Collaborative Research: Marine Aerosols in the Arctic: Linking surface water chemistry and biology with primary particle production

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This collaborative project between the University of Michigan, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and Villanova University, will investigate the interactions between the surface of the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere above. The Arctic has experienced dramatic sea ice loss and increasing surface temperatures. These changes affect air-sea exchange processes, not solely due to larger areas of open water, but also in areas of increasingly broken sea-ice. These changes impact ocean microbiology, which in turn influences atmospheric composition. The team will examine the potential for changes in the atmospheric composition to impact cloud formation, properties, and precipitation, which subsequently affect climate. During the joint U.S.-Sweden cruise of the Icebreaker Oden, experiments will be conducted to better understand the physical properties and chemical makeup of marine aerosols produced from Arctic seawater. Using seawater collected under several combinations of sea ice and open water conditions, controlled atmospheric aerosol generation experiments will also be conducted aboard the Oden. The biology and chemistry of seawater will be sampled during the cruise and compared to the composition of measured aerosols in the ambient air, as well as those generated from seawater on the ship. Measurements will focus on individual aerosol particle properties, organic compound molecular composition, and microbiology. Specific links between seawater microbiology and aerosol composition, morphology, and water uptake will be described. The nature of marine aerosol sources will be defined and quantified for use in climate models to improve understanding of Arctic ocean-atmosphere connections. The project will result in an unprecedented level of understanding of Arctic marine aerosol production and links to seawater microbiology. This will lead to improved predictions of Arctic aerosol composition and clouds for the rapidly changing Arctic system. Integrated educational and outreach project activities will increase awareness of Arctic change and build upon the investigators' longstanding commitment to education and public outreach. The project, led by three female investigators, will involve 3 early-career scientists, 2 Ph.D. students, 1 M.S. student, 5+ undergraduate students (including participation of a Research in an Undergraduate Institution), and 1 student from an inner city high school in Detroit. A short documentary film on the changing Arctic Ocean and this research project will be made by Villanova communications majors. PI Pratt will serve as the mentor for the high school student participating in the Detroit Research Internship Summer Experience, and the research groups of PI Pratt and co-PI Ault will conduct outreach with the Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and the Sciences program. Co-PIs Grannas and Matrai will continue longstanding outreach collaborations with Philadelphia and rural schools in the islands of the Gulf of Maine, respectively.