The Arctic environment is undergoing rapid changes, possibly due in part to anthropogenic causes. A number of these changes involve interaction with, and possibly feedback from, the atmosphere, so it is particularly important to investigate and monitor processes that could amplify atmospheric change.
Complex exchange processes in the ocean-ice-atmosphere system often influence the levels of important atmospheric trace gases, such as the hydroxyl radical and ozone, and trace species are also photochemically transformed or produced within the sunlit snowpack. Because changes in Arctic atmospheric circulation are cyclic over 4-5 year or longer times, long-duration measurements are needed to understand circulation and to place observed changes in a long-term perspective.
This proposal will include the development of a new generation of multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) instruments to continually measure concentrations of the important trace species formaldehyde (HCHO), nitrous acid (HONO), nitric oxide (NO2), and halogen oxides in the Arctic. The instrument will augment ongoing observations at the Summit Greenland Environmental Observatory (GEOSummit), located at an elevation of 3100 m on the Greenland ice sheet. GEOSummit is currently the only high-altitude site for atmospheric and related measurements in the Arctic.
The proposal has a strong broader impacts, especially in the area of education
