Does organic matter released from the melting Greenland Ice Sheet influence cloud processes in the Arctic?

The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting fast and releasing large stores of organic material (OM) to the coastal ocean. We propose that this OM could influence cloud processes in the Arctic, which has important implications for climate feedbacks. At lower latitudes OM produced by terrestrial vegetation and marine algae is volatilized (to VOC), serving as a precursor to aerosols on which cloud droplets grow. In the Arctic, snow and ice cover inhibit OM exchange with the atmosphere, but that is rapidly changing, making it urgent to determine potential sources of VOC to the Arctic atmosphere. This Villum Experiment takes off from the unusual idea that OM entering the Arctic Ocean with melting glaciers may be an overlooked source of VOC with unique aerosol forming potential. If successful, this project will fundamentally expand our understanding of the coupling of land-oceanatmospheric processes and change paradigms about sources of VOC and cloud formation processes in the Arctic.