Abstract
Abstract. Deposition is one of the key terms of the mineral dust cycle. However, dust deposition remains poorly constrained in transport models simulating the atmospheric dust cycle. This is mainly due to the limited number of relevant deposition measurements. This paper aims to present an automatic collector (CARAGA), specially developed to sample the total (dry and wet) atmospheric deposition of insoluble dust in remote areas. The autonomy of the CARAGA can range from 25 days to almost 1 year depending on the programmed sampling frequency (from 1 day to 2 weeks respectively). This collector is used to sample atmospheric deposition of Saharan dust on the Frioul islands in the Gulf of Lions in the Western Mediterranean. To quantify the mineral dust mass in deposition samples, a weighing and ignition protocol is applied. Almost 2 years of continuous deposition measurements performed on a weekly sampling basis on Frioul Island are presented and discussed with air mass trajectories and satellite observations of dust. Insoluble mineral deposition measured on Frioul Island was 2.45 g m−2 for February to December 2011 and 3.16 g m−2 for January to October 2012. Nine major mineral deposition events, measured during periods with significant MODIS aerosol optical depths, were associated with air masses coming from the southern Mediterranean Basin and North Africa.
Highlights
Mineral dust particles emitted from the Sahara are a factor in excessive daily air particles concentrations of PM10 observed in the Mediterranean Basin and southern Europe (Pey et al, 2013)
The present study on the estimates of Saharan dust deposition on Frioul Island, a site located in the Gulf of Lions, illustrates the use of a CARAGA
Insoluble mineral deposition measured on Frioul Island is 2.45 g m−2 for February to December 2011 and 3.16 g m−2 for January to October 2012, which corresponds to low deposition amounts without very strong dust deposition events in the north-western Mediterranean Basin
Summary
Mineral dust particles emitted from the Sahara are a factor in excessive daily air particles concentrations of PM10 (particulate matter less than 10 μm in diameter) observed in the Mediterranean Basin and southern Europe (Pey et al, 2013). Simulations of mineral dust are validated by comparing the simulated dust load with numerous available data sets, for instance direct aerosol concentration measurements and aerosol optical depth (AOD) derived from ground-based and/or satellite observations This remains insufficient to ensure the consistency of regional or global dust simulations, because, due to the lack of quantitative measurements, emission and deposition can be adjusted quite freely to allow models to match observed atmospheric dust concentrations. This paper presents a new device designed to perform continuous dust deposition measurements over long periods and a weighing and ignition protocol to determine the total insoluble mineral dust mass deposited This automatic collector, named CARAGA (Collecteur Automatique de Retombées Atmosphériques insolubles à Grande Autonomie), has been specially developed to sample total insoluble atmospheric particles deposition in remote areas and to insure robust automatic sampling with a large autonomy and a minimum need of man power. Almost 2 years of mineral deposition measurements on Frioul Island are discussed and open up the possibility to develop a CARAGA sampling network of total insoluble deposition in remote areas
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