La. Gundel et al., CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION OF FOG WATER AND INTERSTITIAL AEROSOL IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, Atmospheric environment, 28(16), 1994, pp. 2715-2725
Fog water and interstitial particles were sampled at Berkeley, Califor
nia, during foggy periods in the summer of 1986. The sampling site rec
eived marine fog advected from the San Francisco Bay, Samples of ambie
nt particulate material (total aerosol) were collected using a filter
sampler with a heated inlet. Concentrations of Na+, K+, NH4+, Cl-, NO3
-, and SO42- were measured in the particles and Fog water, for which p
H was also measured. Black carbon aerosol was determined on the filter
samples using optical attenuation. The marine fog showed the influenc
e of mixing and chemical reaction with anthropogenic pollutants. Twent
y-six percent of the black carbon was present in fog droplets, indicat
ing that incorporation of combustion particles into fog droplets had o
ccurred. Anthropogenic particulate species were not scavenged by fog w
ater as efficiently as sea-salt components. Non-sea-salt SO42- was enh
anced in the total aerosol during fog compared to dry conditions, and
this observation has been interpreted as evidence for heterogeneous pr
oduction of SO42- in fog. The fog had elevated SO42- and NO3- levels c
ompared to sites closer to the ocean, Sufficient NH3(g) was available
to neutralize the increased acidity from anthropogenic H2SO3 and HNO3
so that the median pH was 4, as compared to pH 2.2 observed in Los Ang
eles fog water under more polluted conditions. Loss of Cl- from the fo
g or its precursor aerosol was enhanced compared to other measurements
of San Francisco Bay Area fog at more remote locations.