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Abstract Oil and gas production regions are significant sources of greenhouse gases and reactive pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and volatile organic compounds. Research has also shown that methane (CH₄) emissions reported to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) are generally underestimated. The Arctic accounted for 5.5% of global oil and gas production in 2022 but is estimated to contain significant undiscovered resources. The emitted NO_xand volatile organic compounds can impact the composition and chemistry of the Arctic atmosphere. The Prudhoe Bay Oil Field in Alaska is one of the 10 largest oil fields in the US and has been approved for significant development expansion. However, only one recent study has reported measurements of its greenhouse gas emissions. We estimate the emission rates for carbon dioxide (CO₂), CH₄, and NO_xfrom the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field during the spring of 2022 using airborne mass balance methods and emission ratios. We also discuss emissions per energy produced and show an increase over time, with values higher than the national average for oil and gas producing regions, though within uncertainties. Our estimates are lower than the NO_xemission estimate reported in the National Emissions Inventory (NEI), as seen in other oil and gas studies, but fall within the uncertainty range of the greenhouse gases reported in the GHGRP. This work provides a valuable snapshot of emissions before further expansion of extraction activities. 

Anthropogenic NO_xemissions have observable impacts on naturally occurring chemical processes in remote areas hundreds of kilometers downwind. 

Near-surface tropospheric ozone depletion events (ODEs) occur in the polar regions during springtime when ozone reacts with bromine radicals, driving tropospheric ozone mole ratios below 15 ppb (part-per-billion; nmol mol−1). ODEs alter atmospheric oxidative capacity by influencing halogen radical recycling mechanisms and the photochemical production of hydroxyl radicals (˙OH). Herein, we examined five years of continuous ozone measurements at two coastal Arctic sites: Utqiaġvik, Alaska and ∼260 km southeast at Oliktok Point, within the North Slope of Alaska oil fields. These data informed seasonal ozone trends, springtime ozone depletion, and the influence of oil field combustion emissions. Ozone depletion occurred frequently during spring: 35% of the time at Utqiaġvik and 40% at Oliktok Point. ODEs often occurred concurrently at both sites (40–92% of observed ODEs per year), supporting spatially widespread ozone depletion. Observed ozone depletion timescales are consistent with transport of ozone-depleted air masses, suggesting regional active bromine chemistry. Local-scale ozone depletion affecting individual sites occurred less frequently. Ozone depletion typically coincided with calm winds and had no clear dependence on temperature. Consistently lower ozone mole ratios year-round at Oliktok Point, compared to Utqiaġvik, indicate local-scale ozone titration within the stable boundary layer by nitric oxide (NO˙) combustion emissions in the Arctic oil fields. Oxidation of combustion-derived volatile organic compounds in the presence of NOx also likely contributes to ozone formation downwind, for example at Utqiaġvik, pointing to complex local and regional impacts of combustion emissions as Arctic anthropogenic activity increases. 

Abstract. Reactive halogen chemistry in the springtime Arctic causes ozone depletion events and alters the rate of pollution processing. There are still many uncertainties regarding this chemistry, including the multiphase recycling of halogens and how sea ice impacts the source strength of reactive bromine. Adding to these uncertainties are the impacts of a rapidly warming Arctic. We present observations from the CHACHA (CHemistry in the Arctic: Clouds, Halogens, and Aerosols) field campaign based out of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, from mid-February to mid-April of 2022 to provide information on the vertical distribution of bromine monoxide (BrO), which is a tracer for reactive bromine chemistry. Data were gathered using the Heidelberg Airborne Imaging DOAS (differential optical absorption spectroscopy) Instrument (HAIDI) on the Purdue University Airborne Laboratory for Atmospheric Research (ALAR) and employing a unique sampling technique of vertically profiling the lower atmosphere with the aircraft via “porpoising” maneuvers. Observations from HAIDI were coupled to radiative transfer model calculations to retrieve mixing ratio profiles throughout the lower atmosphere (below 1000 m), with unprecedented vertical resolution (50 m) and total information gathered (average of 17.5 degrees of freedom) for this region. A cluster analysis was used to categorize 245 retrieved BrO mixing ratio vertical profiles into four common profile shapes. We often found the highest BrO mixing ratios at the Earth's surface with a mean of nearly 30 pmol mol−1 in the lowest 50 m, indicating an important role for multiphase chemistry on the snowpack in reactive bromine production. Most lofted-BrO profiles corresponded with an aerosol profile that peaked at the same altitude (225 m above the ground), suggesting that BrO was maintained due to heterogeneous reactions on particle surfaces aloft during these profiles. A majority (11 of 15) of the identified lofted-BrO profiles occurred on a single day, 19 March 2022, over an area covering more than 24 000 km2, indicating that this was a large-scale lofted-BrO event. The clustered BrO mixing ratio profiles should be particularly useful for some MAX-DOAS (multi-axis DOAS) studies, where a priori BrO profiles and their uncertainties, used in optimal estimation inversion algorithms, are not often based on previous observations. Future MAX-DOAS studies (and past reanalyses) could rely on the profiles provided in this work to improve BrO retrievals. 

Abstract. Sea salt aerosols play an important role in the radiationbudget and atmospheric composition over the Arctic, where the climate israpidly changing. Previous observational studies have shown that Arctic sea ice leads are an important source of sea salt aerosols, and modeling efforts have also proposed blowing snow sublimation as a source. In this study,size-resolved atmospheric particle number concentrations and chemicalcomposition were measured at the Arctic coastal tundra site ofUtqiaġvik, Alaska, during spring (3 April–7 May 2016). Blowing snow conditions were observed during 25 % of the 5-week study period andwere overpredicted by a commonly used blowing snow parameterization based solely on wind speed and temperature. Throughout the study, open leads werepresent locally. During periods when blowing snow was observed, significantincreases in the number concentrations of 0.01–0.06 µm particles(factor of 6, on average) and 0.06–0.3 µm particles (67 %, on average) and a significant decrease (82 %, on average) in 1–4 µmparticles were observed compared to low wind speed periods. These size distribution changes were likely caused by the generation of ultrafineparticles from leads and/or blowing snow, with scavenging of supermicronparticles by blowing snow. At elevated wind speeds, both submicron andsupermicron sodium and chloride mass concentrations were enhanced,consistent with wind-dependent local sea salt aerosol production. Atmoderate wind speeds below the threshold for blowing snow as well as during observed blowing snow, individual sea spray aerosol particles were measured.These individual salt particles were enriched in calcium relative to sodiumin seawater due to the binding of this divalent cation with organic matter in the sea surface microlayer and subsequent enrichment during seawaterbubble bursting. The chemical composition of the surface snowpack alsoshowed contributions from sea spray aerosol deposition. Overall, theseresults show the contribution of sea spray aerosol production from leads onboth aerosols and the surface snowpack. Therefore, if blowing snowsublimation contributed to the observed sea salt aerosol, the snow beingsublimated would have been impacted by sea spray aerosol deposition rather than upward brine migration through the snowpack. Sea spray aerosol production from leads is expected to increase, with thinning and fracturingof sea ice in the rapidly warming Arctic.