Measurements of Ocean Derived Aerosol Over the North Atlantic

Breaking waves on the ocean surface inject sea spray particles into the atmosphere which can act as CCN. Characterization of particles freshly emitted from the ocean surface requires a sampling method that is able to isolate those particles and prevent them from interacting with ambient gases and particles. Here we report measurements of particles directly emitted from the ocean using a newly developed in-situ particle generator (Sea Sweep). The Sea Sweep was deployed alongside RV Ronald H. Brown in the North Atlantic during August of 2012 in two contrasting regions; one in the eutrophic waters on Georges Bank and one in the oligotrophic waters near Bermuda. Bubbles were generated 0.75 m below the ocean surface with stainless steel frits and swept into a hood/vacuum hose to feed a suite of aerosol instrumentation on board the ship. The measured aerosol properties from the two regions will be compared.