The long-range transport of aerosol particles over the north Atlantic Ocean
As part of the Atmosphere/Ocean Chemistry Experiment (AE-ROCE), daily aerosol samples were collected at Bermuda and Barbados. In addition, gas-phase [sup 222]Rn concentrations were analyzed hourly from July 1991 to June 1992. Isentropic analyses, isentropic trajectories, and non-isentropic tranjectories were used to understand the long-range transport of these substances. In particular, the sources of selenium (Se) at Bermuda and Barbados, the transport of aluminum (Al) at Barbados, and the effect of atmospheric stability on radionuclides at Bermuda, were investigated. At Bermuda, approximately 55% of the aerosol Se came from anthropogenic sources located in North America, while the remainder appeared to be from a marine biogenic sources. At Barbados, 60-80% of the Se was attributed to marine biogenic sources. At Barbados, the transport of Al from northern Africa to Barbados was modeled using a vertical interpolation of wind fields. Stoke's law of gravitational settling was used to parameterize the vertical motion. The trajectories using Stokes's law more more accurately predicted the source region of the Al compared to low-level isentropic trajectories. The affect of tropospheric stability on the concentrations of [sup 222]Rn, [sup 210]Pb, and [sup 7]Be sampled at Bermuda was investigated. [sup 7]Be has an upper tropospheric source, while [sup 222]Rn and [sup 210]Pb both have a continental source. The stability of the lower troposphere was calculated based on the relative separation of isentropic surfaces over North America. The results showed that this measure of stability was able to resolve the seasonal effect of stability on these radionuclides, but was not a quantitative predictor.
- Research Organization:
- Rhode Island Univ., Kingston, RI (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 6979436
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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ATLANTIC OCEAN
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
AEROSOL MONITORING
ALUMINIUM
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
BARBADOS
BERMUDA
BERYLLIUM 7
LEAD 210
METEOROLOGY
RADON 222
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BERYLLIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
COLLOIDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EUROPE
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISLANDS
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
LESSER ANTILLES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MASS TRANSFER
METALS
MONITORING
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
SEAS
SOLS
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UNITED KINGDOM
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540130* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)