Daily and yearly average nitrate and sulfate aerosol mass concentrations measured at Ragged Point, Barbados from 1989-2011

Here we present the nitrate and sulfate particle data that corresponds to the manuscript “Twenty Years of Measurements at Barbados Reveal Different Trends in Trade Wind Aerosol Nitrate and Sulfate: Why has Sulfate Increased While Nitrate Remains Constant?”
Sulfate and nitrate aerosols degrade air quality and modulate radiative forcing and the hydrological cycle. Emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) and meteorological factors determine how widespread these impacts are. To determine these impacts in the context of long-range transport to distant sites, we measured sulfate and nitrate aerosol from 1989-2011 at Ragged Point in Barbados. Non-sea salt (nss)-sulfate rapidly decreased by ~30% in the 1990s tracking reductions in SO2 in the U.S. and Europe. However, concentrations began to rise again in 2000 concurrently with increases in SO2 emitted from Asia, India, Africa, and the Middle East. Nitrate remained constant throughout the 22 years, possibly due to natural contributions of reactive nitrogen to the aerosol nitrate budget. These findings provide insight into the impact of changing emissions on the aerosol burden over remote regions that can inform model predictions of current and future aerosol loadings.
This data is associated with the article: Gaston, C.J., Prospero, J.M., Custals, L., Blades, E., Sealy, P., Christie, J.A. Twenty Years of Measurements at Barbados Reveal Different Trends in Trade Wind Aerosol Nitrate and Sulfate: Why has Sulfate Increased While Nitrate Remains Constant?