Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2069896 Oceanologia 2013 25 Pages PDF
Abstract

Continuous measurements of the aerosol particle number concentration (PNC) in the size range from 4.5 nm to 2 μm were performed at the Preila marine background site during 2008–2009. The concentration maxima in summer was twice the average (2650 ± 850 cm− 3). A trajectory-based approach was applied for source identification. Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) analysis was performed to estimate the possible contribution of long-range and local PNC transport to PNC concentrations recorded at the marine background site. The PSCF results showed that the marine boundary layer was not seriously affected by long-range transport, but that local transport of air pollution was recognized as an important factor. North Atlantic and Sea-Marine type clusters respectively represented 32.1% and 17.9% of the total PNC spectra and were characterized by the lowest PNCs (1 080 ± 1 340 and 1 210 ± 1 040 cm− 3 respectively) among all clusters.Wavelet transformation analysis of 1-h aerosol PNC indicated that while the 16-h scale was a constant feature of aerosol PNC evolution in spring, the longer (~60-h) scales appeared mainly over the whole year (except June). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a strong correlation between PNC and NaCl, highlighting the influence of sea-salt aerosols. In addition, PCA also showed that PNC depended on optical and meteorological parameters such as UVR and temperature.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Oceanography
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