C03: Atmospheric composition and ocean colour feedback to Arctic amplification

As a result of the retreat of sea ice in a warming climate, the underwater ultraviolet (UV) and photosynthetically active radiation and, thus, the type and amount of phytoplankton and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) are changing. This impacts on the radiation emitted by the ocean and the emissions of organohalogens from specific phytoplankton groups (PG) and CDOM. In the cryosphere, halogens and interhalogens are released by an inorganic auto-catalytic heterogenous mechanism from areas of potential frost flower growth, younger sea ice and blowing snow. The halogen atoms deplete ozone, a significant greenhouse gas and through its photolysis a source of OH, the most important tropospheric oxidising agent. The oxidising capacity and radiative forcing of the troposphere are thus impacted. Halogen atoms and oxides react with and remove gaseous mercury, which is toxic and has adverse environmental impacts. Iodine monoxide (IO) reacts to form hygroscopic higher oxides, which act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The changes in phytoplankton, CDOM and halogen abundance are linked and respond to and feed back on Arctic amplification.

Optical passive remote sensing instrumentation on satellite platforms yields unique information about ocean colour, bromine monoxides (BrO) and potentially IO in the remote Arctic region during the polar day. This project builds on the outcomes of project C03 in phase I, including unique multi-sensor long-term consolidated and consistent datasets of BrO, light attenuation (kd) and PG. The data was retrieved from GOME (1996-2003),  SCIAMACHY (2002-2012), GOME-2A (2007-present), GOME-2B (2013-present) for BrO and kd, and by synergistic use of SCIAMACHY and multispectral satellite sensors for high resolution PG data. The first high spatial resolution retrievals of BrO were developed for the new Sentinel-5P (S5P, 2017-present) and radiative transfer modelling was extended to include radiative feedbacks from the ocean to the atmosphere. Analysis of the long-term datasets, in combination with in–situ observations, indicates (i) changes towards smaller sized and increased growth of PG but reduced carbon export in the Fram Strait over the last ten years, (ii) a signiicant radiative feedback to the atmosphere caused by high light absorption in the surface ocean due to increasing CDOM loading in the Laptev Sea and (iii) increasing  amounts of BrO in the Arctic troposphere. In phase II, the new datasets and related analysis are planned to be extended and refined using higher spatial resolution measurements. Ice ocean biogeochemistry (BGC) models will be adapted to derive year-round ocean colour data and oceanic aerosol predictions. Lagrangian transport simulations will be carried out in order to relate observed halogen plumes to drivers of the latter. The primary objective is to improve the understanding of temporal changes of halogen oxides, PG, related carbon fluxes, aerosol precursor emissions, and the induced radiative feedback caused by increasing temperatures in the Arctic.

Hypothesis:

Changes in atmospheric trace gases/particles and surface ocean constituents are influenced by and feed back to Arctic amplification on different spatial and temporal scales, through their impact on radiative forcing and oxidative capacity.

Studies will focus on the following central questions:

  • Will the net observed increases of tropospheric BrO, phytoplankton biomass (CHL), small PG and CDOM stabilise/reverse during the next years?
  • What are the main spatial and temporal scales of changes and drivers (e.g., microscale cracks in ice, synoptic scale cyclones, SST, oceanic radiation) and how are they linked?
  • What is the impact of indirect effects of changing surface water BGC on atmospheric radiative forcing via aerosol precursor emissions?

Achievements phase I

In C03 first consistent, long-term, and multi-sensor data sets of phytoplankton groups (PG) and BrO over the Arctic were obtained. The time series revealed changes over the last ten years towards smaller sized and increased growth of PG, but reduced carbon export in the Fram Strait (Engel et al., 2019). Furthermore, a close link between a bromine explosion event and polar cyclone development was discovered (Blechschmidt et al., 2016). A first observational evidence of a large IO plume emitted from a volcanic eruption in Alaska was revealed (Schönhardt et al., 2017). A new retrieval algorithm of BrO (Seo et al., 2019) has been developed for the new TROPOMI onboard the S5P satellite. In addition, the first 24 years date record of tropospheric BrO over the Arctic was created and first analyses undertaken.

