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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-1573</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Unprecedented radioactive pollution in Spitsbergen air &amp;ndash; first data as of 21st century</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Cwanek</surname>
<given-names>Anna</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2574-807X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Burakowska</surname>
<given-names>Agnieszka</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Nalichowska</surname>
<given-names>Ewa</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Długosz-Lisiecka</surname>
<given-names>Magdalena</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kubicki</surname>
<given-names>Marek</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8664-4939</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wawrzyniak</surname>
<given-names>Tomasz</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Łokas</surname>
<given-names>Edyta</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9996-6523</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Gryziński</surname>
<given-names>Michał</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Brudecki</surname>
<given-names>Kamil</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 31-342 Kraków, Poland</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400 Otwock-Świerk, Poland</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Applied Radiation Chemistry, 90-924 Łódz, Poland</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Science, 01-452 Warszawa, Poland</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>13</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2025</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>37</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2025 Anna Cwanek et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-1573/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-1573/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-1573/egusphere-2025-1573.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-1573/egusphere-2025-1573.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The present study concerned the Arctic troposphere, providing an experimental database on nuclear aerosols that has improved considerably since 1999. The activity concentrations of &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;Pu, &lt;sup&gt;239+240&lt;/sup&gt;Pu and &lt;sup&gt;241&lt;/sup&gt;Am were determined in the surface air of Hornsund, Spitsbergen, during 2007&amp;ndash;2021. A multivariate approach was employed, incorporating meteorological data, &lt;sup&gt;7&lt;/sup&gt;Be, &lt;sup&gt;137&lt;/sup&gt;Cs, &lt;sup&gt;210&lt;/sup&gt;Pb records and isotopic ratios, to explain the transuranium dynamics of changes and provenance. &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;Pu and &lt;sup&gt;239+240&lt;/sup&gt;Pu levels were comparable to recent observations from various locations, whereas &lt;sup&gt;241&lt;/sup&gt;Am exhibited particularly high values, with a maximum of 354 Bq/m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; detected in 2019. The highest activity concentrations of 6.61 nBq/m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; for &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;Pu and 15.51 nBq/m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; for &lt;sup&gt;239+240&lt;/sup&gt;Pu identified in 2015 could be due to fly ash particles following wildfires in proximity to the Chernobyl zone. During the remaining period, &lt;sup&gt;239+240&lt;/sup&gt;Pu was correlated with seasonal processes, such as local resuspension and horizontal tropospheric transport of haze layers from remote areas. Similar mechanisms likely regulated a portion of &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;Pu, but to a lesser extent. Unexpected single incidents of &lt;sup&gt;237&lt;/sup&gt;Np were encountered in 2013, 2014 and 2018. Furthermore, activity ratio evaluation demonstrated a frequent occurrence of &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;Pu enrichment regarding known nuclear events. Unusual elevated levels of &lt;sup&gt;241&lt;/sup&gt;Am, &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;Pu and &lt;sup&gt;237&lt;/sup&gt;Np were not associated with environmental processes; therefore, the possibility of recent anthropogenic emissions should be considered. Trajectory simulations performed in 2019 showed prominent transport pathways to the Hornsund from northern Eurasia.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="37"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Narodowe Centrum Nauki</funding-source>
<award-id>2021/43/D/ST10/02049</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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