A. A. Vinogradova

Heavy metals in aerosols over the seas of the Russian Arctic

A review of the data on heavy metals in aerosols over the seas of the Russian Arctic is presented. Results of heavy metal studies in aerosols obtained during 11 research expeditions in summer/autumn period from 1991 to 2000, and at Severnaya Zemlya and Wrangel Island in spring, in 1985-1989 are discussed. Concentrations of most heavy metals in the atmosphere in the marine boundary layer in the Russian Arctic are nearly of the same order as literature data from other Arctic areas. The content of heavy metals in the aerosols over the seas of the Russian Arctic shows an annual variation with maximal concentrations during the winter/spring season. In the summer/autumn period increased concentrations of heavy metals could be explained, in most cases, by natural processes (generation of sea salt aerosols, etc.). In some cases, aerosols from Norilsk and Kola Peninsula were detected. Particular attention was paid to estimation of horizontal and vertical fluxes of atmospheric heavy metals. We estimated annual variations in long-range transport of heavy metals into the Russian Arctic in 1986-1995. In winter and spring, up to 50% of the average air pollutant concentrations in the Russian Arctic are due to the Arctic atmospheric pollution itself. Moreover, the monthly and annual averaged fluxes of six anthropogenic chemical elements (arsenic, nickel, lead, vanadium, zinc and cadmium) onto the surface in the Arctic were estimated, and the values obtained were in reasonable agreement with the literature data available.

Anthropogenic pollutants in the Russian Arctic atmosphere: sources and sinks in spring and summer

Abstract The 5-day forward and backward trajectories of air mass transport to three Russian Arctic points for each day in April and July over a 10-year period from 1986 to 1995 have been analyzed. The important features and seasonal differences in air exchange processes in various areas of the Arctic have been investigated. Taking into account seasonal variations in aerosol scavenging mechanisms and velocities, the average contributions of large highly industrialized regions of the Russian Arctic air pollution were estimated for April and July. Reasonable correspondence between the calculated mean concentrations for six anthropogenic chemical elements (As, Ni, Pb, V, Zn, Cd) and experimentally determined values have been obtained. The atmospheric pollution transport from the Arctic was studied as yet another way of cleaning the Arctic atmosphere, in addition to the traditionally considered wet and dry depositions onto the surface. The average apportionment of conservative contaminants after passing the observation points was estimated for spring and summer. The air masses passing through the observation points in spring may take about 20–40% of pollutants out of the Arctic. In summer, however, more than 90% of pollutants transported into the Russian Arctic deposit within 5 days onto the surface inside the Arctic region. The monthly average fluxes of six anthropogenic elements onto the surface in the Russian Arctic were estimated for April and July.

Forest fires in Siberia and the Far East: Emissions and atmospheric transport of black carbon to the Arctic

Based on official statistical data from the Federal Forestry Agency of the Russian Federation, we estimated the black carbon (BC) emissions to the atmosphere from forest fires on the territory of Siberia and the Far East for the period 2000–2013. Statistical data on different fire types (crown and creeping fires, fires on nonforested and deforested lands), their seasonal and interannual variations are taken into consideration. We estimated distributions of BC emissions for different fire types over federal districts; total emissions from the territory of Siberia and the Far East had been (27 ± 8) kt/yr, the dispersion of annual values being from 3.5 to 94 kt. The 14-year average spatial distributions of fire-related BC emissions on (1° × 1°) grid for each season are used to calculate the wildfire contributions to BC content in environment of different regions of the Asian coast of the Arctic Ocean. It is shown that the Asian coast of the Russian Arctic receives much (over an order of magnitude) more anthropogenic black carbon than black carbon from wildfires, with anthropogenic emissions exceeding fire emissions of black carbon on the territory of Siberia and the Far East by a factor of five.

Atmospheric transport of anthropogenic impurities to the Russian arctic (1986–2010)

The 25-year series of data on air-mass transport to three sites in the Russian Arctic has been extended till 2010 and analyzed. Spatial, seasonal, and long-term features of the atmospheric transport of anthropogenic aerosol impurities are studied. Changes in atmospheric circulation over 25 years (1986–2010) have led to an increase in the proportion of marine air masses above northern islands of Eurasia. This can affect the composition of soils, river and lake waters, and living conditions of the Arctic flora and fauna. For the last decade (2001–2010), the average anthropogenic air concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As, Zn, Ni, Cr, and Cu) and black carbon, as well as their average fluxes onto the surface were estimated in the regions of Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya archipelagos. The results of this work can be used in the study of long-term processes and variations in different parameters of land and marine objects and ecosystems in the Russian Arctic undergoing anthropogenic impacts.

Atmospheric transport of anthropogenic heavy metals from the Kola Peninsula to the surfaces of the White and Barents seas

The propagation of air masses and anthropogenic aerosol pollutants from a large industrial region located above the polar circle in the north of the Kola Peninsula is analyzed. The initial data are five-day-traveltime trajectories of air mass transport from the source, which were calculated for each day of January, April, July, and October over a period of 20 years from 1981 to 2000 according to the NOAA reanalysis data on meteorological fields. Seasonal and long-term variations in the mean concentrations of arsenic and heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, V) in the surface air layer and precipitation over the waters of the White and Barents seas are studied. The results are compared with the published observational data characteristic of the region under study. It is shown that, on the whole, over a year, the atmospheric flux of persistent ecotoxicants from the Kola Peninsula to the waters of the White and Barents seas is fully comparable to the contribution of their inflowing rivers and this flux is dominant for nickel and copper.

