Quantitative measurement of airborne sea-salt in the North Atlantic

R. F. Lovett

doi:10.3402/tellusa.v30i4.10354

Quantitative measurement of airborne sea-salt in the North Atlantic

Tellus

Volume 30 (1978): Issue 4

By: R. F. Lovett

Open Access

|Jan 1978

Abstract

Measurements of airborne sea-salt concentration were taken from North Atlantic weather ships during 11 voyages throughout the period September 1974 to July 1975. Total sea-salt concentrations were measured by air sampling through membrane filters. Sampling sites were at heights of 5, 10 and 15 metres above sea level. A total of 1821 aerosol samples were taken with an average of 57 samples per site per voyage.

An attempt has been made to correlate sea-salt concentration with wind speed and other meteorological factors. It was found that total sea-salt concentration could be represented as a function of wind speed by the equation In θ = 0.16µ + 1.45 (θ = sea-salt concentration in µg m^-3 and µ = wind speed in m s^-1) This shows good agreement with Blanchard and Syzdek's results. Observation of the time variation of sea-salt concentration and wind speed indicated residence times of the order of 12 to 24 hours. Attempts to distinguish dependence upon other meteorological parameters were not conclusive.

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