African dust in the Caribbean: chemical, physical and optical properties of transported African dust across the Atlantic: observations from Atmospheric Observatory in Cabezas de San Juan, Puerto Rico

We present results on the assessment of aerosols chemical, physical, and optical properties at the atmospheric observatory of Cabezas de San Juan in Fajardo, PR, during the summer 2011, where periods in the presence and absence of dust were studied as part of the project Dust-ATtACk (Dust- Aging and Transport, from Africa to the Caribbean). Dust events were identified through observation and using air-mass back-trajectories, Saharan Air Layer images, measurements of aerosol optical thickness (AOT), in situ scattering and absorption coefficients, and chemical analyses. We focused on results obtained for intense dust events observed in June 22-24 and July 9, 2011. Those events were characterized by higher concentration of coarse particles, higher concentration of metals associated with mineral dust (e.g., Si 3 μg/m3 compared to background concentrations of 0.15 μg/m3), higher scattering and absorption coefficients (up to 100 Mm-1 and 2.5 Mm-1 at 550 and 530 nm, respectively), and AOT (from 0.4 to 0.8) values. The single scattering albedo (SSA) was calculated for the periods of interest for the PM10 and the PM1 mass fractions and plotted against wavelength. For PM10, SSA values ranged from 0.93 to 0.99 and had the same trend reported for dust, with lower SSA values at shorter wavelengths. For PM1, values ranged from 0.85 to 0.98 and more variability was observed in terms of SSA wavelength dependence, likely as species other than dust contribute. Satellite products (e.g., Calipso, Seviri) are used in the attempt to trace these events back to their source region at North Africa.