Work

Unraveling Arctic submicron organic aerosol sources: a year-long study by H-NMR and AMS in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: . Understanding the chemical composition and sources of organic aerosol (OA) in the Arctic is critical given its importance for particle climate-relevant properties. This study presents a year-long analysis (May 2019–June 2020) of PM1 filter samples collected in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. A multi-instrumental approach is employed to characterize the comprehensive chemical composition of PM1, with a specific focus on its water-soluble organic fraction (WSOA) depicted combining proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-NMR) and high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometry (HR-TOF-AMS), which provide complementary insights on nature and structure of the organic aerosol classes characterizing the bulk OA mixture. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) source apportionment identifies consistent OA sources from the H-NMR and AMS datasets, showing a pronounced seasonality in OA contributions. Winter-spring aerosol is dominated by long-range transport of Eurasian anthropogenic pollution (up to 70 %), while summer is characterized by biogenic aerosols from marine sources (up to 44 %), including sulfur compounds, amines, and fatty acids. Occasional summertime high OA loadings are associated with wildfire aerosols enriched in levoglucosan and humic-like substances (HULIS; averagely 27–28 %). Eventually, about 28–40 % of the OA is attributed to an unresolved mixture of extremely oxidized compounds of difficult specific source-attribution. This integrated approach provides valuable insights into the seasonal dynamics of OA sources in the Arctic.

Source: Atmospheric chemistry and physics

DOI: 10.5194/acp-25-12853-2025