Climatology of aerosol optical properties in Northern Norway and Svalbard

Abstract. We present comparisons between estimates of the aerosol optical thickness and the Ångström exponent in Northern Norway and Svalbard based on data from AERONET stations at Andenes (69° N, 16° E, 379 m altitude) and Hornsund (77° N, 15° E, 10 m altitude) for the period 2008–2010. The three-year annual mean values for the aerosol optical thickness at 500 nm τ(500) at Andenes and Hornsund were 0.11 and 0.10, respectively. At Hornsund, there was less variation of the monthly mean value of τ(500) than at Andenes. The annual mean values of the Ångström exponent α at Andenes and Hornsund were 1.18 and 1.37, respectively. At Andenes and Hornsund α was found to be larger than 1.0 in 68% and 93% of the observations, respectively, indicating that fine-mode particles were dominating at both sites. Both sites had a similar seasonal variation of the aerosol size distribution although one site is in an Arctic area while the other site is in a sub-arctic area.