Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles
Title
Water-Soluble Organic and Nitrogen Levels in Cloud and Rainwater in a Background Marine Environment Under Influence of Different Air Masses
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2008
Publication Title
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry
Keywords
Saharan dust, Volcanic ash, Air masses, Fogwater, Nutrient flux, Elemental composition, Precipitation
ISSN
0167-7764
Volume
61
Issue/No.
2
First Page
85
Last Page
99
Abstract
Chemical characterization was performed on cloud and rainwater samples collected as part of the Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean Experiment (RICO). This experiment took place at a mountaintop site (East Peak) in Puerto Rico from December 2004 to March 2007 in order to determine water-soluble organic and nitrogen fractions in a marine background environment. For cloud water, similar average concentrations of 1.0 (±0.3) mg/L were found for total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) and an average concentration of 0.8 (±0.2) mg/L was found for dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In rainwater, these concentrations were lower, ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 (±0.1) mg/L. Changes in the concentrations of these species were observed in periods under the influence of anthropogenic, African dust, and volcanic ash air masses. In these periods the concentrations of TOC, DOC, and TN were 2 to 4 times higher than in periods under the influence of trade winds. The insoluble organic material arriving during African dust events showed total carbon (TC) concentrations on averaging 1.5 mg/L for cloud water. The TC was composed mainly of organic carbon with polar compounds from low to high molecular weight (MW). The polar compounds with high MW were probably associated with pollution (e.g., fossil fuel combustion) from other regions. Crustal species (Al and Fe) dominated particles associated with dust episodes, confirming the soil origin. Our results suggested that a fraction (40–80%) of TOC and (<100%) of TN in Puerto Rican cloud/rainwater could be originated from long-range transport of dust, ash and/or pollution.
Additional Comments
NSF grant #s: 0342548, DEB 0620910
NSUWorks Citation
Gioda, A., Mayol-Bracero, O. L., Reyes-Rodriguez, G. J., Santos-Figueroa, G., & Collett, J. L. (2008). Water-Soluble Organic and Nitrogen Levels in Cloud and Rainwater in a Background Marine Environment Under Influence of Different Air Masses. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 61, (2), 85 - 99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-009-9125-6. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_chemphys_facarticles/257
ORCID ID
0000-0002-0566-0820
ResearcherID
V-6501-2018
DOI
10.1007/s10874-009-9125-6
Comments
©Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009