ALBERT

Description: Multiple year-round records of bulk and size-segregated composition of aerosol were obtained at the inland site of Concordia located at Dome C in East Antarctica. In parallel, sampling of acidic gases on denuder tubes was carried out to quantify the concentrations of HCl and HNO3 present in the gas phase. These time series are used to examine aerosol present over central Antarctica in terms of chloride depletion relative to sodium with respect to freshly emitted sea-salt aerosol as well as depletion of sulfate relative to sodium with respect to the composition of seawater. A depletion of chloride relative to sodium is observed over most of the year, reaching a maximum of  ∼ 20 ng m−3 in spring when there are still large sea-salt amounts and acidic components start to recover. The role of acidic sulfur aerosol and nitric acid in replacing chloride from sea-salt particles is here discussed. HCl is found to be around twice more abundant than the amount of chloride lost by sea-salt aerosol, suggesting that either HCl is more efficiently transported to Concordia than sea-salt aerosol or re-emission from the snow pack over the Antarctic plateau represents an additional significant HCl source. The size-segregated composition of aerosol collected in winter (from 2006 to 2011) indicates a mean sulfate to sodium ratio of sea-salt aerosol present over central Antarctica of 0.16 ± 0.05, suggesting that, on average, the sea-ice and open-ocean emissions equally contribute to sea-salt aerosol load of the inland Antarctic atmosphere. The temporal variability of the sulfate depletion relative to sodium was examined at the light of air mass backward trajectories, showing an overall decreasing trend of the ratio (i.e., a stronger sulfate depletion relative to sodium) when air masses arriving at Dome C had traveled a longer time over sea ice than over open ocean. The findings are shown to be useful to discuss sea-salt ice records extracted at deep drilling sites located inland Antarctica.

Description: Multiple year-round (2006–2015) records of the bulk and size-segregated composition of aerosol were obtained at the inland site of Concordia located in East Antarctica. The well-marked maximum of non-sea-salt sulfate (nssSO4) in January (100 ± 28 ng m−3 versus 4.4 ± 2.3 ng m−3 in July) is consistent with observations made at the coast (280 ± 78 ng m−3 in January versus 16 ± 9 ng m−3 in July at Dumont d'Urville, for instance). In contrast, the well-marked maximum of MSA at the coast in January (60 ± 23 ng m−3 at Dumont d'Urville) is not observed at Concordia (5.2 ± 2.0 ng m−3 in January). Instead, the MSA level at Concordia peaks in October (5.6 ± 1.9 ng m−3) and March (14.9 ± 5.7 ng m−3). As a result, a surprisingly low MSA-to-nssSO4 ratio (RMSA) is observed at Concordia in mid-summer (0.05 ± 0.02 in January versus 0.25 ± 0.09 in March). We find that the low value of RMSA in mid-summer at Concordia is mainly driven by a drop of MSA levels that takes place in submicron aerosol (0.3 µm diameter). The drop of MSA coincides with periods of high photochemical activity as indicated by high ozone levels, strongly suggesting the occurrence of an efficient chemical destruction of MSA over the Antarctic plateau in mid-summer. The relationship between MSA and nssSO4 levels is examined separately for each season and indicates that concentration of non-biogenic sulfate over the Antarctic plateau does not exceed 1 ng m−3 in fall and winter and remains close to 5 ng m−3 in spring. This weak non-biogenic sulfate level is discussed in the light of radionuclides (210Pb, 10Be, and 7Be) also measured on bulk aerosol samples collected at Concordia. The findings highlight the complexity in using MSA in deep ice cores extracted from inland Antarctica as a proxy of past dimethyl sulfide emissions from the Southern Ocean.

