ALBERT

Description: Black carbon (BC) particles emitted from incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and biomass, and deposited on snow and ice, darken the surface and reduce the surface albedo. Even small initial surface albedo reductions may have larger adjusted effects due to snow morphology changes, and changes in the sublimation- and snow melt rate. Most of the literature on the effect of BC on snow surface albedo is based on numerical models, and few in situ field measurements exist to confirm this reduction. Here we present an extensive set of concurrent in situ measurements of spectral surface albedo, BC concentrations in the upper 5-cm of the snow pack, snow physical parameters (grain size and depth), and incident solar flux characteristics from the Arctic. From this dataset (with median BC concentrations ranging from 5 to 137 ng BC per gram of snow) we are able to separate the BC signature on the snow albedo from the natural snow variability. Our measurements show a significant correlation between BC in snow and spectral surface albedo. Based on these measurements, parameterizations are provided, relating the snow albedo, as a function of wavelength, to the equivalent BC content in the snow pack. The term equivalent BC used here is the elemental carbon concentration inferred from the thermo-optical method adjusted for the fraction of non BC constituents absorbing sunlight in the snow. The first parameterization is a simple equation which efficiently describes the snow albedo reduction due to the equivalent BC without including details on the snow or BC microphysics. This can be used in models when a simplified description is needed. A second parameterization, including snow grain size information, shows enhanced correspondence with the measurements. The extracted parameterizations are valid for wavelength bands 400–900 nm, constrained for BC concentrations between 1 and 400 ng g −1 , and for an optically thick snowpack. The parameterizations are purely empirical, and particular focus was on the uncertainties associated with the measurements, and how these uncertainties propagate in the parameterizations. Integrated, the first parameterization (based only on the equivalent BC) gives a broadband (400–900 nm) snow albedo reduction of 0.004 due to 10 ng equivalent BC per gram of snow, while the effect is almost five times larger for BC concentrations one order of magnitude higher. The study shows that the reconstructed albedo from the second parameterization (including information on the snow grain size) corresponds better to the radiative transfer model Snow, Ice, and Aerosol Radiation (SNICAR) albedo than the reconstructed albedo from the first parameterization (excluding grain size information).

Description: A high-resolution deuterium profile is now available along the entire European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core, extending this climate record back to marine isotope stage 20.2, approximately 800,000 years ago. Experiments performed with an atmospheric general circulation model including water isotopes support its temperature interpretation. We assessed the general correspondence between Dansgaard-Oeschger events and their smoothed Antarctic counterparts for this Dome C record, which reveals the presence of such features with similar amplitudes during previous glacial periods. We suggest that the interplay between obliquity and precession accounts for the variable intensity of interglacial periods in ice core records.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jouzel, J -- Masson-Delmotte, V -- Cattani, O -- Dreyfus, G -- Falourd, S -- Hoffmann, G -- Minster, B -- Nouet, J -- Barnola, J M -- Chappellaz, J -- Fischer, H -- Gallet, J C -- Johnsen, S -- Leuenberger, M -- Loulergue, L -- Luethi, D -- Oerter, H -- Parrenin, F -- Raisbeck, G -- Raynaud, D -- Schilt, A -- Schwander, J -- Selmo, E -- Souchez, R -- Spahni, R -- Stauffer, B -- Steffensen, J P -- Stenni, B -- Stocker, T F -- Tison, J L -- Werner, M -- Wolff, E W -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2007 Aug 10;317(5839):793-6. Epub 2007 Jul 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l'Environnement, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, CEA-CNRS-Universite de Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, CE Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. jean.jouzel@lsce.ipsl.fr〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17615306" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Deposition of black carbon (BC) aerosol in the Arctic lowers snow albedo, thus contributing to warming in the region. However, the processes and impacts associated with BC deposition are poorly understood because of the scarcity and uncertainties of measurements of BC in snow with adequate spatiotemporal resolution. We sampled snowpack at two sites (11 m and 300 m above sea level) at Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, in April 2013. We also collected falling snow near the surface with a windsock from September 2012 to April 2013. The size distribution of BC in snowpack and falling snow was measured using a single-particle soot photometer combined with a characterized nebulizer. The BC size distributions did not show significant variations with depth in the snowpack, suggesting stable size distributions in falling snow. The BC number and mass concentrations ( C NBC and C MBC ) at the two sites agreed to within 19% and 10%, respectively, despite the sites’ different snow water equivalent (SWE) loadings. This indicates the small influence of the amount of SWE (or precipitation) on these quantities. Average C NBC and C MBC in snowpack and falling snow at nearly the same locations agreed to within 5% and 16%, after small corrections for artifacts associated with the sampling of the falling snow. This comparison shows that the dry deposition was a small contributor to the total BC deposition. C MBC were highest (2.4 ± 3.0 μg L –1 ) in December-February and lowest (1.2 ± 1.2 μg L –1 ) in September-November.

