Concentration changes of atmospheric F-gases and analysis of their potential sources at Zhongshan Station, Antarctica, 2021

Abstract. As potent greenhouse gases with high global warming potentials, fluorinated gases (F-gases) have emerged as significant contributors to global radiative forcing. Owing to minimal anthropogenic influences, Antarctica provides an exceptional natural environment for investigating background atmospheric F-gas concentrations. This study presents the first comprehensive report of temporal variations in 11 F-gas species at the Zhongshan National Atmospheric Background Station (ZOS; 69.4° S, 76.4° E) throughout 2021. This study is the first to provide concentration changes of 11 F-gases at ZOS in Antarctica in 2021. The datasets are publicly available at the National Tibetan Plateau Data Center at https://doi.org/10.11888/Atmos.tpdc.302283 (Tian et al., 2025). The concentrations of most F-gases significantly increased throughout 2021 at ZOS. The concentrations of F-gases in East Antarctica were greater than those in the Antarctic Peninsula and the interior on the basis of data comparisons with three other Antarctic stations. Back trajectory and clustering analyses using the HYSPLIT model revealed that the contributions of different trajectory clusters were nearly identical at each station. Source apportionment analysis via the PMF model identified industrial processes, refrigeration, fire suppression, and electronics as key contributors to F-gas concentrations in the Antarctic atmosphere. While the one-year observation period precludes long-term trend assessment, these high-frequency measurements capture the baseline variability critical for detecting future anomalies. Continuous multiyear monitoring at ZOS is necessary to establish statistically robust growth rates.