CARIBIC observations of gaseous mercury in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
(2013) 16th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment, ICHMET 2012 In E3S Web of Conferences 1.- Abstract
A unique set of gaseous mercury measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS) has been obtained during the monthly CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) flights since May 2005. The passenger Airbus 340-600 of Lufthansa covered routes to the Far East, North America, India, and the southern hemisphere. The accompanying measurements of CO, O3, NOy, H2O, aerosols, halocarbons, hydrocarbons, greenhouse gases, and several other parameters as well as backward trajectories enable a detailed analysis of these measurements. Speciation tests have shown that the CARIBIC measurements represent a good approximation of total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations. Above the tropopause TGM always decrease with increasing potential... (More)
A unique set of gaseous mercury measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS) has been obtained during the monthly CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) flights since May 2005. The passenger Airbus 340-600 of Lufthansa covered routes to the Far East, North America, India, and the southern hemisphere. The accompanying measurements of CO, O3, NOy, H2O, aerosols, halocarbons, hydrocarbons, greenhouse gases, and several other parameters as well as backward trajectories enable a detailed analysis of these measurements. Speciation tests have shown that the CARIBIC measurements represent a good approximation of total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations. Above the tropopause TGM always decrease with increasing potential vorticity (PV) and O3 which implies its conversion to particle bound mercury. The observation of the lowest TGM concentrations at the highest particle concentrations in the stratosphere provides further evidence for such conversion. We will show how a seasonally dependent conversion rate could be derived using concomitantly measured SF6 mixing ratios as a timer. Tropospheric mercury data suggest the existence of a decreasing trend in the northern hemisphere whose size is comparable with the trend derived from long-term measurements by ship cruises, at Cape Point (South Africa) and Mace Head (Ireland).
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013-04-23
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Distribution, Heavy metals, Measurement, Mercury, Stratosphere, Trend, Troposphere
- host publication
- Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment
- series title
- E3S Web of Conferences
- volume
- 1
- article number
- 17001
- publisher
- EDP Sciences
- conference name
- 16th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment, ICHMET 2012
- conference location
- Rome, Italy
- conference dates
- 2013-09-23 - 2013-09-27
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85016488325
- ISSN
- 2100-014X
- DOI
- 10.1051/e3sconf/20130117001
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- de6449f6-3da7-4c32-b7ba-30236927b107
- date added to LUP
- 2019-05-16 09:25:58
- date last changed
- 2022-01-31 20:38:06
@inproceedings{de6449f6-3da7-4c32-b7ba-30236927b107, abstract = {{<p>A unique set of gaseous mercury measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS) has been obtained during the monthly CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) flights since May 2005. The passenger Airbus 340-600 of Lufthansa covered routes to the Far East, North America, India, and the southern hemisphere. The accompanying measurements of CO, O3, NOy, H2O, aerosols, halocarbons, hydrocarbons, greenhouse gases, and several other parameters as well as backward trajectories enable a detailed analysis of these measurements. Speciation tests have shown that the CARIBIC measurements represent a good approximation of total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations. Above the tropopause TGM always decrease with increasing potential vorticity (PV) and O3 which implies its conversion to particle bound mercury. The observation of the lowest TGM concentrations at the highest particle concentrations in the stratosphere provides further evidence for such conversion. We will show how a seasonally dependent conversion rate could be derived using concomitantly measured SF6 mixing ratios as a timer. Tropospheric mercury data suggest the existence of a decreasing trend in the northern hemisphere whose size is comparable with the trend derived from long-term measurements by ship cruises, at Cape Point (South Africa) and Mace Head (Ireland).</p>}}, author = {{Slemr, F. and Ebinghaus, R. and Weigelt, A. and Kock, H. H. and Brenninkmeijer, C. A.M. and Schuck, T. and Hermann, M. and Zahn, A. and Van Velthoven, P. and Martinsson, B. and Ziereis, H.}}, booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment}}, issn = {{2100-014X}}, keywords = {{Distribution; Heavy metals; Measurement; Mercury; Stratosphere; Trend; Troposphere}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{04}}, publisher = {{EDP Sciences}}, series = {{E3S Web of Conferences}}, title = {{CARIBIC observations of gaseous mercury in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20130117001}}, doi = {{10.1051/e3sconf/20130117001}}, volume = {{1}}, year = {{2013}}, }