[Impact of Marine-atmospheric Process on Aerosol Number Size Distribution in the South China Sea]

Ya-Wen Kong; Li-Fang Sheng; Qian Liu; Xiu-Zhen Li

doi:10.13227/j.hjkx.2016.07.005

[Impact of Marine-atmospheric Process on Aerosol Number Size Distribution in the South China Sea]

Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2016 Jul 8;37(7):2443-2452. doi: 10.13227/j.hjkx.2016.07.005.

[Article in Chinese]

Authors

Ya-Wen Kong¹, Li-Fang Sheng^{1

2

3}, Qian Liu¹, Xiu-Zhen Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction and Climate in University of Shandong Province, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
⁴ China Satellite Maritime Tracking and Control Department, Jiangyin 214431, China.

PMID: 29964449
DOI: 10.13227/j.hjkx.2016.07.005

Abstract

The shipboard measurements of aerosol number concentration from August 28th to October 13th, 2012 were conducted to analyze the characteristics of temporal-spatial distribution and number size distribution of marine aerosol in the South China Sea. The impact of meteorological condition on the marine aerosol was also analyzed in this paper. The result showed that the temporal-spatial distribution and number size distribution of marine aerosol were influenced by the backward trajectory of the air masses and the time they spent over the sea, and the meteorological conditions in the local sea area such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity and cloud cover. In terms of temporal-spatial distribution of marine aerosol in the South China Sea, the aerosol in the sea areas under the influence of continental air mass concentration showed much higher concentration than that in the clean maritime air mass (2300 cm^-3 vs. 1200 cm^-3). During the ship observation, three kinds of number size distribution of marine aerosol were found and classified:polluted type, marine type 1 and marine type 2 (clean). All the distributions had a similar sub-micron mode and a similar coarse mode. The marine type 2 (clean) had the same distribution shape as polluted type except that the value of concentration was much lower. The sub-micron peak of marine type 1 appeared near 0.08 μm and its concentration was significantly higher than that of marine type 2 (clean). Non-precipitating clouds as well as abundant moisture contributed to the growth of ultrafine particles to the size of accumulation mode aerosol (0.05-0.12 μm). Number concentration of particles in this range showed weak positive correlation with wind speed since wind can enhance the efficiency of sea-air exchange and accelerate the release of gas precursors of sulfate aerosol to the atmosphere. The concentration of coarse particles ranging from 0.5-6 μm in diameter strongly depended on the wind speed, and the correlation coefficient reached a value of 0.7.

Keywords: South China Sea; marine aerosol; meteorological condition; number concentration; particle size distribution.

Publication types

English Abstract