The Greenland ice sheet (GIS) is a key component of the warming Arctic climate, having the potential to dramatically influence sea level through melting. Light-absorbing aerosols are thought to be significant contributors to warming in the Arctic, because of their effect on the radiation balance through both aerosol absorption in the atmosphere as well as absorption in surface snow after particulate deposition. At this time it is not possible to estimate the impact of aerosol absorption on the radiation balance over Greenland due to the lack of in-situ measurements. Here, we present time series and estimates of key aerosol optical properties in order to better understand the seasonality and sources of aerosols over central Greenland, and compare their values with other Arctic sites. In-situ measurements made at Summit, Greenland from May 8, 2011 to December 31, 2014 include aerosol light absorption coefficient (σap) and light scattering coefficient (σsp); calculated parameters include absorption Ångström exponent (AAE), and single scattering albedo (ωo). The light absorption and scattering coefficients were found to be low in the winter and highest in the spring and summer. Spring-summer means of σap and σsp were 0.15 ± 0.15 Mm-1 and 2.35 ± 2.80 Mm-1, respectively. Mean AAE was 0.97 ± 0.29 in the spring and summer, indicating that black carbon (BC), and not dust and/or organic brown carbon (BrC), is the main aerosol light absorber. Mean ωo was 0.93 ± 0.03, which is similar to values measured at Barrow, Alaska, USA (0.94 ± 0.05) and Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway (0.95 ± 0.06). Summit exhibits ωo as low as Barrow and Ny-Ålesund although it is an isolated high-altitude site indicating the importance of aerosol light absorption over the most remote Arctic locations.

Os níveis de poluição do ar, tanto mundialmente, como no Brasil, principalmente em grandes metrópoles como São Paulo, dentre outras capitais e cidades brasileiras são altos e acima do que se é esperado para uma boa qualidade do ar. Uma das cidades brasileiras que ficou conhecida nacionalmente e até mundialmente pelos altos níveis de Poluentes foi Cubatão. Localizada no estado de São Paulo, a 57 km da capital do estado, Cubatão ainda tem altos níveis de Poluentes, entre eles o Material Particulado, o qual é um dos mais presentes. Dentre as classificações do material particulado estão as partículas inaláveis (MP10) e partículas inaláveis finas (MP2,5), estes são assim classificados de acordo com seus diâmetros aerodinâmicos. Tendo em vista os fatos citados acima, este trabalho propõe caracterizar as propriedades ópticas das partículas inaláveis na cidade de Cubatão - SP. Para tal foram utilizados dados de concentração das partículas inaláveis da Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo - CETESB e as informações a respeito de perfil espacial foram observadas pela técnica de sensoriamento remoto - Light Detection and Ranging - LIDAR por meio de campanhas realizadas em agosto de 2016. Também foram analisados dados de Aerosol Optical Depth - AOD extraídos da plataforma - Goddard Interactive Online Visualization And Analysis Infrastructure - GIOVANNI, a qual contém informações de satélites, que foram usadas para indicar o tamanho das partículas detectadas na região de Cubatão. Do mesmo modo verificou-se os dados do Expoente de Ångström que são distribuídos pela plataforma GIOVANNI. / The levels of air pollution, both globally and in Brazil, especially in large metropolises such as São Paulo, among other Brazilian cities and capitals are high and above what is expected for good air quality. One of the Brazilian cities that was known nationally and even worldwide by the high levels of Pollutants was Cubatão. This city is located in the state of São Paulo, 57 km from the state capital. Cubatão still has high levels of Pollutants, among them the Particulate Material, which is one of the most present. Among the classifications of the particulate material are inhalable particles (PM10) and fine inhalable particles (PM2.5), these are thus classified according to their aerodynamic diameters. In view of the facts mentioned above, this paper proposes to characterize the optical properties of inhalable particles in the city of Cubatão - SP. For this purpose, the inhalable particulate concentration data of the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo - CETESB were used and the information regarding the spatial profile was observed by the remote sensing technique - Light Detection and Ranging - LIDAR through campaigns carried out in August, Aerosol Optical Depth - AOD data from the Goddard Interactive Online Visualization And Analysis Infrastructure (GIOVANNI) platform, which contains information from satellites, were used to indicate the size of the particles detected in the Cubatão region. In the same way the data of the Ångström exponent, distributed by GIOVANNI platform was verified.

To identify the long-term trend of particle size variation, we analyzed aerosol optical depth (AOD, τ) separated as dust (τD) and coarse-(τPC) and fine-pollution particles (τPF) depending on emission sources and size. Ångström exponent values are also identified separately as total and fine-mode particles (αT and αPF). We checked these trends in various ways; (1) first-order linear regression analysis of the annual average values, (2) percent variation using the slope of linear regression method, and (3) a reliability analysis using the Mann–Kendall (MK) test. We selected 17 AERONET sun/sky radiometer sites classified into six regions, i.e., Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia. Although there were regional differences, τ decreased in Europe and Asian regions and increased in the Middle East, India, and North Africa. Values of τPC and τPF, show that aerosol loading caused by non-dust aerosols decreased in Europe and Asia and increased in India. In particular, τPF considerably decreased in Europe and Northeast Asia (95% confidential levels in MK-test), and τPC decreased in Northeast Asia (Z-values for Seoul and Osaka are −2.955 and −2.306, respectively, statistically significant if |z| ≥ 1.96). The decrease in τPC seems to be because of the reduction of primary and anthropogenic emissions from regulation by air quality policies. The meaningful result in this paper is that the particle size became smaller, as seen by values of αT that decreased by −3.30 to −30.47% in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East because αT provides information on the particle size. Particle size on average became smaller over India and Asian regions considered in our study due to the decrease in coarse particles. In particular, an increase of αPF in most areas shows the probability that the average particle size of fine-mode aerosols became smaller in recent years. We presumed the cause of the increase in αT is because relatively large-sized fine-mode particles were eliminated due to air quality policies.