Gas and Aerosol Loadings at Holme Moss 1996–1998 Measurements and Analysis Using Back-Trajectory Clustering

Abstract

A continuous two-year atmospheric datasetcomprising gas and aerosol loadings from amountain site in northern England (Holme Moss,W1°51′30′′ N53°32′0′′) is presented. The data are analysed with respect to three-dayback-trajectories that are grouped according to aclustering technique that allows speed, directionand curvature of the airmass track to beconsidered. The technique is successful inseparating the data into chemically distinctsubsets. Up to 29% of the variance in the datais explained by back-trajectory clusters. Slow trajectories are associated with highloadings especially for the oxides of nitrogen,which may imply a local source for much of thesuspended pollutant. The data suggest thatproduction of nitrate and sulphate is limited byoxidant availability at least in the winter. Itmay be possible to optimise the analytical powerof the technique by increasing the importance ofrecent airmass track in determining clusterallocation. This applies especially to the totalsulphur loading.