Vertical distribution of pollution trapped by wintertime surface inversions in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the ALPACA experiment

Stutz, Jochen; Kuhn, Jonas; Cooperdock, Sol; Johnson, Sarah; Guo, Fangzhou; Flynn, James H.; Cesler-Maloney, Meeta; Simpson, William R.

doi:10.5194/acp-26-14345-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-14345-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-14345-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 19

Research article

|

12 Oct 2026

Research article |

| 12 Oct 2026

Vertical distribution of pollution trapped by wintertime surface inversions in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the ALPACA experiment

Jochen Stutz, Jonas Kuhn, Sol Cooperdock, Sarah Johnson, Fangzhou Guo, James H. Flynn, Meeta Cesler-Maloney, and William R. Simpson

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-14345-2026-supplement

Data sets

Longpath Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) observations of vertical trace gas profiles in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) experiment (2022) Jochen Stutz et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A21G0HW9H

Gas and meteorological measurements at the CTC site and Birch Hill in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the ALPACA-2022 field study William Simpson et al. https://doi.org/10.18739/A27D2Q87W

Download

Article (8282 KB)
Full-text XML

Short summary

Northern cities often experience periods of wintertime air pollution, which are associated with surface temperature inversions and weak winds. In Fairbanks, Alaska, pollutants accumulate in a 20–40 m high surface layer with SO₂ and NO₂ mixing ratios of up to 35 and 65 ppb, respectively. This surface pollution is caused by the balance of emissions, chemistry, and inefficient mixing with clean background air. This balance has to be considered for air pollution mitigation strategies.