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Determination of regional sources of aerosol black carbon in the Arctic
Author(s) -
Kahl Jonathan D.,
Hansen A. D. A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl016i004p00327
Subject(s) - aerosol , environmental science , carbon black , arctic , atmospheric sciences , latitude , peninsula , radiative forcing , climatology , the arctic , combustion , biomass burning , range (aeronautics) , deposition (geology) , meteorology , physical geography , geography , geology , oceanography , chemistry , natural rubber , materials science , composite material , paleontology , organic chemistry , geodesy , archaeology , sediment
Black carbon aerosol (BC), a strong absorber of visible light, constitutes a small but significant fraction of the effluent arising from carbonaceous fuel combustion processes. Estimates of the source strengths and geographical distribution of BC emissions, needed to model their effects on radiative transfer, are currently unavailable. In this letter we present a methodology for estimating regional emissions of BC in Arctic latitudes based on the synthesis of three independent pieces of information: time‐resolved measurements of BC and CO 2 at Pt. Barrow, Alaska; long‐range atmospheric trajectory analyses; and tabulated values of regional fuel consumption. From a limited data base we obtain an example result indicating annual BC emissions in the Novaya Zemlya/Taymyr Peninsula regions of the northern U.S.S.R. on the order of 10 8 g yr −1 .