Description: The origin of the synergistic catalytic effect between metal catalysts and reducible oxides has been debated for decades. Clarification of this effect, namely, the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), requires an understanding of the geometric and electronic structures of metal-metal oxide interfaces under operando conditions. We show that the inherent lattice mismatch of bimetallic materials selectively creates surface segregation of subsurface metal atoms. Interfacial metal-metal oxide nanostructures are then formed under chemical reaction environments at ambient pressure, which thus increases the catalytic activity for the CO oxidation reaction. Our in situ surface characterizations using ambient-pressure scanning tunneling microscopy and ambient-pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy exhibit (i) a Pt-skin layer on the Pt-Ni alloyed surface under ultrahigh vacuum, (ii) selective Ni segregation followed by the formation of NiO 1– x clusters under oxygen gas, and (iii) the coexistence of NiO 1– x clusters on the Pt-skin during the CO oxidation reaction. The formation of interfacial Pt-NiO 1– x nanostructures is responsible for a highly efficient step in the CO oxidation reaction. Density functional theory calculations of the Pt 3 Ni(111) surface demonstrate that a CO molecule adsorbed on an exposed Pt atom with an interfacial oxygen from a segregated NiO 1– x cluster has a low surface energy barrier of 0.37 eV, compared with 0.86 eV for the Pt(111) surface.

Description: Deposition of black carbon (BC) aerosol in the Arctic lowers snow albedo, thus contributing to warming in the region. However, the processes and impacts associated with BC deposition are poorly understood because of the scarcity and uncertainties of measurements of BC in snow with adequate spatiotemporal resolution. We sampled snowpack at two sites (11 m and 300 m above sea level) at Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen, in April 2013. We also collected falling snow near the surface with a windsock from September 2012 to April 2013. The size distribution of BC in snowpack and falling snow was measured using a single-particle soot photometer combined with a characterized nebulizer. The BC size distributions did not show significant variations with depth in the snowpack, suggesting stable size distributions in falling snow. The BC number and mass concentrations (CNBC and CMBC) at the two sites agreed to within 19% and 10%, respectively, despite the sites' different snow water equivalent (SWE) loadings. This indicates the small influence of the amount of SWE (or precipitation) on these quantities. Average CNBC and CMBC in snowpack and falling snow at nearly the same locations agreed to within 5% and 16%, after small corrections for artifacts associated with the sampling of the falling snow. This comparison shows that the dry deposition was a small contributor to the total BC deposition. CMBC were highest (2.4 ± 3.0 μg L−1) in December–February and lowest (1.2 ± 1.2 μg L−1) in September–November. ©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Description: High-accuracy measurements of snow Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) were performed for four natural snow samples with a spectrogonio-radiometer in the 500–2600 nm wavelength range. These measurements are one of the first sets of direct snow BRDF values over a wide range of lighting and viewing geometry. They were compared to BRDF calculated with two optical models. Variations of the snow anisotropy factor with lighting geometry, wavelength and snow physical properties were investigated. Results show that at wavelengths with small penetration depth, scattering mainly occurs in the very top layers and the anisotropy factor is controlled by the phase function. In this condition, forward scattering peak or double scattering peak is observed. In contrast at shorter wavelengths, the penetration of the radiation is much deeper and the number of scattering events increases. The anisotropy factor is thus nearly constant and decreases at grazing observation angles. The whole dataset is available on demand from the corresponding author.

