Remote sounding of air quality and greenhouse gases in the Arctic

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The overarching goal of my research is to provide a better understanding of the processes that determine atmospheric composition and drive atmospheric change, using a variety of instruments and data analysis tools. This proposal describes two projects that employ infrared spectroscopic techniques to make the long-term observations that are essential to address the question of "What is the composition of the Arctic atmosphere and how and why is it changing with time?" The Arctic is widely recognized as our early warning system for global change, and with its large Arctic landmass, Canada has an obligation to its own population and to the global community to do its part in monitoring the Arctic atmosphere in the years ahead. The first project involves Studies of Biomass Burning and Pollution Events using measurements made with a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer deployed at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Eureka, Nunavut in the remote high Arctic (80N, 86W). These data will be used to investigate variability and trends in tropospheric composition, and will be compared to the GEOS-Chem model to characterize the origin, evolution, and impact of biomass burning and pollution events and to improve model emission inventories. The second project involves Studies of Greenhouse Gases in the context of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), which the PEARL FTIR spectrometer joined in June 2010. We will implement the network's data analysis protocol, defined by the extreme precision requirements for total column CO2. We will collaborate with other TCCON sites in using the data to study the carbon cycle, particularly the influence of regional fluxes and long-range transport on spatial and temporal gradients in CO2 and CH4. We will also provide valuable Arctic ground-truth measurements for Japan's GOSAT and NASA's OCO-2 missions. The requested funding will support the visit of two graduate students per year to the PEARL facility at Eureka to conduct the planned research.