697 / 2024-09-19 09:05:57

Understanding Biological Aerosols in the Marine Boundary Layer: Observation, Simulation and Characterization

Marine Bio-Aerosol, Sea Spray Aerosol, Simulation Chamber, Cruising observation

Session 25 - IGAC-SOLAS: Chemistry and physics at surface ocean and lower atmosphere

Marine biological aerosol has been concerned for its impacts on marine environment as well as on local and global climate. Due to the complicated composition of biological aerosol and the lack of observations in the vast oceanic area, it is important to understand the occurrence, behaviors and impacts of marine biological aerosol. In this contribution we will show the results of marine biological aerosol observations in the oceanic areas from the South China Sea to the Eastern Indian Ocean using various measurement techniques. The variations in concentrations and community diversity have been investigated to reveal the influence of continental transport and marine emissions. Over the open ocean, the importance of continental and marine contribution were observed to show their significant impact on the concentration, diversity richness and community structure of biological aerosols. In order to understand the emission of marine microbes via sea spray process, a self-developed sea spray aerosol generation tank (SAGT) was established to study the transmission of microbes from sea water to the sea spray aerosols (SSA). The enrichments of microbes in submicron SSA were observed in our simulation using the SAGT. The formation of SSA under marine mechanical processes is suggested as a contributor of marine biological aerosol.  The environmental factors were also investigated to reveal their influence on the emissions of biological components via SSA generation. Our study combines the observation and simulation of marine biological aerosol which may help to improve the current knowledge of this topic for a better understanding of the impact of marine biological aerosol.