Aerosol light scattering properties at Zeppelin Observatory, Svalbard, 1999⁠ – ⁠2016, with back trajectory analysis parameters

Dominic Heslin-Rees, Maria Burgos, Hans-Christen Hansson, Radovan Krejci, Johan Ström, Peter Tunved, Paul Zieger

The dataset was created to aid the investigation of long-term trends in aerosol light scattering properties using a unique data record of key aerosol optical properties from the Zeppelin Observatory on Svalbard. The aerosol optical properties in this dataset include scattering Ångström exponent, light scattering coefficient, backscattering coefficient, the hemispheric backscatter ratio, and further extended by the analysis of back trajectories and satellite-derived sea ice data, to produce surface residence times and meteorological parameters.

The dataset contains hourly data based of aerosol light scattering properties including extensive parameters taken from an integrating nephelometer (TSI Inc., U.S.A., Model 3563), namely light scattering and backscattering coefficients at 550 nm. The hemispheric backscatter ratio at 550 nm and the scattering Ångström exponent as calculated based on wavelengths 450 nm and 550 nm are also included.

The dataset is temporally collocated with a 7-day Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT) back trajectory analysis, that includes surface residence times derived using satellite sea ice data, averaged meteorological parameters like pressure, relative humidity, temperature (medians along the back trajectories) and the average of the trajectories coordinates. The addition of HYSPLIT analysis aids in the interpretation of aerosol properties.

Citation

Dominic Heslin-Rees, Maria Burgos, Hans-Christen Hansson, Radovan Krejci, Johan Ström, Peter Tunved, Paul Zieger (2020) Aerosol light scattering properties at Zeppelin Observatory, Svalbard, 1999⁠ – ⁠2016, with back trajectory analysis parameters. Dataset version 1. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/zeppelin-aerosol-light-scattering-1

References

Heslin-Rees D, Burgos M, Hansson H-C, Krejci R, Ström J, Tunved P, Zieger P (2020) From a polar to a marine environment: has the changing Arctic led to a shift in aerosol light scattering properties? Atmos Chem Phys Discuss. (accepted for publication in Atmos Chem Phys). https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-521

Data description

This dataset is provided as one CSV file (size: 8.71 MB, 49031 rows, 31 columns). Each row represents an observation identified by the time stamp in the format YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss. Several parameters report values for the planetary boundary layer (PBL).

Details about the parameters by column label:

• scat550: volume scattering coefficient in air due to dried aerosol particles, in [Mm-1]
• bscat550: volume backwards scattering coefficient in air due to dried aerosol particles, in [Mm-1]
• ratio_550: backscattering_ratio, unitless
• AE_450: Ångström exponent of ambient aerosol in air, unitless
• RH_int: the percentage of relative humidity at the sample outlet, in [%]
• rH: the percentage of relative humidity at Zeppelin mountain (Ny-Ålesund), in [%]
• average_alt_in_PBL: mean altitude of air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [m]
• average_lat_in_PBL: mean latitude of air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [°N]
• average_lon_in_PBL: mean longitude of air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [°E]
• average_wind_speed_PBL: mean wind speed of air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [ms-1]
• distance_in_PBL: mean distance traversed by air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [m]
• mixed_layer_height_in_PBL: mean height of the PBL above the surface, in [m]
• position_in_PBL: region of origin based on average back trajectory coordinates namely NE, SE, SW, NW
• position_lon_in_PBL: average coordinate of back trajectory relative to ZEP at the North pole, in [°E]
• rainfall_in_PBL: accumulated rainfall along the back trajectory whilst in PBL, in [mm]
• relative_humidity_in_PBL: mean relative humidity of air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [%]
• temperature_in_PBL: mean temperature of air parcel along trajectory and within PBL, in [°C]
• time_in_PBL: time back trajectory spends within the PBL, in [h]
• ice_time: time back trajectory spends within the PBL and over sea ice concentrations greater than 0.85, in [h]
• land_time: time back trajectory spends within the PBL and continental surfaces, in [h]
• ocean_time: time back trajectory spends within the PBL and over sea ice concentrations less than 0.85, in [h]
• ice_time_fixed: time back trajectory spends within the PBL and over sea ice concentrations greater than 0.85 from 1999, in [h]
• land_time_fixed: time back trajectory spends within the PBL and continental surfaces, in [h]
• ocean_time_fixed: time back trajectory spends within the PBL and over sea ice concentrations less than 0.85 from 1999, in [h]
• ordinal: number of days since 1999-01-01
• month_num: month of the year given as a number
• month_abb: month of the year given as an abbreviation
• year_num: year
• season_abb: season of the year given as an abbreviation (i.e. DJF, MAM, JJA, SON)
• year_month_num: number of months since January 1999
• season_ordinal: number of seasons since winter (DJF) 1999

The dataset also includes a jpg image file showing the source attribution of air masses using a back trajectory arriving at the Zeppelin Observatory.

Comments

Dominic Heslin-Rees performed data analysis. Peter Tunved performed trajectory calculations. Hans-Christen Hansson and Johan Ström were part of the start up and operation of the long-term measurements.