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Large latitudinal gradients and temporal heterogeneity in aerosol black carbon and its mass mixing ratio over southern and northern oceans observed during a trans-continental cruise experiment
Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, India
Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, India
Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, India
Extensive, and collocated measurements of the mass concentrations (MB) of aerosol black carbon (BC) and (MT) of composite aerosols were made over the Arabian Sea, tropical Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean during a trans-continental cruise experiment. Our investigations show that MB remains extremely low (<50 ng m−3) and remarkably steady (in space and time) in the Southern Ocean (20°S to 56°S). In contrast, large latitudinal gradients exist north of ∼20°S; MB increasing exponentially to reach as high as 2000 ng m−3 in the Arabian Sea (∼8°N). Interestingly, the share of BC showed a distinctly different latitudinal variation, with a peak close to the equator and decreasing on either side. Large fluctuations were seen in MT over Southern Ocean associated with enhanced production of sea-salt aerosols in response to sea-surface wind speed. These spatio-temporal changes in MB and its mixing ratio have important implications to regional and global climate.
Received 18 April 2005; accepted 14 June 2005; published 26 July 2005.
Citation: (2005), Large latitudinal gradients and temporal heterogeneity in aerosol black carbon and its mass mixing ratio over southern and northern oceans observed during a trans-continental cruise experiment, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L14818, doi:10.1029/2005GL023267.
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