Aerosol particle dry deposition to canopy and forest floor measured by two‐layer eddy covariance system

Abstract

We present, to our knowledge for the first time, results from subcanopy (forest trunk space) aerosol flux measurements with the eddy covariance (EC) technique. The measurements were performed at the SMEAR II measurement station located in a Scots pine forest in southern Finland during spring 2003 when the ground was snow covered and in situ biogenic particle formation took place almost every day. Spectral analysis showed that the EC method can be applied to estimate subcanopy aerosol fluxes and thereby ground deposition in a forest. By using the two‐layer EC measurements we were able to investigate the fraction of the total aerosol deposition taking place in the canopy and on the forest floor. We found that the ratio of subcanopy to above‐canopy flux is dependent on the strength of turbulence. When the friction velocity was low (u* < 0.25 m s−1), approximately 35% of the depositing particles penetrated the canopy and deposited on the ground. When u* increased, the fractional deposition on the forest floor decreased almost linearly, and in strongly turbulent conditions (u*>1.0 m s−1) the ground deposition contributed only around 10% to the total deposition. Thus, it seems that increased turbulence enhances the importance of the canopy for aerosol deposition and the relative importance of the forest floor to the total deposition diminishes.