DAY 2 – CLASSIFICATION OF
AEROSOLS
SEM images: Swarup China, MTU
ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONS
• Find the elevation of Pico Mountain.
– 2,351 meters (7,713 feet)
• Where is Pico Mountain located?
– Located on the island of Pico
Photo: www.worldatlas.com
– Island archipelago of the Azores
– Islands lie along the Mid Atlantic Ridge on 3 separate
plates in the North Atlantic
• Describe the mountain.
– Stratovolcano
– Piquinho
– Caldera (summit crater)
Photo: L. Harkness
ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONS
• What is the boundary layer in terms of the
atmosphere?
– The first cloud layer
• What is the free troposphere?
– Air above the first cloud layer (boundary layer)
• What is the altitude of the marine boundary layer?
– 1200 – 1600 meters
ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONS
• Based on the answers, why is Pico Mountain a
good place to study the atmosphere?
WHAT IS AN AEROSOL?
HOW ARE AEROSOLS
CLASSIFIED?
The ICO and samplers at sunset. Photo: L. Harkness
WHAT IS AN AEROSOL?
• Aerosol: small particles in the air; can be white,
gray, or brown in color
• Soot: organic aerosol particles
• Dust: mineral particles
• Morphology: study how the aerosol changes in
the atmosphere
TWO WAYS AEROSOLS ARE
TRANSPORTED:
• Short Range Transport: local pollution;
stays below the boundary layer (out of the
free troposphere)
• Long Range Transport: propelled into the
free troposphere; can travel long distances
– Ex: North America to Europe
– What scientists are looking at on Pico
www.intechopen.com
VIDEO NOTES:
• Briefly describe how aerosols are
collected.
• Describe differences between collection
for SEM and TEM.
VIDEO: COLLECTING AEROSOLS IN THE ICO
Click here for the video!!
Video: L. Harkness
DUST OR SOOT?
Today’s Task: For each aerosol particle image, classify as
either soot or dust.
Spherical Particles = soot
SEM Images: S. China, MTU
Irregular Particles = dust