Characteristics of water‐soluble inorganic and organic ions in aerosols over the Southern Ocean and coastal East Antarctica during austral summer

Abstract

AbstractTo characterize the concentrations and size distributions of water‐soluble organic and inorganic aerosol species, including Na+, non‐sea‐salt sulfate (nss SO42−), methane sulfonate (MSA), oxalate, and succinate, over the Southern Ocean (SO) and coastal East Antarctica (CEA), bulk and size‐segregated aerosols were collected from 40°S, 100°E to 69°S, 76°E and between 69°S, 76°E and 66°S, 110°E during a cruise from November 2010 to March 2011. Results show that sea salt was the major component of the total aerosol mass, accounting for 72% over the SO and 56% over CEA. The average concentrations of nss SO42− varied from 420 ng m−3 over the SO to 480 ng m−3 over CEA. The concentrations of MSA ranged from 63 to 87 ng m−3 over the SO and from 46 to 170 ng m−3 in CEA. The average concentrations of oxalate were 3.8 ng m−3 over the SO and 2.2 ng m−3 over CEA. The concentrations of formate, acetate, and succinate were lower than those of oxalate. A bimodal size distribution of aerosol mass existed over CEA, peaking at 0.32–0.56 µm and 3.2–5.6 µm. MSA was accumulated in particles of 0.32–0.56 µm over CEA. High chloride depletion was associated with fine‐mode particles enriched with nss SO42−, MSA, and oxalate. Higher cation‐to‐anion and NH4+/nss SO42− ratios in aerosols over CEA compared to that over the SO imply the higher neutralization capacity of the marine atmosphere over CEA.