Wind-driven influences on aerosol light scattering in north-east Atlantic air

Ten years (2001-2010) of aerosol light-scattering measurements in N.E. Atlantic marine air are analysed to determine wind-speed related influences on scattering properties. The scattering coefficient and the backscattering coefficient dependency on wind speed (U) was determined for the winter (Low Biological Activity-LBA) and the summer seasons (High Biological Activity-HBA), and was found to be dependent on similar to U-2. In spite of having a U-2 dependency, scattering properties for the LBA-period are approximately twice those of the HBA-period. 96% of the LBA-HBA scattering difference can be explained by the combined effects of size distribution and refractive index differences while 70% of the scattering difference can be attributed to a difference in refractive index alone resulting from organic-matter enrichment during the HBA period. The 550 nm scattering coefficient was similar to 70 Mm(-1) for similar to 25 ms(-1) wind speeds, which is considerably higher than that encountered under polluted air masses in the same region. Citation: Vaishya, A., S. G. Jennings, and C. ODowd (2012), Wind-driven influences on aerosol light scattering in north-east Atlantic air, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L05805, doi:10.1029 2011GL050556.