Abstract
Condensation nucleus (CN) concentrations have been measured at Mawson (67.6°S, 62.9°E) since mid 1981. Weekly median concentrations have an annual cycle with a maximum of around 300 to 400 cm-3 in summer and a minimum of a few tens of particles per cm-3 in winter. In this respect Mawson behaves very much like an Antarctic continental location. Preliminary measurements of the size distribution of CN particles taken over a nine month period suggest a seasonal change in typical particle radius from around 0.01 μm in winter to around 0.04 μm in summer. Diurnal variation in the CN concentration is generally very weak and does not show any systematic relation to the pronounced diurnal variation in wind-speed at Mawson.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bigg, E.K., J.L.Gras and C.Evans (1984). ‘Origins of Aitken particles in remote regions of the Southern Hemisphere’. J.Atmos.Chem. 1, 203–214.
Bodhaine, B.A. (1983). ‘Aerosol measurements at four background sites’. J.Geophys.Res., 88, 10753–10768.
Cunningham, W.C. and W.H.Zoller (1981). ‘The chemical composition of remote area aerosols’. J.Aerosol.Sci., 12, 367–384.
Gosink, J. (1982). ‘Measurements of katabatic winds between Dome C and Dumont d'Urville’. Pageoph. 120, 503–526.
Gras, J.L. (1983). ‘An investigation of a non-linear interation procedure for inversion of particle size distributions’. Atmos.Environ., 17, 883–894.
Gras, J.L. (1984). ‘Comparisons of particle counters used for monitoring in remote areas’. J.Aerosol.Sci., 15, 523–531.
Gras, J.L. and G.P.Ayers (1983). ‘Marine aerosol at southern mid-latitudes’. J.Geophys.Res., 88, 10661–10666.
Hogan, A. and S.Barnard (1978). ‘Seasonal and frontal variation in Antarctic aerosol concentrations’. J.Appl.Meteorol., 17, 1458–1465.
Hogan, A., S.Barnard, J.Samson and W.Winters (1982). ‘The transport of heat, water vapor and particulate material to the South Polar Plateau’. J.Geophys.Res., 87, 4287–4293.
Ito, T. and K.Iwai (1981). ‘On the sudden increase in the concentration of Aitken particles in the Antarctic atmosphere’. J.Meteorol.Soc., Japan, 59, 262–271.
Ito, T, A. Ono and K. Iwai (1982) ‘On the origin and nature of Antarctic Aerosols’. Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research (Japan) Special Issue No 24, 289–296.
Mather, K.B. (1969). ‘The pattern of surface wind flow in Antarctica’. Pageoph., 75, 332–354.
Metnieks, A.L. and L.W.Pollak (1959). ‘Instructions for use of photo-electric nucleus counters’. Geophys.Bull. No.16, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advances Studies, Eire.
Ono, A., T.Ito and K.Iwai (1981). ‘A note on the origin and nature of the Antarctic aerosol’. Mem.Natl.Inst.Polar Res., 19, 141–151.
Parungo, F., B.Bodhaine and J.Bortniak (1981). ‘Seasonal variation in Antarctic aerosol’. J.Aerosol Sci., 12, 491–504.
Pollak, L.W. and A.L.Metnieks (1960). ‘Intrinsic calibration of the photo-electric condensation nucleus counter model 1957 with convergent light beam’. Technical (scientific) note No. 9, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Eire.
Schwerdtfeger, W. (1970). ‘The climate of the Antarctic (Ed.S.Orvig) in World Survey of Climatology (Ed. H.E. Landsberg) Elsevier, Amsterdam. Shaw, G.E. (1982). On the residence time of the Antarctic ice sheet aerosol’. J.Geophys.Res., 87, 4309–4313.
Sinclair, D. and G.S.Hoopes (1975). ‘A novel form of diffusion battery’. Am.Ind.Hyg.Assoc.J., 36, 39–42.
Streten, N.A. (1962). ‘Notes on weather conditions in Antarctica (with particular reference to the western part of the Australian Antarctic Territory)’. Aust.Meteorol.Mag., 37, 1–20.
Streten, N.A. (1968). ‘Some characteristics of strong wind periods in coastal East Antarctica’. J.Appl.Meteorol., 7, 46–52.
Twomey, S. (1975). ‘Comparison of constrained linear inversion and an iterative non-linear algorithm applied to the indirect estimation of particle size distributions’. J.Comp.Phys., 18, 188–200.
Voskresenski, A.I. (1968). ‘Condensation nuclei at Mirny’. Tr.Sov. Antarkt. Eksped., 38, 194–198.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Department of Science, Antarctic Division
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gras, J.L., Adriaansen, A., Butler, R. et al. Concentration and size variation of condensation nuclei at Mawson, Antarctica. J Atmos Chem 3, 93–106 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00049370
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00049370