Title
Sea salt concentrations across the European continent
Author
Manders, A.M.M.
Schaap, M.
Querol, X.
Albert, M.F.M.A.
Vercauteren, J.
Kuhlbusch, T.A.J.
Hoogerbrugge, R.
TNO Bouw en Ondergrond
Publication year
2010
Abstract
The oceans are a major source for particles that play an important role in many atmospheric processes. In Europe sea salt may contribute significantly to particulate matter concentrations. We have compiled sodium concentration data as a tracer for sea salt for 89 sites in Europe to provide more insight in the distribution of sea salt across Europe. The annual average sea salt concentrations above land were estimated to range between 0.3 and almost 13 μg m-3. Maximum concentrations are found at the Irish coast. At coastal sites along the Atlantic and North Sea coast concentrations tend to be around 5 μg m-3. More inland locations up to about 300 km away from the coast tend to show concentrations between 2 and 5 μg m-3, whereas sites further away from the coast are characterized by lower concentrations. An analysis of the representativity of the data with respect to a long term average showed that the long average is associated with a standard deviation of around 15%. The compilation of observations provides an improved overview of sea salt concentrations in Europe as well as an improved basis for model validation. Verification of the results of the LOTOS-EUROS model learned that the model represents well the spatial variability of the observed sea salt concentrations very well. However, the absolute concentrations are significantly overestimated due to large uncertainties in the emission and dry deposition parameterizations. Using the high explained variability in the gradients across Europe, the bias-corrected modelled distribution serves as a best estimate of the sea salt distribution across Europe for 2005. © 2010.
Subject
Environment
PM10
Regional modelling
Sea salt
Sodium
Annual average
Atmospheric process
Best estimates
Coastal sites
Concentration data
Dry deposition
Long term
Model validation
North Sea
Parameterizations
Particulate Matter
Regional modelling
Representativity
Sea salts
Spatial variability
Standard deviation
Oceanography
Concentration (process)
sea water
sodium chloride
computer simulation
concentration (composition)
model validation
numerical model
particulate matter
sea salt
spatial distribution
spatial variation
uncertainty analysis
air pollution
article
concentration (parameters)
controlled study
dry deposition
Europe
geographic distribution
particulate matter
priority journal
seashore
validation process
water analysis
Atlantic Coast [Europe]
Europe
Germany
North Sea Coast [Germany]
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:20cd4591-4ffe-4808-be82-9902fe85485a
TNO identifier
364437
ISSN
1352-2310
Source
Atmospheric Environment, 44 (20), 2434-2442
Document type
article