Modeling Atmospheric Transport of Trace Pollutants to the Arctic Source-to-Receptor Air Transport Coefficient Maps A tool to show how changes in weather, climate and emission can change contaminant pathways and deposition patterns. ATC maps display the fraction of pollutant emitted from a source location that deposits on a selected receptor (unit /sq. meter). Annual and monthly ATC maps of dioxin transport from North American sources to receptors in arctic Nunavut are presented. Paul Bartlett (Principal Modeler), Kimberly Couchot (GIS) SEARCH Open Science Meeting SEARCH: Study of Environmental ARctic CHange ARCUS: Arctic Research Consortium of the United States Seattle October 27-30, 2003 [Poster 5mb ppt] [Abstract]

We propose to extend this work to other northern hemisphere source regions (Japan, Asia and Europe); add geographical and ecological receptors in Alaska (hunting grounds; biodiversity, polynyas); model years with historical meteorological data to investigate climate change (e.g. arctic oscillation); apply new emission source inventories and future emission scenarios (e.g. growth in China, emission reduction in Canada and the U.S.); distinguish local sources from distant sources (e.g. use the new Alaskan dioxin emission inventory by NACEC); adapt the model for surface-air exchange (oceans, lakes, land surface, vegetation); and model additional trace contaminants measured in the arctic (e.g. PCB, PAH, pesticides).
- SEARCH, October 2003

Modeling Dioxin from North America to Arctic Nunavut - NACEC

Commoner, B., Bartlett, P.W., Eisl, H., Couchot, K. 2000. Long-range air transport of dioxin from North American sources to ecologically vulnerable receptors in Nunavut, Arctic Canada. Final report to North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation [NACEC]. [Full Report 3.8mb]

Commoner, B., Bartlett, P.W., Eisl, H., Couchot, K.: 2003. The Deposition of airborne dioxin emitted by North American sources on ecologically vulnerable receptors in Nunavut in: Northern Lights Against POPs: Toxic Threats in the Arctic, edited by Terry Fenge and David Downie, McGill-Queen's University Press, published for the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada).

COMING SOON:

It is envisioned that the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 will be an intense, internationally coordinated campaign of research that will initiate a new era in polar science. IPY 2007-2008 will include research in both polar regions and recognise the strong links these regions have with the rest of the globe. It will involve a wide range of research disciplines, including the social sciences, but the emphasis will be interdisciplinary in its approach and truly international in participation. It aims to educate and involve the public, and to help train the next generation of engineers, scientists, and leaders. ...IPY Site-->

IPY Source-Receptor Modeling: Understanding Change: We propose to use the HYSPLIT-TransCo model, the relevant SOC (Semivolatile Organic Compounds) and mercury emission inventories, and the data from IPY intensive and distributed observatories to predict the effect of various climate and emission scenarios on the atmospheric transport and deposition of bioaccumulative contaminants in the Arctic. Intensive and Distributed Observatories: Research station and community based sampling: high-volume air monitors, passive air monitors, lichen, moss, snow, rain, rime. Proposed sampling sites (draft): [map] [analytes]

IPY Collaborationsand Related Proposals:
o COPOL: COntaminants in POLar regions
o ATMOPOL : Atmospheric Monitoring Network for Antropogenic Pollution in Polar Regions
o INCATPA: INterContinental Atmospheric Transport of Anthropogenic Pollutants to the Arctic
o SYNSCOPE: SYNoptic Studies of COntaminants in Polar Environments
o GOA: Greening of the Arctic: Circumpolar Biomass
o BSSN Bering Sea Sub-Network of Community-Based Environmental Monitoring, Observation and Information Stations
o COMAAR Consortium for coordination of Observation and Monitoring of the Arctic for Assessment and Research

PENDING IPY FUNDING PROPOSALS:

ATRESP: ATmospheric transport, deposition, and retention of bioaccumulative contaminants in the Arctic: terrestrial ecosystems and community RESPonse to change
US NSF/SEARCH IPY: Arctic Observation Network

ATRESP is a contribution to the Arctic Observing Network and addresses SEARCH objectives of observation, understanding, and response to change. Our objectives are to: 1) establish a coordinated, intensive atmospheric observatory for bioaccumulative contaminants at Barrow, Alaska during IPY to observe change; 2) establish a distributed deposition observatory, that includes the intensive observatory, for bioaccumulative contaminants throughout the Arctic, and portions of Antarctica, during IPY to observe change; 3) use source-to-receptor modeling to predict changes in bioaccumulative contaminant transport and deposition to the Arctic to understand change; and 4) in Alaska, use a combination of community based sampling and informal education to support development of community-specific responses to projected changes in contaminant landscapes due to changing climates and source regions. Objectives 1 and 2 will be completed in Years 1 and 2 in order to control for, and develop a baseline for, changes in atmospheric forcing and source regions.

Bioaccumulative contaminants, including anthropogenic semi-volatile organic compounds and mercury, have been shown to undergo atmospheric long-range transport and deposition to Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Snow is the main form of precipitation in polar regions and is an efficient scavenger of both atmospheric gas-phase and particulate-phase contaminants, making the snowpack an important contaminant delivery mechanism. Terrestrial vegetation and soils, which are known to accumulate and retain these bioaccumulative contaminants, receive contaminants from the melting snowpack and directly from the atmosphere once the snow has melted. As Arctic terrestrial ecosystems increase in vegetative cover and biomass and snowpack decreases due to climate change, the transfer of bioaccumulative contaminants to the ecosystem will change. Because of the ultimate transfer of these contaminants to subsistence communities through terrestrial elements of seasonal diets (e.g., greens, berries, hare, ptarmigan, caribou), it is important to understand how changing climates will affect bioaccumulation. In addition, the relative importance of source regions of these contaminants to the Arctic are shifting due to increased emissions in parts of Asia and reduced emissions in other parts of the world. The intellectual merit of ATRESP includes 1) understanding the transfer of bioaccumulative contaminants from the atmosphere to snow and into the Arctic terrestrial ecosystem; 2) providing spatially extensive analytically consistent circumpolar data on contaminant deposition, with Arctic/Antarctic linkages; and 3) predicting the effects of changes in climate and source regions on the atmospheric transport, deposition and retention of bioaccumulative contaminants in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems.

