The application of a multi-wavelength Aethalometer to estimate iron dust and black carbon concentrations in the marine boundary layer of Cape Verde

The two-component model (Fialho et al., 2006) was used to decouple the contributions of black carbon (BC) and iron oxides, present in dust, to the aerosol attenuation coefficient, measured with a multi-wavelength Aethalometer. The model results were compared with the elemental carbon (EC) and iron concentrations determined in the laboratory from the analysis of aerosol particles collected with conventional samplers. The comparison was based on one year of data obtained at Praia, Santiago Island, Cape Verde, after side by side operation of the aerosol monitoring instruments. The linear regression equation that best describes the relationship between BC concentrations, derived from the Aethalometer, and EC concentrations, derived from a PM10 high-volume sampler after filter analysis with a thermal optical method, presents a slope of 1.01 ± 0.05 and a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.90, showing that the model worked as intended to describe BC concentrations without interferences from iron dust. On the other hand, the linear regression equation that best describes the relationship between the iron concentrations derived from the Aethalometer and elemental iron concentrations, derived from a PM10 low-volume sampler after filter analysis by k0 – Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, presents a slope of 0.495 ± 0.014 and a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.96. These results show that the two-component model underestimated the iron concentrations in dust aerosol, which was explained by differences in the size range of particles sampled with the Aethalometer and the PM10 low-volume sampler together with differences in the size distribution of iron oxides.