Constraining Present‐Day Anthropogenic Total Iron Emissions Using Model and Observations
- Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA, La Follette School of Public Affairs University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison WI USA
- Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences North Carolina State University Raleigh NC USA
- Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA, Columbia University New York NY USA
- Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Cornell University Ithaca NY USA
- Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA‐CSIC) Barcelona Spain
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz CA USA
- Instituto de Fisica Universidade de Sao Paulo Sao Paulo Brazil
- Israel Oceanographic &, Limnological Research Haifa Israel
- Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science University of Miami Miami FL USA
- Department of Civil &, Environmental Engineering Texas A&,M University College Station TX USA
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) Duebendorf Switzerland
- Dip. Scienze della Terra e del Mare University of Palermo Palermo Italy
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization Lucas Heights NSW Australia
- Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
- Geography Institute Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile
- Saw Science Invercargill New Zealand
- Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques Université Paris Cité and University Paris Est Creteil CNRS Paris France
- Izaña Atmospheric Research Centre AEMET Joint Research Unit to CSIC Élimate and Composition of the AtmosphereÏ La Marina 20 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain, Group of Atmosphere Aerosols and Climate IPNA CSIC Tenerife Spain
- Izaña Atmospheric Research Centre AEMET Joint Research Unit to CSIC Élimate and Composition of the AtmosphereÏ La Marina 20 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain, Department of R&,D CIMEL Electronique Paris France
- Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
- Finnish Meteorological Institute Helsinki Finland
- Earth &, Planetary Sciences Department Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz CA USA
- Institute for a Sustainable Environment Clarkson University Potsdam NY USA
- School of Geography Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
- Energy Environmental and Chemical Engineering Washington University St. Louis MO USA
- Department of Chemistry Ghent University Gent Belgium
- Universidad de Navarra Instituto de Biodiversidad y Medioambiente BIOMA Pamplona Spain
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Health Research Institutes Miaoli Taiwan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
Abstract Iron emissions from human activities, such as oil combustion and smelting, affect the Earth's climate and marine ecosystems. These emissions are difficult to quantify accurately due to a lack of observations, particularly in remote ocean regions. In this study, we used long‐term, near‐source observations in areas with a dominance of anthropogenic iron emissions in various parts of the world to better estimate the total amount of anthropogenic iron emissions. We also used a statistical source apportionment method to identify the anthropogenic components and their sub‐sources from bulk aerosol observations in the United States. We find that the estimates of anthropogenic iron emissions are within a factor of 3 in most regions compared to previous inventory estimates. Under‐ or overestimation varied by region and depended on the number of sites, interannual variability, and the statistical filter choice. Smelting‐related iron emissions are overestimated by a factor of 1.5 in East Asia compared to previous estimates. More long‐term iron observations and the consideration of the influence of dust and wildfires could help reduce the uncertainty in anthropogenic iron emissions estimates.
- Research Organization:
- Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0016362
- OSTI ID:
- 2438398
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 129; ISSN 2169-897X
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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