Aerosol size distribution and aerosol water content measurements during Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment/Marine Aerosol and Gas Exchange

Abstract

Aerosol size distribution data measured during the June 1992 Marine Aerosol and Gas Exchange experiment are analyzed to investigate the characteristics of fine marine aerosol particles measured over the North Atlantic near the Azores Islands. Measured aerosol size distribution data were corrected using the corrected size calibration data based on the optical properties of particles being measured. The corrected size distribution data were then approximated with either one or two lognormal size distributions, depending on air mass conditions. Under clean air mass conditions <3 μm diameter aerosol size distributions typically exhibited two modes, consisting of an accumulation mode and the small end of the sea‐salt particle mode. However, under the influence of continental polluted air masses, the aerosol size distribution was dominated by <1 μm diameter particles in a single mode with an increased aerosol concentration. Aerosol water content of accumulation mode marine aerosols was estimated from differences between several series of ambient and dried aerosol size distributions. The average aerosol water fraction was 0.31, which is in good agreement with an empirical aerosol growth model estimate. The average rate of SO4= production in the accumulation mode aerosol water by H2O2 oxidation was estimated to be <7×10−10 mol L−1 s−1, which is an insignificant contributor to the observed non‐sea‐salt SO4= in the accumulation mode.