Aerosol particle type fractions from the Arctic Ocean 2018 marine aerosol reference tank experiments

Jessica A. Mirrielees, Rachel M. Kirpes, Patricia A. Matrai, Kerri A. Pratt

This dataset includes the number fractions of aerosol particles assigned to three particle types from the marine aerosol reference tank (MART) experiments conducted during the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition to the central Arctic Ocean in August and September 2018. The MART employed a plunging jet mechanism to generate sea spray aerosol particles.

A series of 10 aerosol generation experiments were carried out using locally collected surface water from various locations in the Arctic, including the marginal ice zone, the North Pole, several open lead sites, and a melt pond on an ice floe.

Individual sea spray aerosol particles generated during the first nine experiments were classified as sea salt particles, organic particles, or mineral dust particles according to their elemental composition. The values in this data set include the number fraction of submicron and supermicron particles classified as each particle type during each experiment. 95% confidence intervals of these values are included as well.

Citation

Jessica A. Mirrielees, Rachel M. Kirpes, Patricia A. Matrai, Kerri A. Pratt (2024) Aerosol particle type fractions from the Arctic Ocean 2018 marine aerosol reference tank experiments. Dataset version 1. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/oden-ao-2018-mart-aerosol-type-1

References

Ault AP, Peters TM, Sawvel EJ, Casuccio GS, Willis RD, Norris GA, Grassian VH (2012) Single-particle SEM-EDX analysis of iron-containing coarse particulate matter in an urban environment: Sources and distribution of iron within Cleveland, Ohio. Environ Sci Technol 46:4331⁠ – ⁠4339. https://doi.org/10.1021/es204006k

Laskina O, Morris HS, Grandquist JR, Estillore AD, Stone EA, Grassian VH, Tivanski AV (2015) Substrate-deposited sea spray aerosol particles: Influence of analytical method, substrate, and storage conditions on particle size, phase, and morphology. Environ Sci Technol 49:13447⁠ – ⁠13453. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b02732

Data description

The data are provided in one comma-separated values (csv) file (~2 kB).

File structure (columns) and contents:

1. name of experiment (description of water sampling location)
2. date (DD/MM/YYYY)
3. time (when surface water was sampled) in UTC (HH:MM)
4. latitude (water sampling location)
5. longitude (water sampling location)
6. number fraction of submicron aerosol particles classified as sea salt
7. ±95% CI of number fraction of submicron aerosol particles classified as sea salt
8. number fraction of submicron aerosol particles classified as organic
9. ±95% CI of number fraction of submicron aerosol particles classified as organic
10. number fraction of submicron aerosol particles classified as mineral dust
11. ±95% CI of number fraction of submicron aerosol particles classified as mineral dust
12. number fraction of supermicron aerosol particles classified as sea salt
13. ±95% CI of number fraction of supermicron aerosol particles classified as sea salt
14. number fraction of supermicron aerosol particles classified as organic
15. ±95% CI of number fraction of supermicron aerosol particles classified as organic
16. number fraction of supermicron aerosol particles classified as mineral dust
17. ±95% CI of number fraction of supermicron aerosol particles classified as mineral dust

Comments

Aerosol particles were sampled from the MART using a 10-stage rotating micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI, model 120R, MSP Corp.) at a flow rate of 3.5 LPM. An additional 26.5 LPM of particle-free air (filtered with a 1.2 µm pore size HEPA capsule, Pall Life Sciences) resulted in a total flow rate of 30 LPM to the MOUDI. The MOUDI collected particles on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids, silicon, and quartz (Ted Pella, Inc) on four stages (< 0.056 µm, 0.1⁠ – ⁠0.18 µm, 0.32⁠ – ⁠0.56 µm, and 1.0⁠ – ⁠1.8 µm aerodynamic diameter) for subsequent offline single-particle analysis. Following particle collection, the substrates were stored in the dark at room temperature (Laskina et al. 2015)

Sample analysis using computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (CCSEM-EDX) was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and sponsored by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy. CCSEM-EDX was used to analyze individual particles collected on TEM grids from the MOUDI stages corresponding with the aerodynamic diameter ranges 0.1⁠ – ⁠0.18 µm, 0.32⁠ – ⁠0.56 µm, and 1.0⁠ – ⁠1.8 µm. Approximately 1500 individual particles were analyzed per TEM grid (39,533 total particles from the MIZ, NP, IF1-4, IF+A, OP, and MP MART experiments). An FEI Quanta environmental scanning electron microcope (SEM) with a field emission gun operating at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV and beam current 0.48 nA was used for the CCSEM-EDX analysis. A scanning transmission electron microscopy high angle annular dark field (STEM HAADF) detector was used for SEM images and CCSEM-EDX for particles collected on TEM grids. An EDX spectrometer (EDAX, Inc.) was used to collect X-ray spectra and quantify the relative atomic abundance of the elements C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Fe, Ni, and Zn for individual particles collected on TEM grids. The EDX spectra of individual aerosol particles were grouped based on similarities in elemental composition into 20 clusters using K-means clustering (Ault et al. 2012) and subsequently combined into three particle types (sea salt particles, organic aerosol particles, and mineral dust).

The marine aerosol reference tank experiments were carried out during the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition on board the Swedish icebreaker Oden, which was made in collaboration between Sweden and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and organized by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.

The ship track with latitude and longitude information can be found in the Navigation, meteorological and surface seawater data from the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition data set.