Sea salt in aerosols over the southern Baltic. Part 1. The generation and transportation of marine particles*

During five campaigns at sea and 11 on land in 2001–2007, aerosols were measured in the coastal zone and over the open sea in the Gdańsk Basin (southern Baltic). Sea salt concentrations were high both over Gdynia (2.0–12.2 μg m− 3) and at sea (1.3–14.5 μg m− 3). The intensity of the generation and transport of marine aerosols increased exponentially with wind speeds > 5 m s− 1 over land and > 3 m s− 1 over the Gulf of Gdańsk, this being most noticeable with Baltic and oceanic advection. Sea breezes were conducive to the transport of marine aerosols over land areas. The sea was also the origin of both sea salt and non-sea salt sulphate aerosols. An interesting increase in the proportion of non-sea salt-related sulphates (86.7%) was observed in spring, when the biological processes in the sea were more intense.