Description: We measured aerosol size distributions and conducted bulk and size-segregated aerosol sampling during two summer campaigns in January 2015 and January 2016 at the continental Antarctic station Kohnen (Dronning Maud Land). Physical and chemical aerosol properties differ conspicuously during the episodic impact of a distinctive low-pressure system in 2015 (LPS15) compared to the prevailing clear sky conditions. The approximately 3-day LPS15 located in the eastern Weddell Sea was associated with the following: marine boundary layer air mass intrusion; enhanced condensation particle concentrations (1400 ± 700 cm−3 compared to 250 ± 120 cm−3 under clear sky conditions; mean ± SD); the occurrence of a new particle formation event exhibiting a continuous growth of particle diameters (Dp) from 12 to 43 nm over 44 h (growth rate 0.6 nm h−1); peaking methane sulfonate (MS−), non-sea-salt sulfate (nss–SO42-), and Na+ concentrations (190 ng m−3 MS−, 137 ng m−3 nss–SO42-, and 53 ng m−3 Na+ compared to 24 ± 15, 107 ± 20, and 4.1 ± 2.2 ng m−3, respectively, during clear sky conditions); and finally an increased MS− ∕ nss–SO42- mass ratio βMS of 0.4 up to 2.3 (0.21 ± 0.1 under clear sky conditions) comparable to typical values found at coastal Antarctic sites. Throughout the observation period a larger part of MS− could be found in super-micron aerosol compared to nss–SO42-, i.e., (10 ± 2) % by mass compared to (3.2 ± 2) %, respectively. On the whole, under clear sky conditions aged aerosol characterized by usually mono-modal size distributions around Dp= 60 nm was observed. Although our observations indicate that the sporadic impacts of coastal cyclones were associated with enhanced marine aerosol entry, aerosol deposition on-site during austral summer should be largely dominated by typical steady clear sky conditions.

Description: The applicability, methods and limitations of constrained peak-fitting on mass spectra of low mass resolving power (m/dm50 ~ 500) recorded with a time-of-flight aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ToF-ACSM) are explored. Calibration measurements as well as ambient data are used to exemplify the methods that should be applied to maximise data quality and assess confidence in peak-fitting results. Sensitivity analyses and basic peak fit metrics such as normalised ion separation are employed to demonstrate which peak-fitting analyses commonly performed in high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry are appropriate to perform on spectra of this resolving power. Information on aerosol sulphate, nitrate, sodium chloride, methanesulphonic acid as well as semi-volatile metal species retrieved from these methods is evaluated. The constants in a commonly used formula for the estimation of the mass concentration of hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol may be refined based on peak-fitting results. Finally, application of a recently-published parameterisation for the estimation of carbon oxidation state to ToF-ACSM spectra is validated for a range of organic standards and its use demonstrated for ambient urban data.

Description: One of the major challenges to assessing the impact of ocean acidification on marine life is the need to better understand the magnitude of long-term change in the context of natural variability. This study addresses this need through a global synthesis of monthly pH and aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) climatologies for 12 open ocean, coastal, and coral reef locations using 3-hourly moored observations of surface seawater partial pressure of CO2 and pH collected together since as early as 2010. Mooring observations suggest open ocean subtropical and subarctic sites experience present-day surface pH and Ωarag conditions outside the bounds of pre-industrial variability throughout most, if not all, of the year. In general, coastal mooring sites experience more natural variability and thus, more overlap with pre-industrial conditions; however, present day Ωarag conditions surpass biologically relevant thresholds associated with ocean acidification impacts on Mytilus californianus (Ωarag 〈 1.8) and Crassostrea gigas (Ωarag 〈 2.0) larvae in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) and Mya arenaria larvae in the Gulf of Maine (Ωarag 〈 1.6). At the most variable mooring locations in coastal systems of the CCE, subseasonal conditions approached Ωarag = 1. Global and regional models and data syntheses of ship-based observations tended to underestimate seasonal variability compared to mooring observations. Efforts such as this to characterize all modes of pH and Ωarag variability and change at key locations are fundamental to assessing present-day biological impacts of ocean acidification, further improving experimental design to interrogate organism response under real-world conditions, and improving predictive models and vulnerability assessments seeking to quantify the broader impacts of ocean acidification.

