Identification of black carbon and dust aerosol events at the Azores PICO-NARE ...

• Author(s): Fialho, Paulo ; Barata, Filipe ; Honrath, Richard ; Hansen, Anthony
• Date: 2005
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/2238
• Origin: Repositório da Universidade dos Açores
• Subject(s): Aerosol Absorption; Black Carbon; Pico Island (Azores); Azores
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

European Geosciences Union (EGU), General Assembly. Viena, Austria, 24-29 April 2005. During the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) experiment (July – August 2004), aerosol samples were taken and their aerosol absorption coefficients measured. At the same time the levels of carbon monoxide and ozone where also monitored. These measurements were taken at PICO-NARE site on Pico mountain summit (2225 m ASL) in the Azores Islands. This site is in the pathway of air masses that travel from the surrounding continents (Africa, Europe and North America) that carry with them, among other species, aerosols resulting from combustions (black carbon) and/or natural emissions (dust). In particular, transport from Africa may bring soil dust particles, rich in iron oxides, which are involved in the biogeochemical cycling of iron, an essential micronutrient to marine phytoplankton (Arimoto, Balsam, & Schloesslin, 2002). During this period the sampled masses mainly came form the North American and during sometimes carried with them pollutants resulting from forest fires that occurred in Canada and Alaska.