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Quantifying Atmospheric Trace Element Deposition over the Ocean on a Global Scale with Satellite rainfall products
  • David Charles Kadko,
  • William Michael Landing,
  • Clifton Buck
David Charles Kadko
Florida International University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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William Michael Landing
FloridaStateUniv (USA))
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Clifton Buck
University of Georgia
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Abstract

Atmospheric input of trace element micronutrients to the oceans is difficult to determine as even with collection of high-quality aerosol chemical concentrations such data by themselves cannot yield deposition rates. To transform these concentrations into rates, a method of determining flux by applying an appropriate deposition velocity is required. A recently developed method based on the natural radionuclide Be has provided a means to estimate the bulk (wet + dry) deposition velocity (V) required for this calculation. Here, water column Be inventories and aerosol Be concentrations collected during the 2018 US GEOTRACES Pacific Meridional Transect are presented. We use these data together with those from other ocean basins to derive a global relationship between rain rate (m/y) and bulk depositional velocity (m/d), such that V= 999±96 x Rain rate + 1040±136 (R=0.81). Thus with satellite -derived rainfall estimates, a means to calculate aerosol bulk deposition velocities is provided.
16 Apr 2020Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 47 issue 7. 10.1029/2019GL086357