scholarly journals Impact of changes in atmospheric conditions in modulating summer dust concentration at Barbados: A back-trajectory analysis

2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (D17) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Engelstaedter ◽  
R. Washington ◽  
N. Mahowald
Keyword(s):  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Dust Concentration ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis

scholarly journals Airborne microplastic particles detected in the remote marine atmosphere

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miri Trainic ◽  
J. Michel Flores ◽  
Iddo Pinkas ◽  
Maria Luiza Pedrotti ◽  
Fabien Lombard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Terminal Velocity ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Marine Atmosphere ◽  
Local Production ◽  
The North ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis

AbstractAnthropogenic pollution from marine microplastic particles is a growing concern, both as a source of toxic compounds, and because they can transport pathogens and other pollutants. Airborne microplastic particles were previously observed over terrestrial and coastal locations, but not in the remote ocean. Here, we collected ambient aerosol samples in the North Atlantic Ocean, including the remote marine atmosphere, during the Tara Pacific expedition in May-June 2016, and chemically characterized them using micro-Raman spectroscopy. We detected a range of airborne microplastics, including polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, and poly-silicone compounds. Polyethylene and polypropylene were also found in seawater, suggesting local production of airborne microplastic particles. Terminal velocity estimations and back trajectory analysis support this conclusion. For technical reasons, only particles larger than 5 µm, at the upper end of a typical marine atmospheric size distribution, were analyzed, suggesting that our analyses underestimate the presence of airborne microplastic particles in the remote marine atmosphere.

Air mass origins by back trajectory analysis for evaluating atmospheric 210Pb concentrations at Rokkasho, Aomori, Japan

2009 ◽  
Vol 279 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Akata ◽  
H. Kawabata ◽  
H. Hasegawa ◽  
K. Kondo ◽  
T. Sato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis

A GIS based approach to back trajectory analysis for the source apportionment of aerosol constituents and its first application

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik van Pinxteren ◽  
Erika Brüggemann ◽  
Thomas Gnauk ◽  
Konrad Müller ◽  
Christian Thiel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis

scholarly journals Ergosterol, arabitol and mannitol as tracers for biogenic aerosols in the eastern Mediterranean

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 829-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Burshtein ◽  
N. Lang-Yona ◽  
Y. Rudich
Keyword(s):  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Inorganic Ions ◽  
Airborne Fungi ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Biogenic Aerosols ◽  
Chemical Biomarkers

Abstract. Aerosols containing biological components can have a significant effect on human health by causing primarily irritation, infection and allergies. Specifically, airborne fungi can cause a wide array of adverse responses in humans depending on the type and quantity present. In this study we used chemical biomarkers for analyzing fungi-containing aerosols in the eastern Mediterranean region during the year 2009 in order to quantify annual fungal abundances. The prime marker for fungi used in this study was ergosterol, and its concentrations were compared with those of mannitol and arabitol which were recently suggested to also correlate with fungal spores concentrations (Bauer et al., 2008a). Back trajectory analysis, inorganic ions, humidity and temperature were used in an attempt to identify sources as well as the dependence on seasonal and environmental conditions. We found that the ambient concentrations of ergosterol, arabitol and mannitol range between 0 and 2.73 ng m−3, 1.85 and 58.27 ng m−3, 5.57 and 138.03 ng m−3, respectively. The highest levels for all biomarkers were during the autumn, probably from local terrestrial sources, as deduced from the inorganic ions and back trajectory analysis. Significant correlations were observed between arabitol and mannitol during the entire year except for the winter months. Both sugars correlated with ergosterol only during the spring and autumn. We conclude that mannitol and arabitol might not be specific biomarkers for fungi and that the observed correlations during spring and autumn may be attributed to high levels of vegetation during spring blossoms and autumn decomposing.

PM2.5 chemical composition at a rural background site in Central Europe, including correlation and air mass back trajectory analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 176-177 ◽  
pp. 108-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Schwarz ◽  
Michael Cusack ◽  
Jindřich Karban ◽  
Eva Chalupníčková ◽  
Vladimír Havránek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Rural Background ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis

scholarly journals South East Pacific atmospheric composition and variability sampled along 20° S during VOCALS-REx

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5237-5262 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Allen ◽  
H. Coe ◽  
A. Clarke ◽  
C. Bretherton ◽  
R. Wood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Back Trajectory ◽  
Free Troposphere ◽  
Back Trajectory Analysis ◽  
East Pacific

Abstract. The VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) was conducted from 15 October to 15 November 2008 in the South East Pacific (SEP) region to investigate interactions between land, sea and atmosphere in this unique tropical eastern ocean environment and to improve the skill of global and regional models in representing the region. This study synthesises selected aircraft, ship and surface site observations from VOCALS-REx to statistically summarise and characterise the atmospheric composition and variability of the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) and Free Troposphere (FT) along the 20° S parallel between 70° W and 85° W. Significant zonal gradients in mean MBL sub-micron aerosol particle size and composition, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone were seen over the campaign, with a generally more variable and polluted coastal environment and a less variable, more pristine remote maritime regime. Gradients in aerosol and trace gas concentrations were observed to be associated with strong gradients in cloud droplet number. The FT was often more polluted in terms of trace gases than the MBL in the mean; however increased variability in the FT composition suggests an episodic nature to elevated concentrations. This is consistent with a complex vertical interleaving of airmasses with diverse sources and hence pollutant concentrations as seen by generalised back trajectory analysis, which suggests contributions from both local and long-range sources. Furthermore, back trajectory analysis demonstrates that the observed zonal gradients both in the boundary layer and the free troposphere are characteristic of marked changes in airmass history with distance offshore – coastal boundary layer airmasses having been in recent contact with the local land surface and remote maritime airmasses having resided over ocean for in excess of ten days. Boundary layer composition to the east of 75° W was observed to be dominated by coastal emissions from sources to the west of the Andes, with evidence for diurnal pumping of the Andean boundary layer above the height of the marine capping inversion. Analysis of intra-campaign variability in atmospheric composition was not found to be significantly correlated with observed low-frequency variability in the large scale flow pattern; campaign-average interquartile ranges of CO, SO2 and O3 concentrations at all longitudes were observed to dominate over much smaller differences in median concentrations calculated between periods of different flow regimes. The campaign climatology presented here aims to provide a valuable dataset to inform model simulation and future process studies, particularly in the context of aerosol-cloud interaction and further evaluation of dynamical processes in the SEP region for conditions analogous to those during VOCALS-REx. To this end, our results are discussed in terms of coastal, transitional and remote spatial regimes in the MBL and FT and a gridded dataset are provided as a resource.

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