Amundsen 2008

Graduate student Phil Tackett and Prof. Paul Shepson participated in a research field campaign aboard the CCGS Amundsen polar icebreaker during February and March of 2008.  The Amundsen is a 100-m long icebreaker specifically outfitted for scientific research and is operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.  During the campaign, the ship was located in the Amundsen Gulf, near the coast of Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic.

While on board, Phil worked with the OASIS (Ocean-Air-Sea Ice-Snowpack) team collecting data with the intent to better understand the role of halogens in ozone depletion events.  A newly developed flowing chemical reaction tube method was used for the first time for the analysis of halogen free radicals (specifically BrO).  Phil also worked with collaborators from Environment Canada on the outfitting and deployment of an autonomous, sled-based instrument package for analysis of ozone, halogen oxides, gaseous elemental mercury, and other data.Preliminary data from flowtube samples collected during ozone depletion events show good agreement with measurements collected simultaneously by differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS), with elevated [BrO] observed during times of ozone depletion.

With this data and other collected from the campaign, a manuscript is being prepared that discusses the results of the campaign in relation to the initiation of ozone depletion events and the history of the air mass containing ozone-depleted air.  The flowtube method is also undergoing modification for use during OASIS 2009 in Barrow, Alaska.