Meteorological conditions over Eurasia and the Arctic contributing to the March 1983 Arctic haze episode

It is shown that the 11–18 March 1983 Arctic haze episode observed at Barrow, Alaska, was caused by air pollutants being rapidly transported from Eurasia industrial sources across the Arctic. These sources emitted pollutants into an air mass forming during anticyclonic synoptic conditions. On the basis of potential temperatures observed in the haze layers over Barrow, it is hypothesized that aerosols and gases in the different layers originated from different Eurasian source regions. The Arctic haze episode at Barrow existed as long as there was a meridional large-scale circulation pattern of the Arctic atmosphere and ceased when the circulation became zonal in character.