Black carbon in the near-surface atmosphere far away from emission sources: comparison of measurements and MERRA-2 reanalysis data
T.B. Zhuravleva1, A.V. Artyushina1, A.A. Vinogradova2, Yu.V. Voronina1
1V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Tomsk, Russia
2A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Keywords: черный углерод, приземный слой, Арктика, наземные измерения, ренализ MERRA-2, black carbon, atmospheric surface layer, Arctic, ground-based measurements, MERRA-2 reanalysis
Abstract
We compare the time variations in monthly average concentrations of black carbon in the surface atmospheric layer, obtained from field measurements ([BC]) and from MERRA-2 reanalysis ([BC]M) at four monitoring sites located in the northern part of Russia (Tiksi Hydrometeorological Observatory (HMO), Pechora-Ilych Biosphere Reserve, Alaska (Barrow), and Greenland (Summit). It is shown that the MERRA-2 reanalysis data for the regions of Tiksi HMO and Barrow not fully reflect the [BC] variations during the year, in contrast to the Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve, where the differences are within 30-50%. The [BC]M reanalysis data for the Summit monitoring site qualitatively agree with the measurement data characterizing the BC content in the free troposphere, but they underestimate [BC] by more than 2 times. In general, the analysis showed that the results of the MERRA-2 reanalysis of the monthly average values of the surface concentration of atmospheric black carbon can be used for climate assessments for hard-to-reach northern regions in the warm season with an error of about 30%. Possible reasons for the differences between [BC] and [BC]M are discussed for different seasons and observation sites.
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