(Table 4) Seasonal variation of sea spray sodium concentrations during 2004-2007 at Concordia Station, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Udisti, Roberto, Dayan, Uri, Becagli, Silvia, Busetto, Maurizio, Frosini, Daniele, Legrand, Michel R, Lucarelli, F, Preunkert, Suzanne, Severi, Mirko, Traversi, Rita, Vitale, Vito
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2012
• Subjects: DATE/TIME; Date/time end; Dome C; Antarctica; International Polar Year (2007-2008); IPY; MULT; Multiple investigations; Season; Sodium; standard deviation; Station_Concordia; Antarctic; The Antarctic; East Antarctica; Pacific; Indian; Concordia Station; Antarc*; International Polar Year
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.839332; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.839332

From November 2004 to December 2007, size-segregated aerosol samples were collected all-year-round at Dome C (East Antarctica) by using PM10 and PM2.5 samplers, and multi-stage impactors. The data set obtained from the chemical analysis provided the longest and the most time-resolved record of sea spray aerosol (sea salt Na+) in inner Antarctica. Sea spray showed a sharp seasonal pattern. The highest values measured in winter (Apr-Nov) were about ten times larger than in summer (Dec-Mar). For the first time, a size-distribution seasonal pattern was also shown: in winter, sea spray particles are mainly submicrometric, while their summer size-mode is around 1-2 µm. Meteorological analysis on a synoptic scale allowed the definition of atmospheric conditions leading sea spray to Dome C. An extreme-value approach along with specific environmental based criteria was taken to yield stronger fingerprints linking atmospheric circulation (means and anomalies) to extreme sea spray events. Air mass back-trajectory analyses for some high sea spray events allowed the identification of two major air mass pathways, reflecting different size distributions: micrometric fractions for transport from the closer Indian-Pacific sector, and sub-micrometric particles for longer trajectories over the Antarctic Plateau. The seasonal pattern of the SO4**2- /Na+ ratio enabled the identification of few events depleted in sulphate, with respect to the seawater composition. By using methanesulphonic acid (MSA) profile to evaluate the biogenic SO4**2- contribution, a more reliable sea salt sulphate was calculated. In this way, few events (mainly in April and in September) were identified originating probably from the "frost flower" source. A comparison with daily-collected superficial snow samples revealed that there is a temporal shift between aerosol and snow sea spray trends. This feature could imply a more complex deposition processes of sea spray, involving significant contribution of wet and diamond dust deposition, but further work has ...