Nuclear contamination sources in surface air of Finnish Lapland in 1965–2011 studied by means of 137Cs, 90Sr, and total beta activity

Radionuclides 137Cs and 90Sr and total beta activity were determined from air filters collected in Rovaniemi (Finnish Lapland) in1965–2011. Nuclear contamination sources present in the air filter samples as well as temporal changes in radionuclide concentrations were examined. Ozone observations and meteorological modeling were used in combination with radionuclide analyses to study the reasons behind the observed seasonal concentration variation. In general, the magnitude and variation in activity concentrations of 137Cs and 90Sr and total beta activity in the surface air of Rovaniemi in 1965–2011 corresponded well with values from other countries. However, the obtained results prove in practice that hardly any refractory or intermediate radionuclides from the destroyed Chernobyl reactor fuel were introduced to Finnish Lapland. The main source of 137Cs and 90Sr and total beta activity in the surface air of Rovaniemi in 1965–2011 has been intense atmospheric nuclear weapon testing in 1950s–1960s and later tests performed in 1965–1980, as well as leakages from underground nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk, 1966, and Novaya Zemlya, 1987. For 137Cs and total beta activity, the influence of Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents was detected.Peer reviewe

Effect of small-scale snow surface roughness on snow albedo and reflectance

The primary goal of this paper is to present a model of snow surface albedo accounting for small-scale surface roughness effects. The model is based on photon recollision probability, and it can be combined with existing bulk volume albedo models, such as Two-streAm Radiative Trans-fEr in Snow (TARTES). The model is fed with in situ measurements of surface roughness from plate profile and laser scanner data, and it is evaluated by comparing the computed albedos with observations. It provides closer results to empirical values than volume-scattering-based albedo simulations alone. The impact of surface roughness on albedo increases with the progress of the melting season and is larger for larger solar zenith angles. In absolute terms, small-scale surface roughness can decrease the total albedo by up to about 0.1. As regards the bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF), it is found that surface roughness increases backward scattering especially for large solar zenith angle values

Modelling of Arctic stratospheric ozone and water vapour and their changes

Ozone and water vapour are important trace gases in the atmosphere, where both play an important role in radiative and chemical processes. Ozone protects the Earth's biosphere, humans and materials from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The distributions and changes of ozone and water vapour are thus important to understand. Restrictions on the production and use of ozone depleting substances (ODS) within the Montreal Protocol have stopped the growth of the ozone loss, even signs of recovery of the ozone layer have been seen. However, many ODSs are long lived in the atmosphere and it will take decades before they are removed. Stratospheric water vapour influences the polar ozone loss by controlling the formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSC). The climate change will cool the stratosphere, which could favour the formation of PSCs. This could cause significant ozone depletion despite the lower chlorine loadings in the future stratosphere. Atmospheric models are needed for studying these phenomena, because the number of observations is limited. Also the prediction of future ozone loss requires models. In this study simulations of the middle atmosphere have been made using the FinROSE chemistry transport model (FinROSE-CTM). It is an off-line 3-dimensional model, covering the altitude range of ca. 10–80 km, including the stratosphere. The model can be used for short term case studies, as well as for decadal simulations. The FinROSE-CTM needs pre-calculated winds, temperature and surface pressure, and then calculates the chemistry and transport using the meteorology. In this study ECMWF reanalysis data and climate model data have been used. Model results have been compared to ground based and satellite observations, and the model has been shown to be suitable for polar stratospheric ozone and water vapour studies. When running the model with climate model data also future conditions can be predicted. Both observations and simulations show an increase in the water vapour concentration in the Arctic stratosphere after 2006, but around 2012 the concentration started to decrease. Model calculations suggest that this increase in water vapour is mostly explained by transport-related processes. The increase in water vapour in the presence of the low winter temperatures in the Arctic stratosphere led to more frequent occurrence of ICE PSCs in the Arctic vortex. In a recent study, we studied the effect of changes in the water vapour concentration in the tropical tropopause on Arctic ozone depletion. A change in the tropical tropopause water vapour concentration resulted in a corresponding change in the Arctic stratosphere. We found that the impact of water vapour changes on ozone loss in the Arctic polar vortex depends on the meteorological conditions. The strongest effect was in intermediately cold conditions, when added water vapour resulted in more ozone loss due to the additional PSCs and associated chlorine activation on their surface. The effect was less pronounced in cold winters because cold conditions persisted long enough for a nearly complete chlorine activation even with observed water vapour. The results show that the simulated water vapour concentration in the tropical tropopause has a significant impact on the Arctic ozone loss and deserves attention, and therefore needs to be well simulated in order to improve future projections of ozone layer recovery

