10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Sources for Atmospheric Aerosol at Oliktok Point, Alaska
JANEK UIN, Gunnar Senum, Stephen Springston, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Abstract Number: 173 Working Group: Remote/Regional Atmospheric Aerosol
Abstract Oliktok Point in Alaska is the new site for the U.S. Department of Energy Aerosol Observing System (AOS) AMF 3, which was deployed there in August 2016 as part of the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) project. The site is located close to the shore of the Arctic Ocean and is surrounded by tundra with several oil processing plants nearby. The station has complement of instruments for measuring trace gas concentrations, aerosol particle number concentrations, particle size distributions down to 60 nm, and particle optical and hygroscopic properties.
Measurement data suggests that the atmospheric aerosol at Oliktok Point is a mixture from a few distinct local and remote sources with the aerosol properties having a strong correlation with the wind direction.
Winds from the north, from the direction of the ocean shore, usually bring clean air masses with very low particle counts and a particle hygroscopic growth factor at around 1.5, which is common for sea spray. However, occasionally higher particle counts can be observed, most likely originating from the main building of the Oliktok Long Range Radar Site, located close by almost due north from the measurement site.
The prevalent wind direction at the site is from the east and is associated with elevated particle counts and larger mean particle sizes. The largest oil processing plant in the region is located in Prudhoe Bay, which is 60 km east from the site and is the most likely candidate for these emissions.
As the power generators for the site are located close by to the south of the AMF 3 measurement container, the southerly winds bring diesel emission plumes characterized by very high particle counts, elevated CO concentrations and high light absorption.