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IO Fieldwork

Seaweed beds at Roscoff

The group has two IO LIF instruments, one deployed by the ground based team (led by Lisa Whalley) and one by the aircraft team (led by Trevor Ingham). The instruments have been deployed on the RHaMBLe-Roscoff campaign (2006), RHaMBLe-Cape Verde ship campaign (2007) and an instrument development and intercomparison project at Mace Head, Ireland (2007).

The Reactive Halogen Marine Boundary Layer (RHaMBLe) project aimed to quantify the impact of reactive halogen species at both coastal and open ocean locations. The RHaMBLe project encompassed three work schemes. These were (i) ground based measurements at at polluted, coastal environment (Roscoff, France), (ii) ground based measurements at a clean, open ocean environment (Sao Vicente, Cape Verde) and (iii) ship based measurements through the Atlantic (from Cape Verde to the UK through the Mauritanian upwelling and the Canary Islands).

SHIVA (2011)

Sonne Research Ship

The Stratospheric Ozone: Halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere (SHIVA) project took place in Autumn 2011 and involved a scientific cruise from Singapore to Manila onboard the RV Sonne. The aircraft IO instrument, reconfigured for use onboard the ship, was used to make measurements of the IO radical alongside observations of other short lived iodine species to understand the influence of emissions of halogen molecules from the oceans on the chemistry of the atmosphere.

This part of the world was chosen as emissions from the ocean surface can be rapidly uplifted (for example by convective storms) to very high altitudes and enter the stratosphere. Other partners made measurements of a range of molecules from a research aircraft in the same region. The data recorded from the cruise will help us to understand the chemical mechanisms which release iodinated species from the very upper layers of the ocean, or from aerosols generated by ocean waves, which are currently not well understood. Once in the atmosphere, these species can be broken down by sunlight, generating radicals which can react with ozone (an important greenhouse gas) in the immediate vicinity, and on a wider scale via vertical transport of longer-lived halogen species which can enter the stratosphere, and impact stratospheric ozone, which protects us from ultraviolet radiation. Further information on the project can be found at http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/home/news/news-item/article/scientific-cruise.html and http://shiva.iup.uni-heidelberg.de/.

Mace Head (2007)

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station

The instrument development and intercomparison project at Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, Ireland aimed to test newly developed iodine species field instruments. This location was chosen due to the reliable sources of halogen species.

A reactive halogen species instrument development and intercomparison project took place at Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, Ireland in August 2007. The portable IO LIF instrument was operated for 13 days with IO observed on all days. Maximum mixing ratios of 33 pptV were observed at daytime, with a strong anticorrelation with tidal height.

A novel Resonance-Fluorescence Instrument for detection of iodine species was deployed for the first time during this project. The instrument was developed by Catherine Bale and William Bloss (now at the University of Birmingham).

References

Bale, C.S.E.; Ingham, T.; Commane, R.; Heard, D.E.; Bloss, W.J. Novel measurements of atmospheric iodine species by resonance fluorescence, Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 2008, 60, 1, 51-70

RHaMBLe-Cape Verde Ship Campaign (2007)

RSS Discovery

The portable IO LIF instrument was deployed on the RRS discovery as part of the RHaMBLe Cape Verde ship campaign in May and June 2007. The aim of the cruise was to quantify reactive halogen species above the open ocean. The ship travelled from Cape Verde through the Mauritanian upwelling and the Canary Islands back to the UK. The instrument was successfully operated for over 400 miles, including a passage through the Canary Islands. Mean IO concentrations of 1.2 pptV were observed during the day. Work is ongoing to interpet these measurements.

References

Commane, R.; Seitz, K.; Bale, C.S.E.; Bloss, W.J.; Buxmann, J.; Ingham, T.; Platt, U.; Pöhler, D.; Heard, D.E. Iodine monoxide at a clean marine coastal site: observations of hight frequency varations and inhomogenous distributions, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2011, 11, 4533-4568

RHaMBLe-Roscoff Campaign (2006)

The RHaMBLe-Roscoff field campaign took place in August-September 2006 in Roscoff, Brittany, NW France (48.62 N, 4.55 W). The site was partly chosen because Roscoff has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world. During the campaign both the spring and neap tides occured. At low tide, macro algae were exposed which emit iodine and halocabons. The closest macro algae beds were over 200 m from the instrument. The air masses encountered were predominantly North Atlantic in origin, with high NOx concentrations (1 - 5 ppbV) due to the proximity of the field site to the town. The ground based LIF IO instrument was deployed for one month. The results obtained represent the first measurements of ambient IO by LIF, providing an in situ, point source and high temporal resolution measurement.

Seaweed beds at Roscoff

The LIF IO instrument was located on the coastal edge, adjacent to the town. The detection limit of the instrument was 0.37 pptV (150 s integration period, lower limit). Measurements were made on 23 days, with IO detected above the 150 s limit of detection on 15 of those days. The maximum daytime IO concentration was 30.0 pptV (10 s average), which correlated with the tidal minimum. IO concentrations were found to correlate with tidal height, solar irradiation, wind speed and wind direction. A maximum of 2 pptV (60 minute average) of IO was detected at night, indicating a non-photolytic source of IO. These results show that IO is present in a polluted environment away from the halogen source, indicating some degree of recycling of IO.

References
Whalley, L. K., K. L. Furneaux, T. Gravestock, H. M. Atkinson, C. S. E. Bale, T. Ingham, W. J. Bloss, and D. E. Heard, Detection of iodine monoxide radicals in the marine boundary layer using laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy, Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 58, 2007.

Furneaux, K.L.; Whalley, L.K.; Heard, D.E.; Atkinson, H.M.; Bloss, W.J.; Flynn, M.J.; Gallagher, M.W.; Ingham, T.; Kramer, L.; Lee, J.D.; Leigh, R.; McFiggans, G.B.; Mahajan, A.S.; Monks, P.S.; Oetjen, H.; Plane, J.M.C.; Whitehead, J.D. Measurements of iodine monoxide at a semi polluted coastal location, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2010, 10, 3645-3663