Total deposition flux of insoluble atmospheric particles, Medenine, Tunisia

Total deposition flux of insoluble atmospheric particles is collected with a passive collector of an inverted “Frisbee” shape (Hall and Waters, 1986; Hall and Upton, 1988), equipped with a flow deflector ring, as tested by Wiggs et al. (2002) and full with marbles to limit dust resuspension and rain splashing. The "Frisbee" collector is located at 2 m height from the flat roof of the higher building of the campus of the campus of the Institut des Régions Arides (IRA) de Médenine (i.e., about 14.5 m above the ground level). The samples are collected manually with a weekly time-step. In case of rainfall, water and deposited particles are collected in a 5-litter bottle connected to the bottom of the sampler. The collection procedure is decomposed into three main phases: (1) rinsing with a large volume of water, (2) decantation during more than 6 hours and siphoning of excess water; (3) drying in an oven at 70°C until complete water evaporation. The collected dust is finally weighed in a pre-weighted pillbox with a balance having a precision of 0.0001 g. Total deposition flux of insoluble atmospheric particles is expressed as g/m² per sampling period and as g/m²/day by dividing the collected mass by surface of collection and sampling duration (dates of start and end of sampling are given in the data files in UTC). Fluxes are given after subtracting blanks; the blank value is given in the header of each file.