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Local variability in snow concentrations of chlorinated persistent organic pollutants as a source of large uncertainty in interpreting spatial patterns at all scales
Abstract
Single point sampling, a widespread practice in snow studies in remote areas, due to logistical constraints, can present an unquantified error to the final study results. The low concentrations of studied chemicals, such as chlorinated persistent organic pollutants, contribute to the uncertainty. We conducted a field experiment in the Arctic to estimate the error stemming from differences in the composition of snow at short distances (1–3 m), including 13 single organochlorine pesticides and 6 polychlorinated biphenyls, thus providing the most detailed published dataset on the subject. We contrasted this variability with the uncertainty at larger spatial scales, both within one valley (regional scale, this study) and as described in the worldwide literature. The range of values for the coefficient of variation for local samples was 20–58% for single organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and 33–54% for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and for regional samples it was 21–69% for OCPs and 65–93% for PCBs. We suggest that, to observe the actual changes in the concentration of selected compounds in snow, they should vary at the level of 40–60%, depending on the compound in question. The uncertainty margin remains much smaller than the current discrepancy between observation data and atmospheric deposition models considering snow, deeming field data on snow concentrations a useful ground-truthing dataset. However, field observations on spatial differences at all scales need to be interpreted with caution, and the dataset provided here on the local sampling uncertainty helps define the margins of such interpretations.
Citations
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0
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Authors (4)
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Krystyna Koziol
- Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy
Cite as
Full text
- Publication version
- Accepted or Published Version
- DOI:
- Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1002/jeq2.20343
- License
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Keywords
Details
- Category:
- Articles
- Type:
- artykuły w czasopismach
- Published in:
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JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
no. 51,
pages 411 - 424,
ISSN: 0047-2425 - Language:
- English
- Publication year:
- 2022
- Bibliographic description:
- Pawlak F., Koziol K., Kosek K., Polkowska Ż.: Local variability in snow concentrations of chlorinated persistent organic pollutants as a source of large uncertainty in interpreting spatial patterns at all scales// JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY -Vol. 51,iss. 3 (2022), s.411-424
- DOI:
- Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1002/jeq2.20343
- Sources of funding:
-
- Free publication
- Verified by:
- Gdańsk University of Technology
Referenced datasets
- dataset Organochlorine pesticides and polichlorinated biphenyls concentrations in fresh snowfall or top layer of snow from Hornsund region, Svalbard, in the spring 2019
- dataset Organochlorine pesticides and polichlorinated biphenyls concentrations in fresh snowfall or top layer of snow from Hornsund region, Svalbard, in the spring 2019
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