Atmosphere‐to‐snow‐to‐firn transfer studies of HCHO at Summit, Greenland

Abstract

Formaldehyde (HCHO) measurements in snow, firn, atmosphere, and air in the open pore space of the firn (firn air) at Summit, Greenland, in June 1996 show that the top snow layers are a HCHO source. HCHO concentrations in fresh snow are higher than those in equilibrium with atmospheric concentrations, resulting in HCHO degassing in the days to weeks following snowfall. Maximum HCHO concentrations in firn air were 1.5–2.2 ppbv, while the mean atmospheric HCHO concentration 1 m above the surface was 0.23 ppbv. Apparent HCHO fluxes out of the snow are a plausible explanation for the discrepancy between the 0.1 ppbv atmospheric concentration predicted by photochemical modeling and the measurements. HCHO in deeper firn is near equilibrium with the lower tropospheric HCHO concentration at the annual average temperature. Thus HCHO in ice may in fact be linearly related to multi‐year average atmospheric concentrations through a temperature dependent partition coefficient.