A wind profiler trajectory tool for air quality transport applications

Upper-air back trajectories calculated from the ICARTT wind profiler network and surface-based trajectories calculated from buoys in the Gulf of Maine were used to characterize source regions for the Thermal-Desorption Aerosol GC/MS-FID (TAG) and Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) measurements collected at Chebouge Pt. Nova Scotia during the ICARTT campaign. A factor analysis performed on the aerosol measurements by the U. Cal. Berkeley group yielded three primary factors. Total organic aerosol is mostly split between factors 1 and 2. Factor 3 contains four of the identified TAG compounds that result from biogenic oxidation. Three cases with differing meteorological conditions that lead to different source regions as identified by the back trajectories are presented. Model-based (HYSPLIT) trajectories are generally in good agreement with profiler-based trajectories for the three cases presented. However, key differences between the model-based and profiler-based trajectories occur during airmass transition periods, highlighting the importance of the continuous hourly profiler observations.