Characteristics of dimethylsulfide, ozone, aerosols, and cloud condensation nuclei in air masses over the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Long‐term measurements of several trace gases and aerosols were carried out from December 1994 to October 1996 at Ogasawara Hahajima Island over the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The continental impact on the concentrations of sulfur compounds, ozone (O3), and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) was estimated on the basis of the classification of air mass into seven types by isentropic trajectory analysis. From May to October, the air mass originating from the central North Pacific Ocean is predominant and regarded as the clean marine air for the concentrations of sulfur compounds and CCN. From the results of the molar ratio of methane sulfonic acid to non‐sea‐salt sulfate (NSS) and the positive correlation between dimethylsulfide (DMS) and CCN in this air mass it can be concluded that DMS largely contributes to the production of NSS and CCN. On the other hand, continental and anthropogenic substances are preferably transported to the northwestern Pacific Ocean by the predominant continental air mass from November to March. The enhancement of concentrations by the outflow from the Asian continent are estimated by a factor of 2.8 for O3, 3.9 for SO2, 3.5 for CCN activated at 0.5% supersaturation (0.5% CCN), 4.7 for 1.0% CCN, and 5.5 for NSS. Moreover, the CCN supersaturation spectra are also affected by the continental substances resulting in factor 2 of enhancement of cloud droplet number concentration. The diurnal variations of DMS and O3 for each air mass show a pattern of daytime minimum and nighttime maximum, which are typically found in remote ocean, even though those amplitudes are different for each air mass. Consequently, it can be concluded that the influence of nitric oxides (NOx) for the daytime O3 production and nitrate (NO3) radical for the nighttime oxidation of DMS are small even in the continental air mass.