Role within (AC)³

C03_coll

Members

Moritz Zeising

PhD

Alfred-Wegener-Insitute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Bussestraße 24
27570 Bremerhaven

phone:

++49 (0) 471 4831 2803

e-mail:

moritz.zeising[at]awi.de

Dr. Svetlana Losa

Senior Scientist

Alfred-Wegener-Insitute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Bussestraße 24
27570 Bremerhaven

phone:

++49 (0) 471 4831 2906

e-mail:

Svetlana.Losa[at]awi.de

Prof. Dr. John P. Burrows

Principal Investigator

University of Bremen
Institute of Environmental Physics
Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
28334 Bremen

phone:

++49 (0) 421 218 62100

e-mail:

burrows[at]iup.physik.uni-bremen.de

Prof. Dr. Astrid Bracher

Principal Investigator

Alfred-Wegener-Insitute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Bussestraße 24
27570 Bremerhaven

phone:

 

e-mail:

Dr. Anne Blechschmidt

Principal Investigator

University of Bremen
Institute of Environmental Physics
Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
28334 Bremen

phone:

++49 (0) 421 218 62780

e-mail:

anne.blechschmidt[at]iup.physik.uni-bremen.de

Bianca Zilker

PhD

University of Bremen
Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP)
Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
28334 Bremen

phone:

++49 (0) 421 2186 62097

e-mail:

bianca[at]iup.physik.uni-bremen.de

Former Members

Dr. Vasileios Pefanis

PhD (in phase I)

Alfred-Wegener-Insitute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Bussestraße 24
27570 Bremerhaven

Dr. Mariana Soppa

Postdoc (in phase I)

Alfred-Wegener-Insitute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Bussestraße 24
27570 Bremerhaven

Dr. Ilias Bougoudis

PhD (in phase I)

University of Bremen
Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP)
Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
28359 Bremen

Publications

Zeising M., Oziel L., Gürses Ö., Hauck J., Heinold B., Losa S., Thoms S., van Pinxteren M., Völker C., Zeppenfeld S., Bracher A. (submitted 3 May 2023) Wide-spread Occurrence and Increasing Trend of Biogenic Aerosol Precursors in the Arctic Ocean Simulated by an Ocean Biogeochemical Model. Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences 10.22541/essoar.168332181.16821948/v1

2023

Gabarró, C.; Hughes, N.; Wilkinson, J.; Bertino, L.; Bracher, A.; Diehl, T.; Dierking, W.; Gonzalez-Gambau, V.; Lavergne, T.; Madurell, T.; Malnes, E. & Wagner, P. M., 2023: Improving satellite-based monitoring of the polar regions: Identification of research and capacity gaps, Front. Rem. Sens., 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2023.952091

Zilker, B.; Richter, A.; Blechschmidt, A.-M.; von der Gathen, P.; Bougoudis, I.; Seo, S.; Bösch, T. & Burrows, J. P., 2023: Investigation of meteorological conditions and BrO during Ozone Depletion Events in Ny-Ålesund between 2010 and 2021, EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-522, [preprint]

Xi, H.; Bretagnon, M.; Losa, S. N.; Brotas, V.; Gomes, M.; Peeken, I.; Mangin, A. & Bracher, A., 2023: Two-decade satellite monitoring of surface phytoplankton functional types in the Atlantic Ocean, State of the Planet, https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-2022-6, accepted

Gürses, Ö.; Oziel, L.; Karakus, O.; Sidorenko, D.; Völker, C.; Ye, Y.; Zeising, M. & Hauck, J., 2023: Ocean biogeochemistry in the coupled ocean-sea ice-biogeochemistry model FESOM2.1-REcoM3, Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., 1-73, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2023-2, [preprint]

