The Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) network, initially a five year project (2010-2015) funded by the European Commission, continued as a GEO Flagship program to support the Global Observation System for Mercury (GOS4M). GMOS was envisioned as a coordinated global observing system to monitor atmospheric mercury (Hg) on a global scale, to support and evaluate the effective implementation of the Hg Minamata Convention. 28 ground-based stations have been involved in the monitoring activities, following the GMOS sampling protocols. This network provides representative coverage of all latitudes (Arctic, Antarctica, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Tropical Zone). This work presents atmospheric Hg data (TGM or GEM) concentrations, recorded from 2011 to 2020. TGM/GEM concentrations were analysed in terms of their variability along latitudinal areas, considering their comparability, temporal trends and patterns. Main results confirmed a clear gradient of TGM/GEM concentrations between the hemispheres, a strongly significant decreasing trends in TGM/GEM levels for selected remote stations with at least 5 years of data coverage, as well as specific seasonalities depending of latitude and type of sites. The work carried out shows the need to set up stations to measure TGM/GEM in the ocean environment, particularly in tropical areas (example of the Maido site with data collected since 2017 – not shown in this study, because the temporal coverage is still too small).
Full reference :
Bencardino, M., D’Amore, F., Angot, H., Angiuli, L., Bertrand, Y., Cairns, W., Dieguez, M.C., Dommergue, A., Ebinghaus, R., Esposito, G., Komınkova, K., Labuschagne, C., Mannarino, V., Martin, L., Martino, M., Neves, L.M., Mashyanov, N., Magand, O., Nelson, P., Norstrom, C., Read, K., Sholupov, S., Skov, H., Tassone, A., Vıtkova, G., Cinnirella, S., Sprovieri, F. and Pirrone, N., 2024.
Patterns and trends of atmospheric mercury in the GMOS network : insights based on a decade of measurements. Environmental pollution 363, 125104, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125104.
Local contact : olivier.magand@univ-reunion.fr
External contact : mariantonia.bencardino@cnr.it (CNR, Italy)