Anthropogenic black carbon emissions to the atmosphere: Surface distribution through Russian territory

Official statistical data from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation on anthropogenic pollutant emissions from Russian cities and regions for 2010 are analyzed, and the black carbon (BC) emission distribution through the Russian territory is estimated. The lack of this information makes it difficult to study the long-range atmospheric transport of BC and forecast the related climate and ecological effects. Calculations are based on available data on carbon monoxide (CO) and BC emissions from Russian cities and regions under the assumption of proportionality of the BC and CO emissions, indepen-dently of transport and stationary sources. The analysis includes 54 regions and almost 100 cities in an area within (50–72° N × 20–180° E), which covers about 94% of the Russian territory. The spatial distribution of the annual BC emission through the territory under study is modeled on a (1° × 1°) grid for the first time. The total annual BC emission from this area is estimated at (210 ± 30) Gg. The main anthropogenic BC sources are located in industrial regions of the central European part of Russia, Southern Ural, Western Siberia, and on the large sparsely populated territories of the Western Siberia with natural oil/gas extraction industry.

Some features of seasonal variations in the methane content in the atmosphere over northern Eurasia

The climatic trends and basic features of seasonal variations in and anomalies of the concentration of methane in the atmospheric surface layer are considered on the basis of the current notion of the processes that form the global field of methane in the Earth’s atmosphere. Measurement data on the surface concentration of methane, which were obtained in Moscow and at a number of observation stations in Europe and Siberia in the fall-winter period of the first decade of the 21st century, have been analyzed. It is shown that, in the anomalously warm winter months of 2006/2007, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere over Moscow was higher than in the previous and following years. The excess concentration of methane amounted to 10% in March 2007, which is higher than the mean range of seasonal variations in the monthly mean concentration of surface methane. A comparison between the data obtained in Moscow and the data obtained at three stations of the NOAA global monitoring network and at three Russian Hydrometeorological Research Center stations shows the high spatial variability of the methane concentration in the atmosphere over northern Eurasia. The complex and multifactor processes that determine the content of methane in the atmospheric surface layer result in noticeable spatial and interannual deviations from the mean seasonal cycle of its concentration, which can manifest themselves on both regional and global scales. It is possible that the resumed increase in the content of methane in the Earth’s atmosphere recorded in 2007 (after its relative stabilization in the early 2000s) at the global monitoring network was also caused, to some extent, by the anomalously warm winter of 2006–2007 in northern Europe and western Siberia.

Aspects of Atmospheric Pollution in Siberia

This chapter considers specific atmospheric pollution problems in Siberia, the current state of studies and strategic activities, and peculiarities of Siberian environmental protection problems, risk assessment, and tendencies in atmospheric pollution in Siberia, including health-affecting pollutants, greenhouse gases, aerosols, etc. The chapter does not presume to cover all the aspects of atmospheric pollution in Siberia. Its main focus is a short general overview of the existing problems of airborne pollution in Siberia and methodological aspects of air pollution impact assessments followed by several examples of such studies for Siberia. In particular, the following issues are described: (1) sources and characteristics of air pollution in Siberia, (2) air quality and atmospheric composition characterization, (3) assessment of airborne pollution in Siberia from air and space, (4) methodology and models for air pollution assessment on different scales, and (5) case studies of long-range atmospheric transport of heavy metals from industries of the Ural and Norilsk regions.

Anomalous wildfires in 2010 and 2012 on the territory of Russia and supply of black carbon to the Arctic

Model estimates of black carbon (BC) concentrations in air were performed for different regions of the Russian Arctic under the conditions of maximal wildfires during summers of 2010 and 2012 on the territory of Russia. Data available from the Federal Forestry Agency of the Russian Federation (Rosleskhoz) on burning areas subject to fires (for different months of 2000–2013) were processed taking into account the quality of combustible material and different fire types. The developing atmospheric BC concentrations in the northern regions were calculated using the back trajectory statistics method for the Kola Peninsula, southeastern Arkhangelsk region, and Nenets, Gydan, and Ust-Lena Nature Reserves. It is shown that the specific circulation conditions in the atmosphere, accompanying extremely strong fires, may hamper transport of atmospheric pollutants to Arctic regions during the fire period. The BC concentrations are, on average, minor in northwestern European Russia (Kola Peninsula) and in the region of Ust-Lena Nature Reserve; and the largest pollution of air in northeastern Europe (region of Nenets Nature Reserve) is due to BC emissions from fires. On the contrary, anthropogenic BC predominates in northwestern Siberia (region of Gydan Nature Reserve). Strong Siberian and Yakutia fires may increase summertime air pollution by black carbon in north Asian Russia by an order of magnitude. The results presented here can be used for the qualitative estimation and comparative analysis of climatic and ecological conditions in different regions of the Russian Arctic.

Potential sources of aerosol pollution of the atmosphere near the Nenetsky Nature Reserve

A new approach to the calculation of the spatial field of potential pollution sources for remote territories has been suggested. It is based on the analysis of long-term data on air mass transport, taken from the NOAA reanalysis data (www.arl.noaa.gov/ready). Five-day backward air mass trajectories have been calculated for the region of the Nenetsky Nature Reserve (the Pechora River estuary) for each day of January and July over 10 years (2001–2010). These two months have the most contrasting climatic characteristics in a year. The atmospheric concentrations of heavy metals calculated for the Nenetsky Nature Reserve territory show a good agreement with other estimates and experimental data for the nearest sites. The results mapped give visual information on the spatial distribution (for each month) of sites of the maximally possible anthropogenic impact on the atmospheric composition near the Nenetsky Nature Reserve.