The IPY INCATPA (INterContinental Atmospheric Transport of Anthropogenic Pollutants to the Arctic) project has completed its first results workshop, held in Toronto, Canada, from September 31 - October 2, 2008. The workshop was attended by 34 participants and partners including international collaborators from China, Vietnam, Russia, U.S. and U.K.
Presentations, discussions and activities during the 3-day workshop focused on current status of sampling activities, challenges and strategies for the next several months. Timelines were built for data submission and QA/QC. Achievements that were highlighted at the workshop included:
Air sampling activities for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury (Hg) have been initiated at: Little Fox Lake, Yukon (POPs and Hg); Valkarkai, Russia (POPs); Dillingham and Fairbanks, Alaska (POPs); Barrow, Alaska (Hg); Waliguan, Wudalianchi and Xuencheng, China (POPs); Mt. Changbai, China (Hg); and Ba Vi, Vietnam (POPs and Hg). Training and installation visits were conducted by EC scientists and technicians at Little Fox Lake, Barrow, Waliguan, Wudalianchi, Xuencheng and Ba Vi to ensure air sampling and analysis were conducted according to Environment Canada (EC) guidelines and standards.
The initiation of a multi-national QA/QC program for atmospheric trace organics analysis that will include 25 participating laboratories. This will help to ensure consistency and comparability of reported results within and outside of INCAPTA.
Multi-station simultaneous 14-day consecutive air measurements of POPs have been conducted at the Yukon station of Little Fox Lake, 2 Alaskan, 1 Vietnamese and 3 Chinese stations in fall 2008; in an attempt to trace pollutant input into the Western Arctic. A similar pilot study was conducted in the summer of 2007 with 2 stations, namely Little Fox Lake and Wudalianchi (China). Samples are currently under analysis.
Two EC-developed global atmospheric transport models, the Canadian Model for Environmental Transport of Organochlorine Pesticides (CanMETOP) and the Multicompartment Environmental DIagnosis and Assessment (MEDIA) model, were used to quantify the impact of intercontinental atmospheric transport and climate variability on the fate of POPs in the Arctic. European sources were identified as the major influence on atmospheric level of lindane over the high Arctic, followed by Asia and North America. Using a new interpretation on global distillation, episodic long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT) events to the high Arctic in the 3-dimensional atmosphere have been successfully simulated. In addition, results have shown lower springtime air concentrations of POPs in the high Arctic during El Nino events and vice versa during La Nina events.
Canadian Global/Regional Atmospheric Heavy Metals Model (GRAHM) was used to analyze the LRAT of mercury to the Arctic particularly over the Pacific Ocean. Past and recent ambient mercury measurement datasets from several sites along the western edge of North America and the Arctic were analyzed using GRAHM, showing LRAT of mercury from Asia as the dominant influence of concentrations in this region. Little Fox Lake, Yukon, was found to be most suitable for detecting LRAT episodes of mercury from Asia; since it is least impacted by local, regional and other significant global sources and atmospheric chemistry of mercury. Detectable differences were found among the INCATPA sites showing the influence of different source regions in relations to atmospheric transport pathways. As part of our outreach activities, the INCATPA project is featured in a youth- generated exhibit titled On Thin Ice - Youth Respond to International Polar Year at the !dea Gallery of the Ontario Science Centre to be on displayed from September 4, 2008 to January 15, 2009.
The next several months will see activities and challenges in the following areas:
Sampling and laboratory audits for POPs will be conducted in Asia in November and December 2008 to ensure that samples are collected and analysed according to standards set forth under the INCATPA program. Reporting of QA/QC program results. Analysis of POPs air samples from all stations. Data submission and QA/QC of preliminary results from all stations. Incorporating measurement data with modelling activities.
Due to challenges in initiating sampling at remote locations and technical issues with equipment, most sampling activities have only started in spring 2008 and will continue until spring 2010. The second INCATPA results workshop will be held in 2010 to review QA/QC, measurement and modelling results as more data will become available then.
Background: The IPY INCATPA project aims at assessing the atmospheric transport of mercury, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) a other semi-volatile organic chem the Arctic from the Pacific Rim. The movement and atmospheric behaviour, including how they may be affected by climate change, is assessed through simultaneous atmospheric measurements on both sides of the Pacific and multimedia environmental modelling. Since the initiation of the project in April 2007, an air sampling network has been built according to the site map shown in the accompanying picture. INCATPA has also joint efforts with the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) (Ny-Ålesund, Alert, Amderma; potential station at Tiksi), the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) program (60 sites around the globe), the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) (5 Master Stations in the Great Lakes Region) and the IPY Circumpolar Flow Lead (CFL) System Study (aboard the Amundsen Icebreaker) and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan) (atmospheric POPs at Hateruma).