REAL-TIME SINGLE-PARTICLE MONITORING OF A RELATIVE INCREASE IN MARINEAEROSOL CONCENTRATION DURING WINTER RAINSTORMS

During the months of December 1996 and January 1997, aerosol character ization was performed in real-time at Riverside, CA, an inland locatio n approximately 100 km east of the Los Angeles coast. Analysis was per formed on a single particle basis with measurements of both particle s ize and composition. Data were collected throughout the course of five rainstorms. Single particle mass spectra demonstrate that obvious com position changes occur in the aerosol systems as the marine air mass i s transported inland. While precipitation scavenging of aerosols was o bserved, there was a significant relative increase of sea salt particl es in the non-scavenged aerosol. Compositionally-resolved particle siz e distributions also demonstrate real-time changes that occur in the a tmospheric aerosol sample.