Abstract
Mass loading and chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols over the Arabian Sea during the pre-monsoon months of April and May have been studied as a part of the Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB). These investigations show large spatial variabilities in total aerosol mass loading as well as that of individual chemical species. The mass loading is found to vary between 3.5 and 69.2 μg m−3, with higher loadings near the eastern and northern parts of Arabian Sea, which decreases steadily to reach its minimum value in the mid Arabian Sea. The decrease in mass loading from the coast of India towards west is estimated to have a linear gradient of 1.53 μg m−3/° longitude and an e−1 scale distance of ∼2300 km. SO 2−4 , Cl− and Na+ are found to be the major ionic species present. Apart from these, other dominating watersoluble components of aerosols are NO −3 (17%) and Ca2+ (6%). Over the marine environment of Arabian Sea, the non-sea-salt component dominates accounting to ∼76% of the total aerosol mass. The spatial variations of the various ions are examined in the light of prevailing meteorological conditions and airmass back trajectories.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andreae M O, Elbert W, Gabriel R, Johnson D W, Osborne S and Wood R 2000 Soluble ion chemistry of the atmospheric aerosol and SO2 concentrations over the eastern North Atlantic during ACE-2; Tellus 52B 1066–1087.
Arimoto R, Duce R A, Savoie D L, Prospero J M, Talbot R, Cullen J D, Tomza U, Lewis N F and Ray B J 1996 Relationship among aerosol constituents from Asia and the North Pacific during PEM-West A; J. Geophys. Res. 101(D1) 2011–2023.
Ball W P, Dickerson R R, Doddridge B G, Stehr J W, Miller T L, Savoie D L and Carsey T P 2003 Bulk and size-segregated aerosol composition observed during INDOEX 1999: Overview of meteorology and continental impacts; J. Geophys. Res. 108(D10) 8001 doi:10.1029/2002JD002467.
Bates T S, Huebert B J, Gras J L, Griffiths F B and Durkee P A 1998 International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project’s First Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 1): Overview; J. Geophys. Res. 103 16,297–16,318.
Berg W W Jr and Winchester J W 1978 Aerosol chemistry of marine atmosphere. In: Chemical Oceanography (eds) J P Riley and R Chester (London: Academic Press) 7 173–231.
Blanchard D C and Woodcock A H 1980 The production, concentration, and vertical distribution of the sea-salt aerosol; Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 338 330–347.
Carmichael G R, Hong M S, Ueda H, Chen L L, Murano K, Park J K, Lee H, Kim Y, Kang C and Shim S 1997 Aerosol composition at Cheju Island, Korea; J. Geophys. Res. 102 6047–6061.
Charlson R J, Lovelock J E, Andreae M O and Warren S G 1987 Oceanic phytoplankton, atmospheric sulfur, cloud albedo and climate; Nature 326 655–661.
Charlson R J, Schwartz S E, Hales J M, Cess R D, Coakley Jr. J A, Hansen J E and Hofmann D J 1992 Climate forcing by anthropogenic aerosols; Science 255 423–430.
Draxler R R and Rolph G D 2003 HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website (http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html). NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD.
Duce R A, Arimoto R, Ray B J, Unni C K and Harder P J 1983 Atmospheric trace elements at Enewetak Atoll 1. concentrations, sources and temporal variability; J. Geophys. Res. 88 5321–5342.
Exton H J, Latham J, Park P M, Perry S J, Smith M H and Allan R R 1985 The production and dispersal of marine aerosol; Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 111 817–837.
Fairall CW, Davidson K L and Schacher G E 1983 An analysis of the surface production of sea-salt aerosols; Tellus 35B 31–39.
Garret T J and Hobbs P V 1995 Long range transport of continental aerosols over the Atlantic Ocean and their effect on cloud structures; J. Atmos. Sci. 52 2977–2984.
Hirose K, Dokiya Y and Sugimura Y 1983 Effect of the continental dust over the North Pacific Ocean: time variation of chemical components in maritime aerosol paticles in spring season; J. Meteorol. Soc. Japan 61 670–677.
Holland H D 1978 The Chemistry of the Atmosphere and Oceans (New York: Wiley).
Huebert B J, Howell S G, Zhuang L, Heath J A, Litchy M R, Wylie D J, Kreidler-Moss J I, Coppicus S and Pfeiffer J E 1998 Filter and impactor measurements of anions and cations during the First Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 1); J. Geophys. Res. 103 16,493–16,509.
Jayaraman A, Lubin D, Ramachandran S, Ramanathan V, Woodbridge E, Collins W D and Zalpuri K S 1998 Direct observations of aerosol radiative forcing over the tropical Indian Ocean during the January-February 1996 pre-INDOEX cruise; J. Geophys. Res. 103(D12) 13,827–13,836.
Kaufman Y J, Tanre D and Boucher O 2002 A satellite view of aerosols in the climate system; Nature 419 215–223.
Kettle A J et al 1999 A global database of sea surface dimethylsulfide (DMS) measurements and a procedure to predict sea surface DMS as a function of latitude, longitude and month; Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 13 399–444.
Krishnamurti T N, Jha B, Prospero J M, Jayaraman A and Ramanathan V 1998 Aerosol and pollutant transport and their impact on radiative forcing over the tropical Indian Ocean during the January-February 1996 pre-INDOEX cruise; Tellus 50B 521–542.
