Wind‐Driven and Seasonal Effects on Marine Aerosol Production in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica

Abstract We assessed satellite‐retrieved marine aerosol in the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) across a 12‐year period from coarse‐mode aerosol optical depth (AODC), often used as a proxy for sea spray aerosol (SSA), and marine aerosol optical depth (MAOD), a newly developed proxy for tropospheric...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: S. Dasarathy, L. M. Russell, S. D. Rodier, J. S. Bowman
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023
Subjects:
marine aerosol
remote sensing
antarctic peninsula
southern ocean
Bellingshausen Sea
AOD
Geophysics. Cosmic physics
QC801-809
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
Antarctic Peninsula
Pacific
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099723
https://doaj.org/article/9ca4bd3b41d8400ca36ac61aa2db8ec7
Description
Summary:Abstract We assessed satellite‐retrieved marine aerosol in the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) across a 12‐year period from coarse‐mode aerosol optical depth (AODC), often used as a proxy for sea spray aerosol (SSA), and marine aerosol optical depth (MAOD), a newly developed proxy for tropospheric marine aerosol. Across open ocean to coastal regions, daily fluctuations in nighttime and daytime winds, respectively, drove increasing MAOD and AODC. MAOD depicted strong correlations with wind speed across open ocean and weak correlations in coastal regions. In the open ocean, AODC exhibited a very weak significant correlation to wind speed and a weak significant correlation to sea surface temperature (SST). We thus observed that warmer SST enhanced the production of SSA, supporting prior studies. This is the first study to assess patterns of AODC in the WAP. In contrast to the tropical Pacific, seasonal patterns showed that biological activity likely contributed toward MAOD and AODC magnitudes.

Similar Items