Articolo in rivista, 2009,

Chemical Composition of Cloud Water in the Puerto Rican Tropical Trade Wind Cumuli

Gioda A, Mayol-Bracero OL, Morales-Garcia F, Collett J, Decesari S, Emblico L, Facchini MC, Morales-De Jesus Ricardo, Mertes S, Borrmann S, Walter S, Schneider J

As part of the Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean Experiment (RICO) and the Puerto Rico Aerosol and Cloud Study (PRACS), cloud water was collected at East Peak (EP) in Puerto Rico. The main objective of this study was to determine the concentrations of water-soluble species (Cl-, NO3 (-), SO4 (2-), NH4 (+), Ca2+, H+, Mg2+, K+, and Na+) in water samples taken from clouds influenced by tropical trade winds. The most abundant inorganic species were Na+ (average 465 A mu eq l(-1)) and Cl- (434 A mu eq l(-1)), followed by Mg2+ (105 A mu eq l(-1)), SO4 (2-) (61 A mu eq l(-1)), and NO3 (-) (25 A mu eq l(-1)). High concentrations of nss-SO4 (2) (28 A mu eq l(-1)), NO3 (-) (86 A mu eq l(-1)), and H+ (14.5 A mu eq l(-1)) were measured with a shift in air masses origin from the North Atlantic to North American continent, which reflected a strong anthropogenic influence on cloud chemistry at EP. Long-range transport of particles and acid gases seems to be the factor responsible for fluctuations in concentrations and pH of cloud water at East Peak. When under trade wind influences the liquid phase concentrations of all inorganic substances were similar to those found in clouds in other clean maritime environments.

Keywords

Sea salt, Inorganic ions, Cloud chemistry, Cloud condensation nuclei, RICO

CNR authors

Facchini Maria Cristina, Decesari Stefano

CNR institutes

ISAC – Istituto di scienze dell'atmosfera e del clima

ID: 45282

Year: 2009

Type: Articolo in rivista

Creation: 2010-08-12 00:00:00.000

Last update: 2019-12-12 13:41:26.000

External links

OAI-PMH: Dublin Core

OAI-PMH: Mods

OAI-PMH: RDF

External IDs

CNR OAI-PMH: oai:it.cnr:prodotti:45282