Effect of small-scale snow surface roughness on snow albedo and reflectance

The primary goal of this paper is to present a model of snow surface albedo accounting for small-scale surface roughness effects. The model is based on photon recollision probability, and it can be combined with existing bulk volume albedo models, such as Two-streAm Radiative TransfEr in Snow (TARTES). The model is fed with in situ measurements of surface roughness from plate profile and laser scanner data, and it is evaluated by comparing the computed albedos with observations. It provides closer results to empirical values than volume-scattering-based albedo simulations alone. The impact of surface roughness on albedo increases with the progress of the melting season and is larger for larger solar zenith angles. In absolute terms, small-scale surface roughness can decrease the total albedo by up to about 0.1. As regards the bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF), it is found that surface roughness increases backward scattering especially for large solar zenith angle values.Peer reviewe

Trends of ozone total columns and vertical distribution from FTIR observations at 8 NDACC stations around the globe

Ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements of solar absorption spectra can provide ozone total columns with a precision of 2% but also independent partial column amounts in about four vertical layers, one in the troposphere and three in the stratosphere up to about 45km, with a precision of 5–6%. We use eight of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) stations having a long-term time series of FTIR ozone measurements to study the total and vertical ozone trends and variability, namely, Ny-Ålesund (79° N), Thule (77° N), Kiruna (68° N), Harestua (60° N), Jungfraujoch (47° N), Izaña (28° N), Wollongong (34° S) and Lauder (45° S).This study has been supported by the EU FP7 project NORS, the ESA PRODEX project A3C, as well as the AGACC-II project within the Science for a Sustainable Development research program funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office

Trends of ozone total columns and vertical distribution from FTIR observations at 8 NDACC stations around the globe [Discussion paper]

Ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements of solar absorption spectra can provide ozone total columns with a precision of 2% but also independent partial column amounts in about four vertical layers, one in the troposphere and three in the stratosphere up to about 45km, with a precision of 5–6%. We use eight of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) stations having a long-term time series of FTIR ozone measurements to study the total and vertical ozone trends and variability, namely, Ny-Ålesund (79° N), Thule (77° N), Kiruna (68° N), Harestua (60° N), Jungfraujoch (47° N), Izaña (28° N), Wollongong (34° S) and Lauder (45° S).This study has been supported by the EU FP7 project NORS, the ESA PRODEX project A3C, as well as the AGACC-II project within the Science for a Sustainable Development research program funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office

Global analysis of scintillation variance: Indication of gravity wave breaking in the polar winter upper stratosphere

Stellar scintillations observed through the Earth atmosphere are caused by air density irregularities generated mainly by internal gravity waves and turbulence. We present global analysis of scintillation variance in two seasons of year 2003 based on GOMOS/Envisat fast photometer measurements. Scintillation variance can serve as a qualitative indicator of intensity of small-scale processes in the stratosphere. Strong increase of scintillation variance at high latitudes in winter is observed. The maximum of scintillation variance can be associated with the polar night jet. The simplified spectral analysis has shown the transition of scintillation spectra toward small scales with altitude, which is probably related with turbulence appearing as a result of wave breaking. The breaking of gravity waves in the polar night jet seems to start in the upper stratosphere, a predicted, but not confirmed by observations before, feature. Weaker enhancements in tropics are also observed; they might be related to tropical convection