Black carbon pollution in snow and its impact on albedo near the Chilean stations on the Antarctic peninsula: First results

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 743; p. 140801
• Main Authors: Cereceda-Balic, Francisco, Vidal, Víctor, Ruggeri, María Florencia, González, Humberto E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.11.2020
• Subjects: aerosols; Antarctic region; Antarctica; BC in snow; carbon; Chilean Stations in Antarctica; climate change; environment; glaciers; humans; ice; latitude; pollution; snow; Snow albedo; summer; wavelengths; Antarctica; Antarctic region; Snow albedo; BC in snow; Chilean Stations in Antarctica
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140801

BC can be transported through the atmosphere from low and mid-latitudes to Antarctica, or it can be emitted in the Antarctica in situ. To establish a possible relationship between BC and the human activities in Antarctica, shallow snow samples were taken in four sites from Antarctic peninsula during summer periods (2014–2019): Chilean Base O'Higgins (BO), La Paloma Glacier (LP) (6 km away from BO); Chilean Base Yelcho (BY) and P4 (5 km away from BY). BC concentration in snow samples was determined by using a novel methodology recently developed, published and patented by the authors. The methodology consisted in a filter-based optical transmission method at a wavelength of 880 nm. Results showed that snow from BO presented the highest BC concentration (3395.7 μg kg−1), followed by BY (1309.2 μg kg−1), LP 2016 (745.9 μg kg−1), LP 2015 (233.6 μg kg−1) and finally P4 (179.4 μg kg−1). BC values observed in Antarctic snow were higher than others previously reported in the literature and showed the influence of anthropic activities in the study area, considering that the two highest values of BC concentration in snow were found at sites near the bases. To evaluate the impact of the BC concentrations found in the snow of the study area, snow albedo modeling was performed, using the on-line version of the “Snow, Ice, and Aerosol Radiative” (SNICAR) Model. Modeling outputs exposed that the measured variations in BC content caused large differences in the modeled albedo in the visible range of the spectra, which showed to be more sensitive at lower BC concentrations. These data could help to understand the role of BC in the actual scenario of climate change, in which Antarctica is presented as a very fragile environment that needs to be protected, starting with the management of the activities developed in-situ. [Display omitted] •BC concentration in snow was measured for first time in four sites of Antarctica.•BC levels in snow were one order of magnitude higher in sites near Antarctic Stations.•Total particulate matter collected in snow samples (TPM) was lower in sites far from Antarctic Stations.•BC percentage in TPM was proposed as an indicator of source influence.•The rate of change of albedo with BC in snow showed to be higher at lower BC levels.