Radon-222 in the North Atlantic Trade Winds: Its Relationship to Dust Transport from Africa

The concentration of radon-222 in air was measured during a flight from Miami to Barbados to Dakar and return; concentrations ranged from 1 to 55 picocuries per standard cubic meter of air and were highest in areas of dense haze, which were present along most of the flight path across the Atlantic O...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Prospero, Joseph M., Carlson, Toby N.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1970
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.167.3920.974
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.167.3920.974
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Summary:The concentration of radon-222 in air was measured during a flight from Miami to Barbados to Dakar and return; concentrations ranged from 1 to 55 picocuries per standard cubic meter of air and were highest in areas of dense haze, which were present along most of the flight path across the Atlantic Ocean. The haze is attributed to dust originating from the arid regions of western Africa. Radon-222 may be useful as a tracer for African air parcels over the equatorial Atlantic.