Atmospheric Aerosols Measured during the U.S. JGOFS Arabian Sea Process Study

A component of U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) is the
Arabian Sea Process Study. Eleven cruises took place aboard the R/V
Thomas G. Thompson for about sixteen months from October 1994 until
January 1996. These cruises provided seasonal coverage of the annual
monsoon and inter-monsoon cycles in the area southeast of Oman - from
where the cruises were staged. The monsoons of the Arabian Sea drive
a uniquely intense carbon cycling system, and it is the goal of JGOFS
to better understand the role of the oceans in global carbon cycling.

Aerosols were collected with an air pump onboard ship. Sampling was
usually not continuous. Sampling was frequently stopped, whenever
sampling conditions were no longer suitable depending upon ship
maneuvers and relative wind direction (to prevent ship exhaust
contamination). Thus the concentration value at any particular date
represents a time integrated sample.

The samples were analyzed by short and long irradiation neutron
activation analysis. The short irradiation analysis yielded
concentrations of aluminum, calcium, manganese, magnesium, sodium,
silicon, titanium, and vandium. Long irradiation analysis yielded
concentrations of arsenic, bromine, cerium, cobolt, chromium, cesium,
europium, iron, gadolinium, hafnium, mercury, lanthanum, lutetium,
neodymium, rubidium, antimony, scandium, selenium, samarium,
strontium, tantalum, terbium, thorium, thulium, uranium, ytterbium and
zinc. The total mass of sample per volume of pumped air yielded the
dust concentration. Concentrations are in micrograms per cubic meter
of pumped air.

The data is public domain and can be retrieved on-line at
"http://usjgofs.whoi.edu/jg/dir/jgofs/"

[This information was obtained from U.S. JGOFS website at WHOI.]