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The Influence of Air‐Sea Fluxes on Atmospheric Aerosols During the Summer Monsoon Over the Tropical Indian Ocean
Author(s) -
Zavarsky Alex,
Booge Dennis,
Fiehn Alina,
Krüger Kirstin,
Atlas Elliot,
Marandino Christa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl076410
Subject(s) - aerosol , environmental science , monsoon , atmospheric sciences , isoprene , atmosphere (unit) , climatology , east asian monsoon , oceanography , meteorology , geology , geography , copolymer , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry
Abstract During the summer monsoon, the western tropical Indian Ocean is predicted to be a hot spot for dimethylsulfide emissions, the major marine sulfur source to the atmosphere, and an important aerosol precursor. Other aerosol relevant fluxes, such as isoprene and sea spray, should also be enhanced, due to the steady strong winds during the monsoon. Marine air masses dominate the area during the summer monsoon, excluding the influence of continentally derived pollutants. During the SO234‐2/235 cruise in the western tropical Indian Ocean from July to August 2014, directly measured eddy covariance DMS fluxes confirm that the area is a large source of sulfur to the atmosphere (cruise average 9.1 μmol m −2 d −1 ). The directly measured fluxes, as well as computed isoprene and sea spray fluxes, were combined with FLEXPART backward and forward trajectories to track the emissions in space and time. The fluxes show a significant positive correlation with aerosol data from the Terra and Suomi‐NPP satellites, indicating a local influence of marine emissions on atmospheric aerosol numbers.