Aerosol black carbon in the European Arctic: Measurements at Zeppelin station, Ny-Alesund, Svalbard from 1998-2007

An aerosol black carbon (BC) data set from ongoing measurements at Zeppelin station (474 m asl), near Ny-Alesund (10 m asl), Svalbard is reported for the period 1998-2007. Annual average and median BC concentrations were 39 and 27 ng m(-3), respectively, while monthly averages ranged from a maximum similar to 80 ng m(-3) in February/March to a minimum 0-10 ng m(-3) from June to September. BC concentrations were calibrated by elemental carbon thermo-optical analysis. PSCF trajectory analysis indicated that BC concentrations at Zeppelin were mainly influenced by source regions in northern and central Russia. Since 2001, a small decreasing trend in BC concentration (-9.5 ng m(-3) per decade) for the period to 2007 has been observed which is, however, similar to the detection limit. Citation: Eleftheriadis, K., S. Vratolis, and S. Nyeki (2009), Aerosol black carbon in the European Arctic: Measurements at Zeppelin station, Ny-Alesund, Svalbard from 1998-2007, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L02809, doi:10.1029/2008GL035741.