Atmospheric mercury concentrations observed at ground-based monitoring sites globally distributed in the framework of the GMOS network
Journal article, 2016

Long-term monitoring of data of ambient mercury (Hg) on a global scale to assess its emission, transport, atmospheric chemistry, and deposition processes is vital to understanding the impact of Hg pollution on the environment. The Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project was funded by the European Commission (http://www.gmos.eu) and started in November 2010 with the overall goal to develop a coordinated global observing system to monitor Hg on a global scale, including a large network of ground-based monitoring stations, ad hoc periodic oceanographic cruises and measurement flights in the lower and upper troposphere as well as in the lower stratosphere. To date, more than 40 ground-based monitoring sites constitute the global network covering many regions where little to no observational data were available before GMOS. This work presents atmospheric Hg concentrations recorded worldwide in the framework of the GMOS project (2010-2015), analyzing Hg measurement results in terms of temporal trends, seasonality and comparability within the network. Major findings highlighted in this paper include a clear gradient of Hg concentrations between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, confirming that the gradient observed is mostly driven by local and regional sources, which can be anthropogenic, natural or a combination of both.

Author

F. Sprovieri

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende

N. Pirrone

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rome

M. Bencardino

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende

F. D'Amore

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende

F. Carbone

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende

S. Cinnirella

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende

V. Mannarino

CNR-Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Rende

M. Landis

United States Environmental Protection Agency

R. Ebinghaus

Helmholtz

A. Weigelt

Helmholtz

E. G. Brunke

South African Weather Service

C. Labuschagne

South African Weather Service

L. Martin

South African Weather Service

John Munthe

IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

I. Wangberg

IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

P. Artaxo

University of Sao Paulo (USP)

F. Morais

University of Sao Paulo (USP)

H. D. J. Barbosa

University of Sao Paulo (USP)

J. Brito

University of Sao Paulo (USP)

W. Cairns

Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia

C. Barbante

Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia

Consiglo Nazionale Delle Richerche

M. D. Dieguez

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas

P. E. Garcia

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas

A. Dommergue

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Grenoble Alpes University

H. Angot

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Grenoble Alpes University

O. Magand

Grenoble Alpes University

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

H. Skov

Aarhus University

M. Horvat

Jozef Stefan Institute

J. Kotnik

Jozef Stefan Institute

K. A. Read

University of York

L. M. Neves

Cape Verde Observatory

B. M. Gawlik

Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission

F. Sena

Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission

N. Mashyanov

Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu

V. Obolkin

Russian Academy of Sciences

D. Wip

Anton de Kom University of Suriname

X. Bin Feng

Chinese Academy of Sciences

H. Zhang

Chinese Academy of Sciences

X. W. Fu

Chinese Academy of Sciences

R. Ramachandran

Anna University Chennai

D. Cossa

IFREMER - Centre de Toulon

J. Knoery

IFREMER Centre de Nantes

N. Marusczak

IFREMER - Centre de Toulon

Michelle Nerentorp

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Energy and Material

C. Norstrom

Aarhus University

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

1680-7316 (ISSN) 1680-7324 (eISSN)

Vol. 16 18 11915-11935

Subject Categories

Environmental Sciences

Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

DOI

10.5194/acp-16-11915-2016

More information

Latest update

8/13/2021