Wendisch, M.; Brückner, M.; Crewell, S.; Ehrlich, A.; Notholt, J.; Lüpkes, C.; Macke, A.; Burrows, J. P.; Rinke, A.; Quaas, J.; Maturilli, M.; Schemann, V.; Shupe, M. D.; Akansu, E. F.; Barrientos-Velasco, C.; Bärfuss, K.; Blechschmidt, A.-M.; Block, K.; Bougoudis, I.; Bozem, H.; Böckmann, C.; Bracher, A.; Bresson, H.; Bretschneider, L.; Buschmann, M.; Chechin, D. G.; Chylik, J.; Dahlke, S.; Deneke, H.; Dethloff, K.; Donth, T.; Dorn, W.; Dupuy, R.; Ebell, K.; Egerer, U.; Engelmann, R.; Eppers, O.; Gerdes, R.; Gierens, R.; Gorodetskaya, I. V.; Gottschalk, M.; Griesche, H.; Gryanik, V. M.; Handorf, D.; Harm-Altstädter, B.; Hartmann, J.; Hartmann, M.; Heinold, B.; Herber, A.; Herrmann, H.; Heygster, G.; Höschel, I.; Hofmann, Z.; Hölemann, J.; Hünerbein, A.; Jafariserajehlou, S.; Jäkel, E.; Jacobi, C.; Janout, M.; Jansen, F.; Jourdan, O.; Jurányi, Z.; Kalesse-Los, H.; Kanzow, T.; Käthner, R.; Kliesch, L. L.; Klingebiel, M.; Knudsen, E. M.; Kovács, T.; Körtke, W.; Krampe, D.; Kretzschmar, J.; Kreyling, D.; Kulla, B.; Kunkel, D.; Lampert, A.; Lauer, M.; Lelli, L.; von Lerber, A.; Linke, O.; Löhnert, U.; Lonardi, M.; Losa, S. N.; Losch, M.; Maahn, M.; Mech, M.; Mei, L.; Mertes, S.; Metzner, E.; Mewes, D.; Michaelis, J.; Mioche, G.; Moser, M.; Nakoudi, K.; Neggers, R.; Neuber, R.; Nomokonova, T.; Oelker, J.; Papakonstantinou-Presvelou, I.; Pätzold, F.; Pefanis, V.; Pohl, C.; van Pinxteren, M.; Radovan, A.; Rhein, M.; Rex, M.; Richter, A.; Risse, N.; Ritter, C.; Rostosky, P.; Rozanov, V. V.; Donoso, E. R.; Saavedra-Garfias, P.; Salzmann, M.; Schacht, J.; Schäfer, M.; Schneider, J.; Schnierstein, N.; Seifert, P.; Seo, S.; Siebert, H.; Soppa, M. A.; Spreen, G.; Stachlewska, I. S.; Stapf, J.; Stratmann, F.; Tegen, I.; Viceto, C.; Voigt, C.; Vountas, M.; Walbröl, A.; Walter, M.; Wehner, B.; Wex, H.; Willmes, S.; Zanatta, M. & Zeppenfeld, S., 2023: Atmospheric and Surface Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms Determining Arctic Amplification: A Review of First Results and Prospects of the (AC)³ Project, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., American Meteorological Society, 104, E208–E242, https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-21-0218.1

2022

Valente, A., Sathyendranath, S., Brotas, V., Groom, S., Grant, M., Jackson, T., Chuprin, A., Taberner, M., Airs, R., Antoine, D., Arnone, R., Balch, W. M., Barker, K., Barlow, R., Bélanger, S., Berthon, J.-F., Beşiktepe, Ş., Borsheim, Y., Bracher, A., Brando, V., Brewin, R. J. W., Canuti, E., Chavez, F. P., Cianca, A., Claustre, H., Clementson, L., Crout, R., Ferreira, A., Freeman, S., Frouin, R., García-Soto, C., Gibb, S. W., Goericke, R., Gould, R., Guillocheau, N., Hooker, S. B., Hu, C., Kahru, M., Kampel, M., Klein, H., Kratzer, S., Kudela, R., Ledesma, J., Lohrenz, S., Loisel, H., Mannino, A., Martinez-Vicente, V., Matrai, P., McKee, D., Mitchell, B. G., Moisan, T., Montes, E., Muller-Karger, F., Neeley, A., Novak, M., O’Dowd, L., Ondrusek, M., Platt, T., Poulton, A. J., Repecaud, M., Röttgers, R., Schroeder, T., Smyth, T., Smythe-Wright, D., Sosik, H. M., Thomas, C., Thomas, R., Tilstone, G., Tracana, A., Twardowski, M., Vellucci, V., Voss, K., Werdell, J., Wernand, M., Wojtasiewicz, B., Wright, S., and Zibordi, G., 2022: A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean colour satellite applications – version three, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5737–5770, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022.

