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Abstract:
This work is focused on the presentation and analysis of measurements of gaseous sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and methanesulfonic acid (MSA, CH4SO3) performed during the 3 week ship campaign on the research vessel "Celtic Explorer", as part of the European project on Marine Aerosol Production (MAP). The Max Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPI-K) adapted the CIMS - measurement setup (Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry) equipped with an Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (ITMS) to a sea-container, which was for the first time employed for measurements in remote marine air on the Atlantic Ocean. The course was set at latitudes between 50o and 58o North during the season of high plankton bloom. Plankton is due to its emission of dimethyl sulfide (DMS, (CH3)2S) of relevance for sulfate aerosol production and cloud formation. High concentrations of the DMS oxidation products MSA with values of the order of 107cm¡3 and low concentrations of H2SO4 with an average of 1.70¢106cm¡3 were observed. The comparison with additional data such as SO2 concentrations, which were also measured with the CIMS-method by the MPI-K, aerosol number and size distributions, as well as aerosol composition measured during the cruise were used for the analysis of possible
sinks and sources of the two gaseous species in the Marine Boundary Layer.
