Overview of the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) Field Experiment

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors

• William R. Simpson, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Jingqiu Mao, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Gilberto J. Fochesatto, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Kathy S. Law, Sorbonne Université
• Peter F. DeCarlo, Johns Hopkins University
• Julia Schmale, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
• Kerri A. Pratt, University of Michigan
• Steve R. Arnold, University of Leeds
• Jochen Stutz, UCLA
• Jack E. Dibb, University of New Hampshire, DurhamFollow
• Jessie M. Creamean, Colorado State University
• Rodney J. Weber, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Brent J. Williams, Washington University in St. Louis
• Becky Alexander, University of Washington
• Lu Hu, University of Montana
• Robert J. Yokelson, University of Montana
• Manabu Shiraiwa, University of California, Irvine
• Stefano Decesari, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
• Cort Anastasio, University of California, Davis
• Barbara D’Anna, Aix Marseille Univ
• Robert C. Gilliam, U.S. EPA
• Athanasios Nenes, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
• Jason M. St. Clair, University of Maryland
• Barbara Trost, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
• James H. Flynn, University of Houston
• Joel Savarino, Univ. Grenoble Alpes
• Laura D. Conner, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Nathan Kettle, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Krista M. Heeringa, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Sarah Albertin, Sorbonne Université
• Andrea Baccarini, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
• Brice Barret, Université Toulouse
• Michael A. Battaglia, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Slimane Bekki, Sorbonne Université
• T. J. Brado, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
• Natalie Brett, Sorbonne Université
• David Brus, Finnish Meteorological Institute
• James R. Campbell, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Meeta Cesler-Maloney, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Sol Cooperdock, UCLA Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
• Karolina Cysneiros de Carvalho, Washington University in St. Louis
• Hervé Delbarre, Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale
• Paul J. DeMott, Colorado State University
• Conor J.S. Dennehy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Elsa Dieudonné, Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale
• Kayane K. Dingilian, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Antonio Donateo, National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
• Konstantinos M. Doulgeris, Finnish Meteorological Institute
• Kasey C. Edwards, University of California, Irvine
• Kathleen Fahey, U.S. EPA
• Ting Fang, University of California, Irvine
• Fangzhou Guo, University of Houston
• Laura M. D. Heinlein, University of California, Davis
• Andrew L. Holen, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Deanna Huff, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
• Amna Ijaz, Aix Marseille Univ
• Sarah Johnson, UCLA Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
• Sukriti Kapur, University of California, Irvine
• Damien T. Ketcherside, University of Montana, Missoula
• Ezra Levin, Handix Scientific
• Emily Lill, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Allison R. Moon, University of Washington, Seattle
• Tatsuo Onishi, Sorbonne Université
• Gianluca Pappaccogli, National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
• Russell Perkins, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Roman Pohorsky, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
• Jean-Christophe Raut, Sorbonne Université
• Francois Ravetta, Sorbonne Université
• Tjarda Roberts, Sorbonne Université
• Ellis S. Robinson, Johns Hopkins University
• Federico Scoto, National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
• Vanessa Selimovic, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Michael O. Sunday, University of California, Davis
• Brice Temime-Roussel, Aix Marseille Univ
• Xinxiu Tian, Johns Hopkins University
• Judy Wu, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Yuhan Yang, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

The Alaskan Layered Pollution And Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) field experiment was a collaborative study designed to improve understanding of pollution sources and chemical processes during winter (cold climate and low-photochemical activity), to investigate indoor pollution, and to study dispersion of pollution as affected by frequent temperature inversions. A number of the research goals were motivated by questions raised by residents of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the study was held. This paper describes the measurement strategies and the conditions encountered during the January and February 2022 field experiment, and reports early examples of how the measurements addressed research goals, particularly those of interest to the residents. Outdoor air measurements showed high concentrations of particulate matter and pollutant gases including volatile organic carbon species. During pollution events, low winds and extremely stable atmospheric conditions trapped pollution below 73 m, an extremely shallow vertical scale. Tethered-balloon-based measurements intercepted plumes aloft, which were associated with power plant point sources through transport modeling. Because cold climate residents spend much of their time indoors, the study included an indoor air quality component, where measurements were made inside and outside a house to study infiltration and indoor sources. In the absence of indoor activities such as cooking and/or heating with a pellet stove, indoor particulate matter concentrations were lower than outdoors; however, cooking and pellet stove burns often caused higher indoor particulate matter concentrations than outdoors. The mass-normalized particulate matter oxidative potential, a health-relevant property measured here by the reactivity with dithiothreiol, of indoor particles varied by source, with cooking particles having less oxidative potential per mass than pellet stove particles.

Department

Earth Systems Research Center

Publication Date

2-21-2024

Journal Title

ACS ES&T Air

Publisher

American Chemical Society

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.3c00076

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Simpson, W. R., J. Mao, G. J. Fochesatto, K. S. Law, P. F. DeCarlo, J. Schmale, K. A. Pratt, S. R. Arnold, J. Stutz, J. E. Dibb, J. M. Creamean, R. J. Weber, B. J. Williams, B. Alexander, L. Hu, R. J. Yokelson, M. Shiraiwa, S. Decesari, C. Anastasio, B. D'Anna, R. C. Gilliam, A. Nenes, J. M. St. Clair, B. Trost, J. H. Flynn, J. Savarino, L. D. Conner, N. Kettle, K. M. Heeringa, S. Albertin, A. Baccarini, B. Barret, M. A. Battaglia, S. Bekki, T. J. Brado, N. Brett, D. Brus, J. R. Campbell, M. Cesler-Maloney, S. Cooperdock, K. Cysneiros de Carvalho, H. Delbarre, P. J. DeMott, C. J. S. Dennehy, E. Dieudonne, K. K. Dingilian, A. Donateo, K. M. Doulgeris, K. C. Edwards, K. Fahey, T. Fang, F. Guo, L. M. D. Heinlein, A. L. Holen, D. Huff, A. Ijaz, S. Johnson, S. Kapur, D. T. Ketcherside, E. Levin, E. Lill, A. R. Moon, T. Onishi, G. Pappaccogli, R. Perkins, R. Pohorsky, J.-C. Raut, F. Ravetta, T. Roberts, E. S. Robinson, F. Scoto, V. Selimovic, M. O. Sunday, B. Temime-Roussel, X. Tian, J. Wu, and Y. Yang (2024), Overview of the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) field experiment, Environmental Science and Technology Air, 1, 200-222, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.3c00076.

Rights

© 2024 The Authors.

Comments

This is an open access article published by ACS Publications in ACS ES&T Air in 2024, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsestair.3c00076