Álvarez, E., Losa, S. N., Bracher, A., Thoms, S., & Völker, C., 2022. Phytoplankton light absorption impacted by photoprotective carotenoids in a global ocean spectrally-resolved biogeochemistry model. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 14, e2022MS003126. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003126

Benavent, N., Mahajan, A.S., Li, Q. et al., incl. Blechschmidt, A.-M., Zilker, B., Richter, A., 2022. Substantial contribution of iodine to Arctic ozone destruction. Nat. Geosci., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01018-w

Oelker J., Losa S. N., Richter A., Bracher A., 2022: TROPOMI-retrieved underwater light attenuation in three spectral regions in the ultraviolet to blue. Front. Mar. Sci. 9. 787992. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.787992

Bougoudis, I., Blechschmidt, A.-M., Richter, A., Seo, S., and Burrows, J. P., 2022: Simulating tropospheric BrO in the Arctic using an artificial neural network, Atmos. Environ., 276, 119032, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119032.

2021

Bougoudis, I., 2021: Satellite based remote sensing of halogens in the Arctic troposphere,under the impact of Arctic Amplification, Dissertation, Universität Bremen, https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/1115

Pefanis, V., 2021: Loading of coloured dissolved organic matter in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea and its effects on the ocean heat budget, Dissertation, Universität Bremen, http://dx.doi.org/10.26092/elib/646.

Xi, H., Losa, S.N., Mangin, A., Garnesson, P., Bretagnon, M., Demaria, J., Soppa, M.A., d’Andon, O.H.F., Bracher, A., 2021. Global chlorophyll a concentrations of phytoplankton functional types with detailed uncertainty assessment using multi-sensor ocean color and sea surface temperature satellite products. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, doi: 10.1029/2020JC017127

2020

Yang, X., Blechschmidt, A.-M., Bognar, K., McClure-Begley, A., Morris, S., Petropavlovskikh, I., Richter, A., Skov, H., Strong, K., Tarasick, D. W., Uttal, T., Vestenius, M., and Zhao, X., 2020: Pan-Arctic surface ozone: modelling vs. measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15937–15967, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15937-2020.

Seo, S., 2020: Retrieval and analysis of tropospheric bromine monoxide enhancements in polar regions using satellite measurements, Dissertation, Universität Bremen, https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/425

Pefanis, V., Losa, S. N., Losch, M., Janout, M. A., & Bracher, A., 2020. Amplified Arctic surface warming and sea ice loss due to phytoplankton and colored dissolved material. Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL088795, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088795

Seo, S., Richter, A., Blechschmidt, A.-M., Bougoudis, I., and Burrows, J. P., 2020: Spatial distribution of enhanced BrO and its relation to meteorological parameters in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice regions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12285–12312, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12285-2020

Bougoudis, I., Blechschmidt, A.-M., Richter, A., Seo, S., Burrows, J. P., Theys, N., and Rinke, A., 2020: Long-term time series of Arctic tropospheric BrO derived from UV–VIS satellite remote sensing and its relation to first-year sea ice, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11869–11892, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11869-2020.

Nakoudi, K.; Ritter, C.; Böckmann, C.; Kunkel, D.; Eppers, O.; Rozanov, V.; Mei, L.; Pefanis, V.; Jäkel, E.; Herber, A.; Maturilli, M.; Neuber, R. ,2020. Does the Intra-Arctic Modification of Long-Range Transported Aerosol Affect the Local Radiative Budget? (A Case Study). Remote Sens., 12, 2112, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/13/2112.

Nöthig E.-M., Ramendenc S., Haas A., Hehemann L., Walter A., Bracher A., Lalande C., Metfies K., Peeken I., Bauerfeind E., Boetius A., 2020: Summertime in situ chlorophyll a and particulate organic carbon standing stocks in surface waters of the Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean (1991 – 2015). Frontiers in Marine Science 7: 350. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00350 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00350/full

Pradhan H. K., Völker C., Losa S. N., Bracher A., Nerger L. 2020: Global assimilation of ocean-color data of phytoplankton functional types: Impact of different datasets. Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, 125, e2019JC015586, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015586

2019

Pradhan, H. K., Völker, C., Losa, S. N., Bracher, A., & Nerger, L., 2019. Assimilation of global total chlorophyll OC‐CCI data and its impact on individual phytoplankton fields. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 124, 470 – 490. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC014329

Zeppenfeld, S., M. van Pinxteren, M. Hartmann, A. Bracher, F. Stratmann, and H. Herrmann, 2019: Glucose as a potential chemical marker for ice nucleating activity in Arctic seawater and melt pond samples, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 15, 8747–8756 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b01469