PI: Staci Simonich, Dept. Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University
CoPIs & Subawardees: Jesse Ford, Dept. Fisheries and Wildlife, OSU; Toshima Minouri, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, OSU; Shawn Row, Sea Grant, OSU; David Carpenter, SUNY-Albany; Victoria Gofman, Aleut International Association; Matthew Sturm, CRREL; Joel Blum, U. Michigan; Jerry Keeler, U. Michigan; La’Ona DeWilde, Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council; Derek Muir, Environment Canada, National Water Research Institute
Collaborators: Paul Bartlett, CUNY/SUNY-Albany; Skip Walker, University of Alaska-Fairbanks; Bruce Wright, Aleutian Pribilof Island Association; Russ Schnell, NOAA CMDL, Boulder, CO; Ashu Dastoor, Environment Canada, CANADA Sunling Gong, Environment Canada, CANADA Hayley Hung, Environment Canada, CANADA; Roland Kallenborn, UNIS and NILU, NORWAY; Sharon Katz, Aurora Research Institute, CANADA; Nico van der Brink, NETHERLANDS; AMAP (Lars-Otto Reiersen); TREC (Wendy Warnick, ARCUS); GLOBE (Ed Geary and Sandra Henderson);
Distributed Observatory: Torunn Berg, NILU/U. Trondheim NORWAY; Hans Borg U. Stockholm, SWEDEN; Inga Bruteig, NINA, NORWAY; Maria Dam, Food and Environment Agency FAROE ISLANDS; Kevin Hughes, British Antarctic Survey, UK; Ingaborg Jonsdottir, UNIS, NORWAY; Ari Leppanen, STUK, FINLAND; Alexey Konoplev, Typhoon, Obinsk, RUSSIA; Frank Riget, Dept. Arctic Environment, National Env. Res. Inst. DENMARK; Igor Semiltov, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, USA; Natalia Ukraintseva, Institute for Oil Pipeline Engineering, RUSSIA Sergei Zimov, North-East Science Station, Russian Academy Sciences, Cherskii (Yakutia), RUSSIA

CLAC:Contaminated Landscapes of Arctic Canada
Canada IPY
Warming of the Arctic terrestrial environment is very likely to affect exposures of wildlife and people to contaminants, however, whether these exposures will increase, decrease or remain cannot be predicted with the information currently available. There are concerns that warming could increase exposure to heavy metals, particularly mercury, and accelerate the movement of various other organic pollutants from urban areas in the south. The issue of contaminants in country food has been regularly raised by northern residents, especially First Nations. In particular, caribou is a staple food in northern Canada.

This project aims to investigate the distribution of contaminants in vegetation such as lichens and mosses across the Canadian Arctic, and to determine sources of the contaminants using computer models. Specifically, the research focuses on air-borne contaminants that are carried to and deposited in the polar regions. Lichens and mosses are established as good detectors for air-borne contaminants, since they do not absorb nutrients from the soil. The link to human diet is achieved through caribou samples. Caribou accumulates contaminants through their diet, which is rich in lichen and moss. People who eat caribou are in turn exposed to these materials. Northern residents will be trained to collect and process samples according to laboratory procedures. The approach of direct community involvement was shown to increase the amount of contaminant research instigated by northerners. Additionally, two related science camp for northern high school students will take place in the summer of 2007 in the NWT.

The chemicals analysed in this study will cover a broad range of persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals and radionuclides. The information obtained from these measurements will be used in atmospheric models to calculate the pathways of contaminants to the north. The models will also be used to assess future trends with changing climate.

PI: Sharon Katz, Aurora Research Institute, Inuvik, NT
CoPIs: Muir, Derek, Environment Canada, Aquatic Ecosystem Protection Res. Division; Gamberg, Mary, Gamberg Consulting; Gong, Sunling, Environment Canada, Air Quality Research Division; Dastoor, Ashu, Environment Canada, Air Quality Research Division, Armstrong, Rick, Nunavut Research Institute (NRI); Kwan, Michael; Nunavik Research Centre
Collaborators: Ford, Jesse, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Simonich, Staci, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Dunn, Pat, Parks Canada, Western Arctic, Inuvik NT; Matthews, Steven, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Tundra Science Lab, Yellowknife, NT; Loewen, Val, Yukon Environment, Government of YT; Snowshoe, Sharon, Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute, Inuvik, NT; Lafferty, George, NWT Environmental Contaminants Committee; Snortland, Jody, Sahtu Renewable Resource Board, Tulita, NT; Bartlett, Paul, CUNY/SUNY-Albany.

POPs & HM Source-to-Receptor Atmospheric Modeling and Measurement Program
Paul Bartlett, Principal Modeler; Kim Couchot, GIS
Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (CBNS)
Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY)
in association with
Institute for Health and the Environment (IHE)
University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Contact: paulwoodsbartlett [at] hotmail.com +1 718 670-4183

HTAP Presentation: http://cbns.qc.edu/maps/BartlettHTAPfin.ppt

This site: http://cbns.qc.edu/maps/

CBNS home page: http://cbns.qc.edu/