Seasonal Variation of the Aerosol Light Scattering Coefficient in Marine Air of the Northeast Atlantic
Aerosol light scattering measurements were carried out using a TSI 3563 Nephelometer at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, on the west coast of Ireland from year 2001–2010. A strong seasonal trend in the aerosol light scattering coefficient at 550 nm (????scat), for clean marine air masses,...
| Published in: | Advances in Meteorology |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/170490 https://doaj.org/article/5fc6f7739a3e4fed973c6c1943a4a3bd |
| Summary: | Aerosol light scattering measurements were carried out using a TSI 3563 Nephelometer at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, on the west coast of Ireland from year 2001–2010. A strong seasonal trend in the aerosol light scattering coefficient at 550 nm (????scat), for clean marine air masses, is observed with a high ????scat value, [average (geometric mean)] of 35.3 Mm−1 (29.5 Mm−1), in January and a low ????scat value of 13.7 Mm−1 (10.2 Mm−1), in July. This near threefold increase in the ????scat value during the winter season is because of the large contribution of wind-speed generated sea-salt particles in the marine boundary layer. A high positive correlation coefficient of 0.82 was found between the percentage occurrence of relatively large Ångström exponent (Å) values (>1.2) and the percentage occurrence of lower ????scat values (5–15 Mm−1) in the summer season. ????scat and wind-speed have a high positive correlation coefficient of 0.88 whereas Å and wind-speed have a negative correlation coefficient of −0.89. Å values during the summer months indicate the dominance of sub-????m particles thus indicating the contribution of non-sea-salt sulphate and organics towards the ????scat as these species show an enhanced concentration during the summer months. |
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