Álvarez E.,  Thoms S., Bracher A., Liu Y., Völker C., 2019: Modeling Photoprotection at Global Scale: The Relative Role of Nonphotosynthetic Pigments, Physiological State, and Species Composition. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 33: 904-924. DOI: 10.1029/2018GB006101

Fernandez, R.P., A. Carmona-Balea, C.A. Cuevas, J.A. Barrera, D.E. Kinnison, J.-F. Lamarque, C. Blaszczak-Boxe, K. Kim, W. Choi, T. Hay, A.-M. Blechschmidt, A. Schönhardt, J.P. Burrows, and A. Saiz-Lopez, 2019: Modeling the Sources and Chemistry of Polar Tropospheric Halogens (Cl, Br, I) using the CAM-Chem Global Chemistry-Climate Model, accepted for publication in J. Adv. Model Earth Sy., doi:10.1029/2019MS001655

Seo, S., A. Richter, A.-M. Blechschmidt, I. Bougoudis, and J.P. Burrows, 2019: First high resolution BrO column retrievals from TROPOMI, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2913-2932, doi:10.5194/amt-12-2913-2019

Soppa, M.A., V. Pefanis, S. Hellmann, S.N. Losa, J. Hölemann, M.A. Janout, F. Martynov, B. Heim, T. Dinter, V. Rozanov, and A. Bracher, 2019: Assessing the Influence of Water Constituents on the Radiative Heating of Laptev Sea Shelf Waters, Frontiers in Marine Science6, Article 221, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00221

Oelker, J., A. Richter, T. Dinter, V.V. Rozanov, J.P. Burrows, and A. Bracher, 2019: Global diffuse attenuation coefficient derived from vibrational Raman scattering detected in hyperspectral backscattered satellite spectra, Optics Express, 27, 2, A829-A855, doi:10.1364/OE.27.00A829

Engel A., A. Bracher, T. Dinter, S. Endres, J. Grosse, K. Metfies, I. Peeken, J. Piontek, I. Salter, E.-M. Nöthig, 2019: Inter-annual variability of organic carbon concentrations across the Fram Strait (Arctic Ocean) during summer 2009 -2017, Frontiers in Marine Science. section Global Change and the Future Ocean6, 187, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00187

Liu, Y., E. Boss, A.P. Chase, H. Xi, X. Zhang, R. Röttgers, Y. Pan, and A. Bracher, 2019: Retrieval of phytoplankton pigments and functional types from underway spectrophotometry in the Fram Strait, Remote Sensing, 11(3), 318, doi:10.3390/rs11030318

2018

Liu. Y., Roettgers R., Ramírez-Pérez M., Dinter T., Steinmetz F., Noethig E.-M., Hellmann S., Wiegmann S., Bracher A., 2018: Underway spectrophotometry in the Fram Strait (European Arctic Ocean): a highly resolved chlorophyll a data source for complementing satellite ocean color, Optics Express, 26, 14, A678, doi:10.1364/OE.26.00A678.
Data supplement is available here.

Losa S., Soppa M. A., Dinter T., Wolanin A., Brewin R. J. W., Bricaud A., Oelker J., Peeken I., Gentili B., Rozanov. V. V., Bracher A., 2017: Synergistic exploitation of hyper- and multispectral precursor Sentinel measurements to determine Phytoplankton Functional Types at best spatial and temporal resolution (SynSenPFT), Front. Mar. Sci., 4:203, doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00203
Data supplement is available here.

Rozanov V.V., T. Dinter, A.V. Rozanov, A. Wolanin, A. Bracher, Burrows J.P., 2017: Radiative transfer modeling through terrestrial atmosphere and ocean accounting for inelastic scattering processes: Software package SCIATRAN. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Rad. Transfer, 194, 65-85, doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2017.03.009

Schönhardt, A., Richter, A., Theys, N., and Burrows, J. P., 2017: Space based observation of volcanic iodine monoxide, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4857-4870, doi:10.5194/acp-2016-619

Blechschmidt, A.-M., Richter, A.,Burrows, J. P., Kaleschke, L., Strong, K., Theys, N., Weber, M., Zhao, X., and Zien, A., 2016: An exemplary case of a bromine explosion event linked to cyclone development in the Arctic, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,16, 1773-1788, doi:10.5194/acp-16-1773-2016

Project Poster

 Phase II Evaluation poster 2019

C03_Poster_fin_pII

 Phase I Evaluation poster 2015

C03_Poster_fin_pI