The impact of Saharan dust transport on the air quality and native aerosol distributions in Puerto Rico was investigated at various locations in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean during two shipboard missions in June and August 2002. The shipboard measurements consisted of aerosol mass, number, and size distributions before, during, and after the dust events. The shipboard measurements were complemented by simultaneous measurements of total suspended mass at 2.5 and 10.0 microns, size-resolved mass analysis using a quartz crystal microbalance, and aerosol optical depth at two locations on the island of Puerto Rico (El Faro and La Parguera). Filter sample were also obtained from Dominica, La Parguera, and aboard the ship for size-resolved chemical analysis of the aerosols.

We will present preliminary data of size and mass distributions for 15 different size cuts obtained using two quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) cascade impactor and a laser particle counter for all locations during both missions.