Atmospheric deposition to the oceans is a key process affecting the global dynamics and sinks of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). A new methodology that combines aerosol remote sensing measurements with measured POP aerosol-phase concentrations is presented to derive dry particulate depositional fluxes of POPs to the oceans. These fluxes are compared with those due to diffusive air-water e...

SCIAMACHY CO2 measurements show a large variability in total column CO2 over the Sahara desert of up to 10%, which is not anticipated from in situ measurements and cannot be explained by results of atmospheric models. Comparisons with colocated aerosol measurements by TOMS and MISR over the Sahara indicate that the seasonal variation of SCIAMACHY-observed CO2 strongly resembles seasonal variati...

[1] The aerosol direct solar effect under clear sky is assessed by (1) combining multiple aerosol characterizations and (2) using the satellite-retrieved land surface albedo. The aerosol characterization is made through an integration of the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals and the Georgia Tech/Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCAR...

The paper is dedicated to the description of the algorithm of calculation of the equilibrium gas-phase concentration at the surface of the aerosol particle – a parameter, which defines the rate of mass transport between the gas and aerosol phases in the kinetic models of atmospheric aerosol dynamics. Some problems concerning deducing of the surface equilibrium gasphase concentrations from therm...

Original scientific paper Aerosol particle thickness measurements were performed at the "Politehnika" University in Timisoara (Romania) during March 2011 using a CIMEL SUN solar photometer, as part of the global AERONET network. The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) represents a parameter of optical visibility in an atmospheric air column from the instrument towards the sun, affected by the prese...

Global models estimate that the anthropogenic component of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition to the ocean accounts for up to a third of the ocean's external N supply and 10% of anthropogenic CO2 uptake. However, there are few observational constraints from the marine atmospheric environment to validate these findings. Due to the paucity of atmospheric organic N data, the largest uncertainties...

The aerosol chemical composition in air masses affected by wildfires from the Greek islands of Chios, Euboea and Andros, the Dalmatian Coast and Sicily, during late summer of 2012 was characterized at the remote background site of Finokalia, Crete. Air masses were transported several hundreds of kilometers, arriving at the measurement station after approximately half a day of transport, mostly ...

[1] High spatial and temporal resolution elastic backscatter lidar data from Baltimore are analyzed with a near-end approach to estimate vertical profiles of the aerosol extinction coefficient. The near-end approach makes use of the (1) aerosol scattering coefficient measured at the surface with a nephelometer (0.530 mm), (2) surface level particle size distribution, and (3) refractive index ca...

Multiyear simulations with the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC with a microphysical modal aerosol module at high vertical resolution demonstrate that the sulfur gases COS and SO2, the latter from low-latitude and midlatitude volcanic eruptions, predominantly control the formation of stratospheric aerosol. Marine dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and other SO2 sources, including strong...

[1] This series of three papers addresses the representation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in atmospheric models. SOA forms when gas-phase organic species undergo oxidation, leading to products of sufficiently low vapor pressure that can partition between the gas and aerosol phases. The present paper, part 1, is devoted to the development of a gas-phase atmospheric chemical mechanism desig...