Variation of the Air Mass Exposure to Chlorophyll Over Eastern China
Seas: an Insight into Marine Biogenic Aerosols
Abstract
Marine biological activities make substantial influences on aerosol
composition and properties. The eastern China seas are highly productive
with significant emissions of biogenic substances. Air mass exposure to
chlorophyll a (AEC) can be used to indicate the influence of biogenic
source on the atmosphere to a certain degree. In this study, the 12-year
(2009–2020) daily AEC were calculated over the eastern China seas
showing the spatial and seasonal patterns of marine biogenic influence
intensity are co-controlled by surface phytoplankton biomass and
boundary layer height. The AEC was linearly correlated with aerosol
methanesulfonate (MSA) in each of three sub-regions, and the constructed
parameterization scheme was applied to simulate the spatiotemporal
variation of marine biogenic MSA. This AEC-based approach with
observation constraints provides a new insight into the distribution of
marine biogenic aerosols which may become increasingly important with
the decline of terrestrial input to the studied region.