The AMAP Atmospheric Thematic Data Centre holds atmospheric contaminants data for monitoring and assessment. The database is hosted by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Kjeller, Norway, and is accessible through their EBAS database.
AMAP Thematic Data Centres compile data from relevant monitoring and research activities and make them available under strict conditions that protect the rights of data originators. AMAP TDCs are located at established centres with appropriate expertise and facilities for conducting the types of international data handling required. For more information, please visit the main AMAP website.
Below are projects that have specified Atmospheric TDC as one of the data repositories for the AMAP Project Directory. To see the full list of AMAP Thematic Data Centres, see the AMAP TDC list.
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The overall objectives for operation of the station will follow those defined in the AMAP programme. The main interests are the levels and trends of airborne toxic pollutants (POPs and heavy metals) in northern Fennoscandia.
Stationary systematic observations of pollution in atmospheric air and precipitation. During 2000, observations of contaminant levels in atmospheric air in the cities of Murmansk, Nickel, Monchegorsk, Salekhard and Norilsk were conducted. Monitoring of sulphur and nitrogen compounds in air and precipitation was continued at the above locations and also at Yaniskosky (Kola peninsula) and Pinega (Arkhangelsk region) under the EMEP programme framework. Observations of CO2 were continued at the Teriberk station. Observations of the chemical content of atmospheric precipitation were carried out at 5 stations in the Arctic network of stationary observations: in the Krasnoshelye settlement area (Kola peninsula), Naryan-Mar (Pechora river area), Dikson Island, Turuhansk (Yenisey river area), and Kusyur settlement area (Lena river). Under a joint Russian-Canadian-AMAP project, monitoring of POPs and (from 2001) mercury in air at the Amderma site is conducted.
In 1994, analyses of sediments and fish from Lake Ellasjøen on Bear Island revealed a surprising scenario. The analytical results indicated some of the highest values of the contaminants PCB and DDT in freshwater sediments and fish ever found in the Arctic. The 1994 results were based on limited amounts of samples. During 1996 and 1997 there were carried out new sampling and analyses of several samples. These results verify the results found in 1994. Since the POP-patterns found deviate considerably from the typical patterns expected for local contamination, no local source can be assumed to be responsible for the high POP values found. Thus, the questions that need to be addressed include the source of these contaminants, the transport pathways that deliver these contaminants to this site, total deposition and finally contaminant fate including biological uptake and effects. Previous investigations from the early 80’s on high volume air samples carried out at Bear Island revealed several long-range transport episodes from Eastern Europe. The overall objective of this project is to contribute significant new information to the understanding of contaminant pathways in the Arctic hydrosphere and to provide a better understanding of contaminant focusing in a sensitive polar environment. This will be accomplished through the development of a comprehensive mass balance study of the atmospheric loadings of PCBs and other contaminants to the Lake Ellasjøen watershed to determine the seasonal importance of atmospheric deposition on a remote polar island. Further, effort will be directed at assessing the relative importance of various source regions of contaminants to the island through an evaluation of contaminant signatures and back trajectories of pollution events.
The objectives of this project are: A) to determine whether atmospheric concentrations and deposition of priority pollutants in the Arctic are changing in response to various national and international initiatives by: i) continuing to measure the occurrence of selected organochlorines in the arctic atmosphere at Alert, NWT for a period of three more years (measurements started in 1992), in parallel with identical measurements in western Russia at Amderma; ii) sampling at the Kinngait (Cape Dorset) station in 2000/2001 for the purpose of detecting change in the eastern Canadian Arctic by comparison with observations made four years earlier (1994-1996) at this site; and iii) analyzing and reporting data from Alert, Tagish, Kinngait and Dunai Island thereby providing insight into pollutant trends and sources. B) Ensuring the effective utilization of information at the international negotiating table in order to achieve the appropriate restrictions on release of pollutants of concern for the arctic environment by: i) contributing to the next assessment arising from the second phase of the Northern Contaminants Program (Canada) and specifically, the revised Assessments on POPs and Heavy Metals as part of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment (AMAP) Program Work Plan; and ii) advising Canadian negotiators in preparing reasonable, practical strategies of control.