J. Phys. IV France 107 (2003) 151
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:20030265

Arctic mercury depletion events at two elevations as observed at the Zeppelin Station and Dirigibile Italia, Ny-Ålesund, spring 2002

T. Berg¹, J. Sommar², Wängberg³, K. Gardfeldt², J. Munthe³ and B. Schroeder<sup>4

1</sup>  Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), P.B. 100, 2027 Kjeller, Norway
²  Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Göteborg University, 41296 Göteborg, Sweden
³  IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, 40258 Göteborg, Sweden
⁴  Environment Canada, Toronto, ON M3H 5T4, Canada

Abstract
Speciation of mercury in the atmosphere (GEM, RGM) and snow (Hg-tot) has been carried out at two altitudes (474 and 12 m a.s.l.) at Ny-Ålesund, Spitzbergen. The concentration of GEM was in the range <0.1 to 2.2 ng m ^-3 during the campaign. At the lower altitude, the GEM concentration was generally highest and showed a higher variability. RGM and total mercury in snow were anti-correlated with GEM. RGM sampled without teflon grid exhibited higher concentrations than those collected with filter, using manual denuders. Additionally, evidence for photo-induced emissions of Hg ⁰ from the surface snow was obtained.

© EDP Sciences 2003