Description: Though the environmental conditions of the Weddell Sea region and Dronning Maud Land are still relatively stable compared to the fast-changing Antarctic Peninsula, we may suspect pronounced effects of global climate change for the near future (Thompson et al., 2011). Reducing the uncertainties in climate change modeling requires a better understanding of the aerosol optical properties, and for this we need accurate data on the aerosol refractive index (RI). Due to the remoteness of Antarctica only very few RI data are available from this region (Hogan et al., 1979; Virkkula et al., 2006; Shepherd et al., 2018). We calculate the real refractive index of natural atmospheric aerosols from number size distribution measurements at the German coastal Antarctic station Neumayer III. Given the high average scattering albedo of 0.992 (Weller et al., 2013), we assumed that the imaginary part of the RI is zero. Our method uses the overlapping size range (particle diameter D between 120 and 340 nm) of a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), which sizes the particles by their electrical mobility, and a laser aerosol spectrometer (LAS), which sizes the particles by their optical scattering signal at the 633 nm wavelength. Based on almost a complete year of measurement, the average effective refractive index (RIeff, as we call our retrieved RI because of the used assumptions) for the dry aerosol particles turned out to be 1.44 with a standard deviation of 0.08, in a good agreement with the RI value of 1.47, which we derived from the chemical composition of bulk aerosol sampling measurements. At Neumayer the aerosol shows a pronounced seasonal pattern in both number concentration and chemical composition. Despite this, the variability of the monthly averaged RIeff values remained between 1.40 and 1.50. Compared to the annual mean, two austral winter months (July and September) showed slightly but significantly increased values (1.50 and 1.47, respectively). The size dependency of the RIeff could be determined from time-averaged LAS and SMPS number size distributions measured between December 2017 and January 2018. Here we calculated RIeff for four different particle size ranges and observed a slight decrease from 1.47 (D range 116–168 nm) to 1.37 (D range 346–478 nm). We find no significant dependence of the derived RIeff values on the wind direction. Thus we conclude that RIeff is largely independent of the general weather situation, roughly classified as (i) advection of marine boundary layer air masses during easterly winds caused by passing cyclones in contrast to (ii) air mass transport from continental Antarctica under southern katabatic winds. Neumayer, the only relevant contamination source, is located 1.5 km north of the air chemistry observatory, where the measurements were performed. Given that northerly winds are almost absent, the potential impact of local contamination is minimized in general. Indeed our data show no impact of local contamination on RIeff. Just in one case a temporary high-contamination episode with diesel engines operating right next to the measurement site resulted in an unusual high RIeff of 1.59, probably caused by the high black carbon content of the exhaust fumes. To conclude, our study revealed largely constant RIeff values throughout the year without any sign of seasonality. Therefore, it seems reasonable to use a single, constant RIeff value of 1.44 for modeling optical properties of natural, coastal Antarctic sub-micrometer aerosol.

Description: A large subsurface oxygen deficiency zone is located in the eastern tropical South Pacific Ocean (ETSP). The large-scale circulation in the eastern equatorial Pacific and off the coast of Peru in November/December 2012 shows the influence of the equatorial current system, the eastern boundary currents, and the northern reaches of the subtropical gyre. In November 2012 the equatorial undercurrent (EUC) is centered at 250 m depth, deeper than in earlier observations. In December 2012, the equatorial water is transported southeastward near the shelf in the Peru–Chile undercurrent (PCUC) with a mean transport of 1.4 Sv. In the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), the flow is overlaid with strong eddy activity on the poleward side of the OMZ. Floats with parking depth at 400 m show fast westward flow in the mid-depth equatorial channel and sluggish flow in the OMZ. Floats with oxygen sensors clearly show the passage of eddies with oxygen anomalies. The long-term float observations in the upper ocean lead to a net community production estimate at about 18° S of up to 16.7 mmol C m−3 yr−1 extrapolated to an annual rate and 7.7 mmol C m−3 yr−1 for the time period below the mixed layer. Oxygen differences between repeated ship sections are influenced by the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), by the phase of El Niño, by seasonal changes, and by eddies, and hence have to be interpreted with care. At and south of the Equator the decrease in oxygen in the upper ocean since 1976 is related to an increase in nitrate, phosphate, and in part silicate.

