Columnar optical-radiative properties and components of aerosols in the Arctic summer from long-term AERONET measurements

Aerosols as an external factor have an important role in the amplification of Arctic warming, yet the geography of this harsh region has led to a paucity of observations, which has limited our understanding of the Arctic climate. We synthesized the latest decade (2010-2021) of data on the microphysical-optical-radiative properties of aerosols and their multi-component evolution during the Arctic summer, taking into consideration the important role of wildfire burning. Our results are based on continuous observations from eight AERONET sites across the Arctic region, together with a meteorological reanalysis dataset and satellite observations of fires, and utilize a back-trajectory model to track the source of the aerosols. The summer climatological characteristics within the Arctic Circle showed that the aerosols are mainly fine-mode aerosols (fraction >0.95) with a radius of 0.15-0.20 μm, a slight extinction ability (aerosol optical depth ∼ 0.11) with strong scattering (single scattering albedo ∼0.95) and dominant forward scattering (asymmetry factor ∼ 0.68). These optical properties result in significant cooling at the Earth's surface (∼-13 W m-2) and a weak cooling effect at the top of the atmosphere (∼-5 W m-2). Further, we found that Arctic region is severely impacted by wildfire burning events in July and August, which primarily occur in central and eastern Siberia and followed in subpolar North America. The plumes from wildfire transport aerosols to the Arctic atmosphere with the westerly circulation, leading to an increase in fine-mode aerosols containing large amounts of organic carbon, with fraction as high as 97-98 %. Absorptive carbonaceous aerosols also increase synergistically, which could convert the instantaneous direct aerosol radiative effect into a heating effect on the Earth-atmosphere system. This study provides insights into the complex sources of aerosol loading in the Arctic atmosphere in summer and emphasizes the important impacts of the increasingly frequent occurrence of wildfire burning events in recent years.