ALBERT

Description: Release of trace gases from surface snow on earth drives atmospheric chemistry, especially in the polar regions. The gas-phase diffusion of methanol and of acetone through the interstitial air of snow was investigated in a well-controlled laboratory study in the temperature range of 223 to 263 K. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the structure of the snowpack, the interaction of the trace gases with the snow surface, and the grain boundaries influence the diffusion on timescales up to 1 h. The diffusive loss of these two volatile organics into packed snow samples was measured using a chemical ionization mass spectrometer. The structure of the snow was analysed by means of X-ray-computed micro-tomography. The observed diffusion profiles could be well described based on gas-phase diffusion and the known structure of the snow sample at temperatures ≥ 253 K. At colder temperatures, surface interactions start to dominate the diffusive transport. Parameterizing these interactions in terms of adsorption to the solid ice surface, i.e. using temperature-dependent air–ice partitioning coefficients, better described the observed diffusion profiles than the use of air–liquid partitioning coefficients. No changes in the diffusive fluxes were observed by increasing the number of grain boundaries in the snow sample by a factor of 7, indicating that for these volatile organic trace gases, uptake into grain boundaries does not play a role on the timescale of diffusion through porous surface snow. For this, a snow sample with an artificially high amount of ice grains was produced and the grain boundary surface measured using thin sections. In conclusion, we have shown that the diffusivity can be predicted when the structure of the snowpack and the partitioning of the trace gas to solid ice is known.

Description: The physical, chemical, and biological processes involving organics in ice in the environment impact a number of atmospheric and biogeochemical cycles. Organic material in snow or ice may be biological in origin, deposited from aerosols or atmospheric gases, or formed chemically in situ. In this manuscript, we review the current state of knowledge regarding the sources, properties, and chemistry of organic materials in environmental ices. Several outstanding questions remain to be resolved and fundamental data gathered before an accurate model of transformations and transport of organic species in the cryosphere will be possible. For example, more information is needed regarding the quantitative impacts of chemical and biological processes, ice morphology, and snow formation on the fate of organic material in cold regions. Interdisciplinary work at the interfaces of chemistry, physics and biology is needed in order to fully characterize the nature and evolution of organics in the cryosphere and predict the effects of climate change on the Earth's carbon cycle.

Description: Peroxynitric acid uptake to ice and snow has been proposed to be a major loss process from the atmosphere with impacts on the atmospheric oxidation capacity. Here we present results from a laboratory study on the interaction of peroxynitric acid with water ice at low concentration. Experiments were performed in a coated wall flow tube at atmospheric pressure and in the environmentally relevant temperature range of 230 K to 253 K. The interaction was found to be fully reversible and decomposition was not observed. Analysis based on the Langmuir adsorption model showed that the partitioning of peroxynitric acid to ice is orders of magnitude lower than of nitric acid and similar to nitrous acid partitioning behavior. The partition coefficient (KLinC) and its temperature dependency can be described by 3.74 × 10−12 × e(7098/T) [cm]. Atmospheric implications are discussed and show that the uptake to cirrus clouds or to snow-packs in polar areas is an important sink for peroxynitric acid in the environment.

Description: The heterogeneous loss of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) to aerosol particles has a significant impact on the night-time nitrogen oxide cycle and therefore the oxidative capacity in the troposphere. Using a 13N short-lived radioactive tracer method, we studied the uptake kinetics of N2O5 on citric acid aerosol particles as a function of relative humidity (RH). The results show that citric acid exhibits lower reactivity than similar dicarboxylic and polycarboxylic acids, with uptake coefficients between ∼ 3 × 10-4–∼ 3 × 10-3 depending on humidity (17–70 % RH). At RH above 50 %, the magnitude and the humidity dependence can be best explained by the viscosity of citric acid as compared to aqueous solutions of simpler organic and inorganic solutes and the variation of viscosity with RH and, hence, diffusivity in the organic matrix. Since the diffusion rates of N2O5 in highly concentrated citric acid solutions are not well established, we present four different parameterizations of N2O5 diffusivity based on the available literature data or estimates for viscosity and diffusivity of H2O. Above 50 % RH, uptake is consistent with the reacto-diffusive kinetic regime whereas below 50 % RH, the uptake coefficient is higher than expected from hydrolysis of N2O5 within the bulk of the particles, and the uptake kinetics is most likely limited by loss on the surface only. This study demonstrates the impact of viscosity in highly oxidized and highly functionalized secondary organic aerosol material on the heterogeneous chemistry of N2O5 and may explain some of the unexpectedly low loss rates to aerosol derived from field studies.

Description: Snow in the environment acts as a host to rich chemistry and provides a matrix for physical exchange of contaminants within the ecosystem. The goal of this review is to summarise the current state of knowledge of physical processes and chemical reactivity in surface snow with relevance to polar regions. It focuses on a description of impurities in distinct compartments present in surface snow, such as snow crystals, grain boundaries, crystal surfaces, and liquid parts. It emphasises the microscopic description of the ice surface and its link with the environment. Distinct differences between the disordered air–ice interface, often termed quasi-liquid layer, and a liquid phase are highlighted. The reactivity in these different compartments of surface snow is discussed using many experimental studies, simulations, and selected snow models from the molecular to the macro-scale. Although new experimental techniques have extended our knowledge of the surface properties of ice and their impact on some single reactions and processes, others occurring on, at or within snow grains remain unquantified. The presence of liquid or liquid-like compartments either due to the formation of brine or disorder at surfaces of snow crystals below the freezing point may strongly modify reaction rates. Therefore, future experiments should include a detailed characterisation of the surface properties of the ice matrices. A further point that remains largely unresolved is the distribution of impurities between the different domains of the condensed phase inside the snowpack, i.e. in the bulk solid, in liquid at the surface or trapped in confined pockets within or between grains, or at the surface. While surface-sensitive laboratory techniques may in the future help to resolve this point for equilibrium conditions, additional uncertainty for the environmental snowpack may be caused by the highly dynamic nature of the snowpack due to the fast metamorphism occurring under certain environmental conditions. Due to these gaps in knowledge the first snow chemistry models have attempted to reproduce certain processes like the long-term incorporation of volatile compounds in snow and firn or the release of reactive species from the snowpack. Although so far none of the models offers a coupled approach of physical and chemical processes or a detailed representation of the different compartments, they have successfully been used to reproduce some field experiments. A fully coupled snow chemistry and physics model remains to be developed.