Description: We investigate the pore space of rock samples with respect to different petrophysical parameters using various methods, which provide data on pore size distributions, including micro computed tomography (μ-CT), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and spectral-induced polarization (SIP). The resulting cumulative distributions of pore volume as a function of pore size are compared. Considering that the methods differ with regard to their limits of resolution, a multiple-length-scale characterization of the pore space is proposed, that is based on a combination of the results from all of these methods. The approach is demonstrated using samples of Bentheimer and Röttbacher sandstone. Additionally, we compare the potential of SIP to provide a pore size distribution with other commonly used methods (MIP, NMR). The limits of resolution of SIP depend on the usable frequency range (between 0.002 and 100 Hz). The methods with similar resolution show a similar behavior of the cumulative pore volume distribution in the overlapping pore size range. We assume that μ-CT and NMR provide the pore body size while MIP and SIP characterize the pore throat size. Our study shows that a good agreement between the pore radius distributions can only be achieved if the curves are adjusted considering the resolution and pore volume in the relevant range of pore radii. The MIP curve with the widest range in resolution should be used as reference.

Description: We investigate the pore space of rock samples with respect to different petrophysical parameters using various methods, which provide data upon pore size distributions, including micro computed tomography (μ-CT), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and spectral induced polarization (SIP). The resulting cumulative distributions of pore volume as a function of pore size are compared. Considering that the methods differ with regard to their limits of resolution, a multiple length scale characterization of the pore space geometry is proposed, that is based on a combination of the results from all of these methods. The approach is demonstrated using samples of Bentheimer and Röttbacher sandstone. Additionally, we compare the potential of SIP to provide a pore size distribution with other commonly used methods (MIP, NMR). The limits of resolution of SIP depend on the usable frequency range (between 0.002Hz and 100Hz). The methods with similar resolution show a similar behavior of the cumulative pore volume distribution in the overlapping pore size range. We assume that μ-CT and NMR provide the pore body size while MIP and SIP characterize the pore throat size. Our study shows that a good agreement between the pore radii distributions can only be achieved if the curves are adjusted considering the resolution and pore volume in the relevant range of pore radii. The MIP curve with the widest range in resolution should be used as reference.

Description: The central importance of soil for the functioning of terrestrial systems is increasingly recognized. Critically relevant for water quality, climate control, nutrient cycling and biodiversity, soil provides more functions than just the basis for agricultural production. Nowadays, soil is increasingly under pressure as a limited resource for the production of food, energy and raw materials. This has led to an increasing demand for concepts assessing soil functions so that they can be adequately considered in decision making aimed at sustainable soil management. The various soil science disciplines have progressively developed highly sophisticated methods to explore the multitude of physical, chemical and biological processes in soil. It is not obvious, however, how the steadily improving insight into soil processes may contribute to the evaluation of soil functions. Here we present to a new systemic modeling framework that allows for a consistent coupling between reductionist yet observable indicators for soil functions with detailed process understanding. It is based on the mechanistic relationships between soil functional attributes, each explained by a network of interacting processes as derived from scientific evidence. The non-linear character of these interactions produces stability and resilience of soil with respect to functional characteristics. We anticipate that this new conceptional framework will integrate the various soil science disciplines and help identify important future research questions at the interface between disciplines. It allows the overwhelming complexity of soil systems to be adequately coped with and paves the way for steadily improving our capability to assess soil functions based on scientific understanding.