Vertical Distribution of Alkanes in Atmospheric Aerosol in the Russian Arctic in September 2020

A combined experiment aimed at the study of the air composition over all the seas in the Russian Arctic was carried out in September 2020 with the Optik Tu-134 flying laboratory. The experiment included sampling the of atmospheric aerosol in the air layer from 200 to 9000 m above sea level and determining the concentration of saturated hydrocarbons ( n -alkanes) in aerosol particles. Saturated hydrocarbon compounds in the range С 9 Н 20 –С 27 Н 56 were found in the air of this sector of the Arctic. The main mass of this class of organic compounds is concentrated in the narrower range С 10 Н 22 –С 20 Н 42 . The concentration of n -alkanes in aerosol over all the seas was low (ranging within 9.3–12.6 ng/m 3 ). The only exception was the Chukchi Sea, over which the concentration attained 37.7 ng/m 3 .