Description: On the Antarctic plateau, the budget of water vapor and energy is in part determined by precipitation, but these are so low that the dynamic of snow crystal growth and sublimation at the surface can be important factors. At Dome C (75° S, 123° E), we have frequently observed the growth of crystals on the snow surface under calm sunny weather. Here, we present the time variations of specific surface area and density of these crystals. Using the detailed snow model Crocus, we conclude that these crystals were very likely due to the nighttime formation of surface hoar crystals and to the daytime formation of sublimation crystals. These latter crystals form by processes similar to those involved in the formation of frost flowers on young sea ice. The formation of these crystals impact the albedo, mass and energy budget of the Antarctic plateau. In particular, the specific surface area variations of the surface layer can induce an instantaneous forcing of up to −10 W m−2 at noon, resulting in a surface temperature drop of 0.45 K.

Description: Even though the specific surface area (SSA) of snow is a crucial variable to determine the chemical and climatic impact of the snow cover, few data are available on snow SSA because current measurement methods are not simple to use in the field or do not have a sufficient accuracy. We propose here a novel determination method based on the measurement of the hemispherical reflectance of snow in the infrared using the DUFISSS instrument (DUal Frequency Integrating Sphere for Snow SSA measurement). DUFISSS uses 1310 and 1550 nm radiation provided by laser diodes, an integrating sphere 15 cm in diameter, and InGaAs photodiodes. For SSA60 m2 kg−1, snow is usually of low to very low density (typically 30 to 100 kg m−3) and this produces artifacts caused by the e-folding length of light in snow being too long. We therefore use 1550 nm radiation for SSA〉60 m2 kg−1. Reflectance is then in the range 5 to 12%, and the accuracy is 12%. No effect of crystal shape on reflectance was detected. We propose empirical equations to determine SSA from reflectance at both wavelengths, with that for 1310 nm taking into account the snow density. DUFISSS has been tested in the Alps to measure the snow area index (SAI) of the Alpine snowpack in a south facing area at 2100 m elevation. This was done by measuring the SSA, thickness and density of the seven main layers of the snowpack in just 30 min, and a value of 5350 was found, significantly greater than in Arctic and subarctic regions. DUFISSS can now be used to help study issues related to polar and Alpine atmospheric chemistry and climate.

Description: The specific surface area (SSA) of snow can be used as an objective measurement of grain size and is therefore a central variable to describe snow physical properties such as albedo. Snow SSA can now be easily measured in the field using optical methods based on infrared reflectance. However, existing optical methods have only been validated for dry snow. Here we test the possibility to use the DUFISSS instrument, based on the measurement of the 1310 nm reflectance of snow with an integrating sphere, to measure the SSA of wet snow. We perform cold room experiments where we measure the SSA of a wet snow sample, freeze it and measure it again, to quantify the difference in reflectance between frozen and wet snow. We study snow samples in the SSA range 12–37 m2 kg−1 and in the mass liquid water content (LWC) range 5–32%. We conclude that the SSA of wet snow can be obtained from the measurement of its 1310 nm reflectance using three simple steps. In most cases, the SSA thus obtained is less than 10 {%} different from the value that would have been obtained if the sample had been considered dry, so that the three simple steps constitute a minor correction. We also run two optical models to interpret the results, but no model reproduces correctly the water–ice distribution in wet snow, so that their predictions of wet snow reflectance are imperfect. The correction on the determination of wet snow SSA using the DUFISSS instrument gives an overall uncertainty better than 11%, even if the LWC is unknown. If SSA is expressed as a surface to volume ratio (e.g., in mm−1), the uncertainty is then 13% because of additional uncertainties in the determination of the volume of ice and water when the LWC is unknown.