Direct gravimetric measurements of the mass of the antarctic aerosol collected by high volume sampler: PM10 summer seasonal variation at Terra Nova Bay.

An on-site procedure was set up for direct gravimetric measurement of the mass of aerosol collected using high volume impactors (aerodynamic size cut point of 10 microm, PM10); this knowledge has hitherto been unavailable. Using a computerized microbalance in a clean chemistry laboratory, under controlled temperature (+/-0.5 degrees C) and relative humidity (+/-1%), continuous, long time filter mass measurements (hours) were carried out before and after exposure, after a 48 h minimun equilibration at the laboratory conditions. The effect of the electrostatic charge was exhausted in 30-60 min, after which stable measurements were obtained. Measurements of filters exposed for 7-11 days (1.13 m3 min(-1)) in a coastal site near Terra Nova Bay (December 2000 - February 2001), gave results for aerosol mass in the order of 10-20 mg (SD approximately 2 mg), corresponding to atmospheric concentrations of 0.52-1.27 microg m(-3). Data show a seasonal behaviour in the PM10 content with an increase during December - early January, followed by a net decrease. The above results compare well with estimates obtained from proxy data for the Antarctic Peninsula (0.30 microg m(-3)), the Ronne Ice Shelf (1.49 microg m(-3)), and the South Pole (0.18 microg m(-3), summer 1974-1975, and 0.37 microg m(-3), average summer seasons 1975-1976 and 1977-1978), and from direct gravimetric measurements recently obtained from medium volume samplers at McMurdo station (downwind 3.39 microg m(-3), upwind 4.15 microg m(-3)) and at King George Island (2.5 microg m(-3), summer, particle diameter <20 microm). This finding opens the way to the direct measurement of the chemical composition of the Antarctic aerosol and, in turn, to a better knowledge of the snow/air relationships as required for the reconstruction of the chemical composition of past atmospheres from deep ice core data.