Kulshrestha U C, Jain M, Sekar R, Vairamani M, Sarkar A K and Parashar D C 2001 Chemical characteristics and source apportionment of aerosols over Indian Ocean during INDOEX-1999; Curr. Sci. 80 180–185.
Monahan E C, Fairall C W, Davidson K L and Boyle P J 1983 Observed inter relation between 10m winds, ocean whitecaps and marine aerosols; Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 109 379–392.
Moorthy K K, Satheesh S K, Babu S S and Saha A 2005a Large latitudinal gradients and temporal heterogeneity in aerosol black carbon and its mass mixing ratio over southern and northern oceans observed during a transcontinental cruise experiment; Geophys. Res. Lett. 32 L14818 doi:10.1029/2005GL023267.
Moorthy K K, Babu S S and Satheesh S K 2005b Aerosol characteristics and radiative impacts over the Arabian Sea during the intermonsoon season: Results from ARMEX field campaign; J. Atmos. Sci. 62 192–206.
Nair P R, Parameswaran K, Sunilkumar S V and Rajan R 2004a Continental influence on the spatial distribution of particulate loading over the Indian Ocean during winter season; J. Atmos. Solar Terr. Phys. 66 27–38.
Nair P R, Parameswaran K, Sunilkumar S V, Abraham A and Jacob S 2004b Chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols over the Indian Ocean: Impact of continental advection; Adv. Space Res. 34 828–832.
Prospero J M 2002 The Chemical and Physical Properties of Marine Aerosols: An Introduction; In: Chemistry of Marine Water and Sediments (eds) A Gianguzza, E Pellizzetti and S Sammarano (Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag) pp 35–82.
Prospero J M, Savoie D, Nees R T, Duce R A and Merrill J 1985 Particulate sulphate and nitrate in the boundary layer over the North Pacific Ocean; J. Geophys. Res. 90 10,586–10,596.
Raes F, Bates T, McGovern F and Van Liedekerke M 2000 The 2nd Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2): general overview and main results; Tellus 52B 111–125.
Ramanathan V, Crutzen P J, Kiehl J T and Rosenfeld D 2001a Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle; Science 294 2119–2124.
Ramanathan V, Crutzen P J, Lelieveld J et al 2001b The Indian Ocean Experiment: An integrated analysis of the climate forcing and effects of the Great Indo-Asian Haze; J. Geophys. Res. 106(D22) 28,371–28,398.
Rao P S P, Praveen P S, Chate D M, Ali K, Safai P D and Momin G A 2005 Physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols over Arabian Sea during ARMEX 2002-03; Mausam 56(1) 293–300.
Rastogi N and Sarin M M 2005 Long-term characterization of ionic species in aerosols from urban and high-altitude sites in western India: Role of mineral dust and anthropogenic sources; Atmos. Environ. 39 5541–5554.
Rolph G D 2003 Real-time Environmental Applications and Display sYstem (READY) Website (http://www.arl.noaa. gov/ready/hysplit4.html). NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD.
Satheesh S K, Moorthy K K and Murthy B V K 1998 Spatial gradients in aerosol characteristics over the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean; J. Geophys. Res. 103 26,183–26,192.
Savoie D L, Prospero J M and Nees R T 1987 Nitrate, nonsea-salt sulfate, and mineral aerosol over the northwestern Indian Ocean; J. Geophys. Res. 92(D1) 933–942.
Savoie D L, Prospero J M, Merrill J T and Uematsu M 1989 Nitrate in the atmospheric boundary layer of the tropical South Pacific: Implications regarding sources and transport; J. Atmos. Chem. 8 391–415.
Savoie D L, Arimoto R, Keene W C, Prospero J M, Duce R A and Galloway J N 2002 Marine biogenic and anthropogenic contributions to non-sea-salt sulfate in the marine boundary layer over the North Atlantic Ocean; J. Geophys. Res. 107(D18) 4356 doi:10.1029/2001JD000970.
Siefert R L, Johansen A M and Hoffmann M R 1999 Chemical characterization of ambient aerosol collected during the southwest monsoon and intermonsoon seasons over the Arabian Sea: Labile-Fe (II) and other trace metals; J. Geophys. Res. 104 3511–3526.
Sunilkumar S V, Nair P R and Parameswaran K 2005 Aerosol size distribution over the Arabian Sea during ARMEX-II; Mausam 56(1) 321–326.
Swap R, Garstang M, Macko S A, Tyson P D, Maenhaut W, Antaxo P, Kallberg P and Talbot R 1996 The Long range transport of southern African Aerosols to the tropical South Atlantic; J. Geophys. Res. 101 23,777–23,791.
Yoon Y J et al 2007 Seasonal characteristics of the physicochemical properties of North Atlantic marine atmospheric aerosols; J. Geophys. Res. 112 D04206 doi:10.1029/2005JD007044.
Zhao D W and Wang A P 1994 Estimation of anthropogenic ammonia emissions in Asia; Atmos. Environ. 28(4) 689–694.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
George, S.K., Nair, P.R. Aerosol mass loading over the marine environment of Arabian Sea during ICARB: Sea-salt and non-sea-salt components. J Earth Syst Sci 117 (Suppl 1), 333–344 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-008-0036-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-008-0036-8