Measurements of black carbon aerosol washout ratio on Svalbard

Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of aerosol black carbon (BC) in both fresh snow and in air on Svalbard are presented. From these, washout ratios for BC are calculated and compared to sparse previous measurements of this metric in the arctic. The current ratios are significantly higher than previously found measured values. We argue that the degree of snow riming within the accretion zone can explain most of this difference. Using an analytical model of the scavenging process, BC scavenging efficiencies are estimated to lie in the range 0.25-0.5, comparable to measured values. © 2011 The Authors Tellus B © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.