, M. Maturilli, R. Neuber, M. Snels (2012). Estimate of the Arctic Convective Boundary Layer Height from Lidar Observations: A Case Study. Advances in Meteorology, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, Volume 2012, Article ID 851927, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2012/851927.rnA. Pasini (2009). Neural networks for characterization and forecasting in the boundary layer via Radon data. Artificial intelligence methods in the environmental sciences (S.E. Haupt, A. Pasini, C. Marzban eds.), Springer, New York, pp. 255–268.rnA. Pasini, and F. Ameli (2003). Radon short range forecasting through time series preprocessing and neural network modelling. Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1386. doi:10.1029/2002GL016726.rnA. Pasini, R. Salzano, A. Attanasio (2014). Modeling Radon Behavior for Characterizing and Forecasting Geophysical Variables at the Atmosphere–Soil Interface. Recent Trends in Modelling of Environmental Contaminants, D. Sengupta (ed.), Springer India. Doi:10.1007/978-81-322-1783-1_9.rnC. Perrino, A. Pietrodangelo, A. Febo (2001). An atmospheric stability index based on radon progeny measurements for the evaluation of primary urban pollution. Atmos. Environ., 35, 5235–5244. rnR. Udisti, U. Dayan, S. Becagli, M. Busetto, D. Frosini, M. Legrand, F. Lucarelli, S. Preunkert, M. Severi, R. Traversi, V. Vitale (2012). Sea-spray aerosol in central Antarctica. Present atmospheric behavior and implications for paleoclimatic reconstructions. Atmos. Environ., 52, 109-120. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.10.018.rn
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As an international collaboration partner, German Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) will be involved for the determination of atmospheric stability and stratification.
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