IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS OF ORGANICS, METEORITIC MATERIAL, MERCURY, AND OTHER ELEMENTS IN AEROSOLS AT 5 TO 19 KILOMETERS

In situ measurements of the chemical composition of individual aerosol particles at altitudes between 5 and 19 kilometers reveal that upper tropospheric aerosols often contained more organic material than sulfa te. Although stratospheric aerosols primarily consisted of sulfuric ac id and water, many also contained meteoritic material. Just above the tropopause, small amounts of mercury were found in over half of the ae rosol particles that were analyzed. Overall, there was tremendous vari ety in aerosol composition. One measure of this diversity is that at L east 45 elements were detected in aerosol particles. These results hav e wide implications for the complexity of aerosol sources and chemistr y. They also offer possibilities for understanding the transport of at mospheric aerosols.