PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION DURING AEROSE V EXPEDITION

For the AEROSE V expedition, aerosols were sampled for over a month in the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition began in Barbados, descended to Brazil, crossed over to Africa and sailed north before heading back to Puerto Rico. During the course of the expedition, several instruments were utilized to sample aerosols, but only the Laser Particle Counters (LPCs) will be discussed here. The LPCs provided particle size distribution of aerosols, which is relevant because it can provide insight into the general properties of the aerosols. A reasonable assumption can be made as to whether the sampled aerosols are dust, smoke or a mixture based on the distribution observed in the particle size bins. Additionally, changes in the size distribution can indicate a crossover into a new air mass. The onset of the changes may also signal whether the air mass is real, or noise being picked up by the instrumentation. Two LPCs, acquired data for this project. The sampling cycle was semi-continuous, with fifteen-minute intervals and sampling for one minute of one cubic foot of air. The findings suggest that the expedition encountered two major distinctive air masses, one smoke and the other dust, plus a mixture. Also, the ITCZ was encountered twice, and the particle size distribution of the aerosols exhibited similar behavior on both occasions.