Pollutant concentrations upwind and downwind of Bermuda

Abstract

This paper describes atmospheric concentration measurements of a number of inorganic and organic species which are of interest as tracers of continental emissions in the marine atmosphere, upwind and downwind of the island of Bermuda. Measurements made downwind during 4 days of GCE/CASE/WATOX in July 1988 showed that concentrations of inorganic species (non‐sea‐salt sulfate, total nitrate, non‐sea‐salt potassium, and sulfur dioxide) and some organic species (total PCBs and n‐alkanes) were greater, on average, by factors of 3 to 15 than the upwind values. Other organics (HCB, alpha, gamma and total HCH, dieldrin, and chlordane) showed smaller increases downwind. Downwind concentrations were less than those found along the east coast of North America. Upwind values were similar to other “remote” North Atlantic data; taken together, they show that the North Atlantic atmosphere, while clean, is not pristine.