Markus Furger

Biotic, Abiotic, and Management Controls on the Net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange of European Mountain Grassland Ecosystems

The net ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange (NEE) of nine European mountain grassland ecosystems was measured during 2002–2004 using the eddy covariance method. Overall, the availability of photosynthetically active radiation (PPFD) was the single most important abiotic influence factor for NEE. Its role changed markedly during the course of the season, PPFD being a better predictor for NEE during periods favorable for CO2 uptake, which was spring and autumn for the sites characterized by summer droughts (southern sites) and (peak) summer for the Alpine and northern study sites. This general pattern was interrupted by grassland management practices, that is, mowing and grazing, when the variability in NEE explained by PPFD decreased in concert with the amount of aboveground biomass (BMag). Temperature was the abiotic influence factor that explained most of the variability in ecosystem respiration at the Alpine and northern study sites, but not at the southern sites characterized by a pronounced summer drought, where soil water availability and the amount of aboveground biomass were more or equally important. The amount of assimilating plant area was the single most important biotic variable determining the maximum ecosystem carbon uptake potential, that is, the NEE at saturating PPFD. Good correspondence, in terms of the magnitude of NEE, was observed with many (semi-) natural grasslands around the world, but not with grasslands sown on fertile soils in lowland locations, which exhibited higher maximum carbon gains at lower respiratory costs. It is concluded that, through triggering rapid changes in the amount and area of the aboveground plant matter, the timing and frequency of land management practices is crucial for the short-term sensitivity of the NEE of the investigated mountain grassland ecosystems to climatic drivers.

Real-World Emission Factors for Antimony and Other Brake Wear Related Trace Elements: Size-Segregated Values for Light and Heavy Duty Vehicles

Hourly trace element measurements were performed in an urban street canyon and next to an interurban freeway in Switzerland during more than one month each, deploying a rotating drum impactor (RDI) and subsequent sample analysis by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (SR-XRF). Antimony and other brake wear associated elements were detected in three particle size ranges (2.5-10, 1-2.5, and 0.1-1 microm). The hourly measurements revealed that the effect of resuspended road dust has to be taken into account for the calculation of vehicle emission factors. Individual values for light and heavy duty vehicles were obtained for stop-and-go traffic in the urban street canyon. Mass based brake wear emissions were predominantly found in the coarse particle fraction. For antimony, determined emission factors were 11 +/- 7 and 86 +/- 42 microg km(-1) vehicle(-1) for light and heavy duty vehicles, respectively. Antimony emissions along the interurban freeway with free-flowing traffic were significantly lower. Relative patterns for brake wear related elements were very similar for both considered locations. Beside vehicle type specific brake wear emissions, road dust resuspension was found to be a dominant contributor of antimony in the street canyon.

Meteorology, air quality, and health in London: The ClearfLo project

AbstractAir quality and heat are strong health drivers, and their accurate assessment and forecast are important in densely populated urban areas. However, the sources and processes leading to high concentrations of main pollutants, such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and fine and coarse particulate matter, in complex urban areas are not fully understood, limiting our ability to forecast air quality accurately. This paper introduces the Clean Air for London (ClearfLo; www.clearflo.ac.uk) project’s interdisciplinary approach to investigate the processes leading to poor air quality and elevated temperatures.Within ClearfLo, a large multi-institutional project funded by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), integrated measurements of meteorology and gaseous, and particulate composition/loading within the atmosphere of London, United Kingdom, were undertaken to understand the processes underlying poor air quality. Long-term measurement infrastructure installed at multiple levels (street and eleva...

Climatology of Mountain Venting–Induced Elevated Moisture Layers in the Lee of the Alps

Abstract Elevated moisture layers in the lower free troposphere (2000–6000 m MSL) in the lee of the Alps were investigated. Specific humidity was analyzed within a Lagrangian concept for fair-weather days during a 12-yr period at the windward and the leeward sides of the Alps for the sounding sites of Payerne, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy. During daytime fair-weather conditions (different criteria), specific humidity increased significantly in air masses that advected from Payerne to Milan in a layer ranging from ∼2500 to 4000 m MSL. The maximum relative increase of specific humidity in this layer was ∼0.3, meaning that ∼30% of the air in this layer originated from the Alpine atmospheric boundary layer. On average, ∼30% of the mass of the Alpine boundary layer was vented to altitudes higher than 2500 m MSL per hour during the daytime. The total precipitable water within a layer reaching from 2500 to 3500 m MSL increased by ∼1.3 mm. Similar elevated layers were observed for different selection methods of ...

Diurnal variations of volatile organic compounds and local circulation systems in an Alpine valley

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured during one summer month on the floor of the deep Swiss Alpine Mesolcina valley, accompanied by aircraft-based VOC measurements during six intensive observation days. In the late morning, a strong decrease of VOC concentrations despite an increasing traffic intensity was observed on the valley floor. This occurred when clean air masses were advected during the preceding night from high altitudes north of the Alps. During these nights the average VOC concentration was 40% lower in the nocturnal surface layer than in cases of southerly advection. Nights with southerly advection led to high VOC concentrations in the valley on the following morning and no decrease of VOC concentrations between 9 and 12 h. Only during these nights high ozone concentrations produced in the Po Basin of northern Italy could reach the Alpine crest and yielded ozone concentrations above 100 ppb there. The diurnal cycle of VOCs, influenced by the various meteorological features characteristic for deep Alpine valleys, is discussed in detail.

