EDXRS study of aerosol composition variations in air masses crossing the North Sea

Abstract

X‐ray emission techniques for bulk and individual particle analysis (EDXRF, EPXMA, micro‐PIXE) were combined and applied in atmospheric research on the North Sea area as part of a field‐study on air‐sea exchange processes of particulate matter. The atmospheric loading for a number of elements was determined by EDXRF, yielding bulk concentrations for Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br and Sr. From these EDXRF data, deposition rates were derived and, based on a classical multivariate statistical approach, different aerosol sources were identified. Complementary to this work, EPXMA combined with automated image analysis was applied to individual size‐segregated aerosol particles to determine their inorganic composition, physical size and shape. Also, the first results of micro‐PIXE analyses on individual North Sea aerosol particles, particularly their large‐size fraction, are discussed and compared with the corresponding EPXMA results. In summary, such a joint approach with the use of different x‐ray emission techniques contributed to the resolution of the mixed structure of the lower North Sea troposphere and to the determination of the atmospheric supply of material to the North Sea environment.

Individual Aerosol Particle Composition Variations in Air Masses Crossing the North Sea

“…It has been shown that atmospheric deposition represents a major input route to the North Sea for some pollutants, like heavy metals (2). Within the scope of the EUROTRAC Project "Air-Sea Exchange", aerosol and rainwater samples were collected above the North Sea on board two research vessels continuously positioned downwind from each other.…”

Trend analysis of the published concentrations of heavy metals in aerosols above the North Sea and the English Channel for the period 1971-1994

“…Concentrations are reported in only two publications, for three different sampling campaigns (Injuk et al 1993;Otten et al 1994). The measured concentrations are given in Table 4.…”

Applications of micro-analysis to individual environmental particles

“…By using the scanning proton microprobe (SPM) facilities of the IRMM in Belgium and of the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden, the major, minor and trace elements in individual giant North Sea aerosols were determined by µ-PIXE [18,19]. Titanium, vanadium, and chromium could be detected down to concentrations of 50 fg.…”