AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Summertime Bioaerosol Loadings above the Arctic Ocean
ANNE PERRING, James Churnside, Ru-Shan Gao, Richard Marchbanks, Braden Mediavilla, David Fahey, Colgate University, CIRES CU Boulder
Abstract Number: 754 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Large fluorescent bioaerosol (>0.5 μm) was measured over the Arctic Ocean during the summer of 2017 using a Wide-Band Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4A) installed aboard a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft which was also equipped with an optical particle sensor for in-situ accumulation mode aerosol measurements and a LIDAR for detection of phytoplankton in the water column and aerosol layers below the aircraft. Sampling took place out of Utquiagvik on the North Slope in Alaska, over both the Bering and Chukchi seas, with ice coverage varying from open water to packed, broken ice. Most sampling took place at 1000 feet above the ocean surface with periodic profiling that included legs at 200 feet and 3000 feet. Fluorescent bioaerosol loadings near the ocean surface are analyzed in conjunction with LiDAR-observed underwater phytoplankton layers to assess possible oceanic emission of fluorescent bioaerosol in regions of marine biological activity. Measurements aloft show a large variability in bioaerosol loadings, indicating episodic transport from terrestrial environments and suggesting a strong bioaerosol source from Arctic environments in the summer. These observations can be used to constrain regional bioaerosol sources and to estimate the potential nutrient input to the surface ocean from long-range transport of terrestrial bioaerosol and subsequent deposition.