Convective boundary layer evolution to 4 km asl over High‐alpine terrain: Airborne lidar observations in the Alps

Mountain ranges have important influences on the structure and composition of the convective boundary layer (CBL) and free troposphere (FT). Evolution of the summer CBL, measured over the European Alps using airborne lidar, was clearly observed to attain a near-uniform height up to 4.2 km asl by early afternoon. A climatology of in-situ high-alpine aerosol measurements suggests that such substantial growth, corresponding to ∼ 0.3 of the mid-latitude tropopause height, often occurs during summer months. Subsequent nocturnal collapse of the CBL was estimated to result in the venting of ∼ 0.8 ± 0.3 (SO44) Gg day−1 into a FT residual layer, leeward of the Alps.

Influences of vertical transport and scavenging on aerosol particle surface area and radon decay product concentrations at the Jungfraujoch (3454 m above sea level)

Concentrations of the aerosol particle surface area (SA) and aerosol-attached radon decay products 214Pb and 212Pb have been measured by means of an aerosol and a radon epiphaniometer at the Jungfraujoch research station (JFJ; 3454 m above sea level, Switzerland). These parameters exhibit a pronounced seasonal cycle with minimum values in winter and maximum values in summer. In summer, pronounced diurnal variations with a maximum at 1800 LST are often present. Highest concentrations and most pronounced diurnal variations occur during anticyclonic weather conditions in summer. Thermally driven vertical transport over alpine topography is responsible for this observation. During this synoptic condition, concentrations vary greatly with the 500 hPa wind direction, exhibiting low concentrations for NW-N winds and high concentrations for weak or S-SW winds. Lead-214 and SA are highly correlated during anticyclonic conditions, indicating transport equivalence of the gaseous 214Pb precursor, 222Rn, and of aerosol particles. When cyclonic lifting is the dominant vertical transport, wet scavenging of aerosol particles can explain the weak correlation of 214Pb and SA. This conclusion is corroborated by the 214Pb/SA ratio, being twice as high during cyclonic than during anticyclonic conditions. Lead-212 is a tracer for the influence of surface contact on a local scale due to its short lifetime of 15.35 hours. The analysis of this parameter suggests that high-alpine surfaces play an important role in thermally driven transport to the JFJ.

The first UK measurements of nitryl chloride using a chemical ionization mass spectrometer in central London in the summer of 2012, and an investigation of the role of Cl atom oxidation

The first nitryl chloride (ClNO2) measurements in the UK were made during the summer 2012 ClearfLo campaign with a chemical ionization mass spectrometer, utilizing an I− ionization scheme. Concentrations of ClNO2 exceeded detectable limits (11 ppt) every night with a maximum concentration of 724 ppt. A diurnal profile of ClNO2 peaking between 4 and 5 A.M., decreasing directly after sunrise, was observed. Concentrations of ClNO2 above the detection limit are generally observed between 8 P.M. and 11 A.M. Different ratios of the production of ClNO2:N2O5 were observed throughout with both positive and negative correlations between the two species being reported. The photolysis of ClNO2 and a box model utilizing the Master Chemical Mechanism modified to include chlorine chemistry was used to calculate Cl atom concentrations. Simultaneous measurements of hydroxyl radicals (OH) using low pressure laser-induced fluorescence and ozone enabled the relative importance of the oxidation of three groups of measured VOCs (alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes) by OH radicals, Cl atoms, and O3 to be compared. For the day with the maximum calculated Cl atom concentration, Cl atoms in the early morning were the dominant oxidant for alkanes and, over the entire day, contributed 15%, 3%, and 26% toward the oxidation of alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, respectively.

Scintillometer Wind Measurements over Complex Terrain

Abstract Several large-aperture scintillometers were built at the Paul Scherrer Institute with the aim to measure wind over complex terrain. A prototype instrument was tested over flat ground, and the performance of six analyzing techniques was evaluated by comparing them with conventional anemometers. Next, a set of five improved scintillometers was used in an experiment over complex terrain. This experiment represents a unique opportunity for evaluating scintillometer performance by comparing their results to sodar, aircraft, and ground station measurements. The results complement and partly contradict the observations previously published; the so-called peak technique is the most reliable and frequency techniques fail to provide faithful results in many cases. The measurements demonstrate that scintillometry is useful and reliable for wind and turbulence measurements over complex terrain.

The influence of south Foehn on the ozone distribution in the Alpine Rhine valley—results from the MAP field phase

During the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) special observation period (SOP) between 7 September and 15 November 1999, ground-based and airborne measurements have been conducted in the Rhine valley south of the Lake of Constance to investigate the unstationary aspects of Foehn and related phenomena, like the impact of Foehn on the ozone concentrations in the valley. Foehn events occurred with above-average frequency and high diversity. Foehn induced ozone peaks in October and November are found to be much lower than the September Foehn case of the period. An inversion layer in the lake area with ozone concentrations below 10 ppb often shields the monitoring stations from the Foehn air aloft. Trajectory calculations for the Foehn period between 19 and 24 October 1999 reveal that the Foehn air originated from below 1 to 1.5 km above the Po Basin and the Mediterranean Sea. Tethered balloon soundings in the source area south of the Alps, ozone measurements at the mountain station Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.) and airborne measurements across the Alpine crests reveal that the ozone levels found in the Foehn air correspond to the concentrations just above the mixing height in the Po Basin and are transported across the Alpine crest within the lowest flow layer.