Aerosol chemical elemental mass concentration at lower free troposphere

This paper shows the use of Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) technique to determine elemental masses collected by a seven-wavelength Aethalometer instrument at the summit of Pico mountain in the Azorean archipelago, situated in the Central North Atlantic Ocean. Each sample corresponds to air particulate matter measured continuously for periods of approximately 24 h taken from 14th July 2001 through 14th July 2002. The statistical analysis of the coefficients of correlation between all the elements identified, permitted to establish six groups that could potentially be associated with the type of source responsible for the aerosol sampled in the lower free troposphere at the Azorean archipelago. Calculation of the synoptic back trajectories helped to corroborate the use of the iron/cesium relation as a tracer for the Saharan dust aerosol. It was demonstrated that INAA constituted an important tool to identify these events.