Analysis of the Record of Arctic Airborne Particle Compositions

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9423252 This is a continued investigation of the trace constituents in arctic aerosols, using the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) technique. The technique is extremely sensitive and powerful, capable of determining the concentration of about forty elements, including many environmentally crucial ones such as aluminum, zinc, arsenic and antimony that are present in very low concentrations. This study will complete the analysis of filtered samples obtained by the Atmospheric Environment Services of Canada on Ellesmere Island from 1980 to 1991, of samples obtained in 1992 during the Polar Sunrise Experiment, and additional samples to be obtained from Alaska, northern Canada, and northern Finland. The occurrence of arctic haze, the general term for aerosol concentrations in the lower troposphere, reaches a seasonal maximum in late winter when it becomes widespread through the arctic. The variation is the result both of seasonal differences in the northward transport, and in the removal process through wet and dry deposition. Multivariate factor analysis, potential source contribution functions, and time series analyses, combined with air mass trajectories will provide advective patterns that will refine our understanding of the transport mechanism and atmospheric pathways from the source regions to the Canadian Arctic, and allow the investigations of trends in the relative composition of the arctic aerosol trace constituents. ***