Sources of atmospheric particulate matter on Hawaii

Abstract

Sources and advection of atmospheric particulate matter on the Island of Hawaii were assessed to properly evaluate the benchmark qualities of the air at the Mauna Loa Geophysical Observatory. A manually operated Gardner counter, a continually recording Aitken counter and a nephelometer were used to measure diurnal and long term trends of concentrations and light scattering coefficients of atmospheric particulate. Significant sources of aerosol particles result from combustion activities on the island, both man-made and volcanic. Volcanic effluent can penetrate the tradewind inversion when conditions are right and show up on long term Aitken counts at the Mauna Loa Observatory. The relative contribution of marine aerosols to the total particle population in the air masses over the island is small. The difference in concentration and the light scattering coefficient of particles in the air masses above and below the tradewind inversion are in the order of one magnitude or more.