Aerosol optical and microphysical properties over the Atlantic Ocean during the 19th cruise of the Research Vessel Akademik Sergey Vavilov

This paper presents aerosol optical depths in the total atmospheric column, aerosol size distributions, number concentrations and black carbon mass concentrations at the deck level measured in October–December 2004 on board the R/V Akademik Sergey Vavilov. Aerosol optical depths measured within the spectral range 0.34–4.0 μm were close to background oceanic conditions (∼0.04–0.08) in the high‐latitude southern Atlantic. Angstrom parameters derived within 440–870 nm and 870–2150 nm spectral ranges did not exceed 0.6, yielding averages of 0.34 and 0.12, respectively. The mass concentration of black carbon varied within the range 0.02–0.08 μg/m3 in the 34–55°S latitudinal belt. The average of 0.04 μg/m3 (s.d. ∼0.015) is close to the reported results for the remote areas of the South Indian Ocean. Aerosol volume size distributions measured within the size range of 0.4–10 μm can be characterized by a geometric volume mean radius ∼3 μm. This is consistent with the columnar retrievals reported by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET).