Parcs

Remarks

Research Project

n this project field measurements of formaldehyde, other volatile carbonyls (with a GC-MS-system) and Peroxiceylnitrates at the high Alpine observatory at the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland (3580 m asl) are performed in extended campaigns of the duration of 1-2 months in the four seasons (winter, spring, summer and fall). These measurements are expected to provide valuable information of the seasonal variation of these important air pollutants. Such information is presently not available for a receptor site like Jungfraujoch. These measurements will add an additional attractive component to the high quality measurements permanently performed at the Jungfraujoch by EMPA as part of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) measurements of the World Meteorological Organization (GAW). These high quality measurements include nitrogen oxides (NOx: NO + NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), several volatile hydrocarbons, ozone (O3) and NOy (NOx + nitrogen oxides formed by atmospheric oxidation from NOx). 

The Jungfraujoch site allows to sample air influenced by the polluted planetary boundary layer (advected from the Swiss plateau and the Po valley) and air typical for the lower free troposphere. For the separation of the unique data set with respect to the history we will use the information of the diurnal variation, local meteorological measurements, synoptic scale meteorology and trajectories yielding information of the transport of the air parcel. In addition we will use a chemical box model previously used in our group for the study of field measurements at Arosa in order to assist the interpretation of the measurements and to constrain the observations. By this approach we hope to significantly improve the knowledge of the free tropospheric chemistry by the extended measurements. This is based on the experience of earlier studies of colleagues in which the information of measurements of the Jungfraujoch have been successfully used in the sense of a field laboratory yielding very valuable information on the in-situ free tropospheric chemistry for winter and spring condition 

The expected information is believed to be also highly relevant in the context of the intercontinental transport of ozone and its precursors. An increasing hemispheric background of ozone could severely limit the capability to reduce the still strongly elevated ozone concentrations in Switzerland and the European countries. Ozone is a strong greenhouse gas (particularly efficient in the upper troposphere) which strongly contributed to the changes in radiative forcing since pre industrial time. The global tropospheric ozone cycle is therefore one of the high priority issues in the research agenda of the global atmospheric chemistry community. By the careful analysis of the information of the field measurements of the chemical composition at the receptor site we expect to obtain important information on intercontinental transport of ozone and its dependence on meteorological condition. 

URL: https://www.ethz.ch/content/specialinterest/usys/iac/website-iac/en.html

ID	TITLE	DATATYPE	AUTHOR/OWNER	YEAR
36603	Measurements of organic trace gases including oxygenated volatile organic compounds at the high alpine site Jungfraujoch (Switzerland): Seasonal variation and source allocation	Publication	G. Legreid, D. Folini, J. Staehelin, J.Balzani Lööv, M. Steinbacher, and S. Reimann	2008
36602	Estimation of background concentrations of trace gases at the Swiss Alpine site Jungfraujoch (3 580 m asl)	Publication	J.M. Balzani Lööv, S. Henne, G. Legreid, J. Staehelin, S. Reimann, A.S.H. Prévôt, M. Steinbacher, and M.K. Vollmer	2008

Entry no. 36601

Carbonyls and PANs at the Jungfraujoch and the related oxidation processes at the boundary layer / free troposphere interface