Characterization of aerosol in the atmosphere at Syowa Station by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF)

Abstract

The particle size distribution has been continuously measured by optical particle counter at Syowa Station. Physical and chemical properties of particulate matter have been analyzed in the laboratory after arriving in Japan. However, the properties of particles may be changed in this case. In the present work, the atmospheric particulate matter at Syowa Station, Antarctica was characterized by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) at Syowa Station. The advantages of this method have non destructive, rapid and simple analysis. The particle samples were collected on a Teflon filter; the obtained particles were measured by XRF (HORIBA, X-ray Analytical Microscope XGT-5000) on site soon for elemental analysis. The obtained results show that collected particles mainly contain sea salt (Na, Mg, Cl, K, Ca) and soil (Si, Fe) origin components. The particles from sea salt and soil origin increased under blizzard and strong wind condition. Sulfur increased in summer, and decreased in winter while particles from sea salt decreased in summer.