The author himself working on gathering chemical composition data from the breaking waves.
After several weeks and countless hours of preparation, the CAICE intensive study finally started. Clocks synchronized, sampling lines in place, instruments ready and we went for it. All day we were breaking wave packets every minute while measuring single particle chemical composition, size distributions, ice nucleation, particle hygroscopic properties, filter sampling and the list goes on and on. This is my second intensive study since joining Prof. Prather’s lab and it was exciting to start. It was even more exciting when collaborators show their enthusiasm and knowledge about the ongoing measurements. This study will provide the first step towards understanding sea spray and marine aerosol properties and how this relates to the chemistry of the atmosphere. Can’t wait to start spiking the seawater with “gooey” monocultures and observe the effects on the marine aerosols properties during the next two weeks. We have started and it was a great first day. Now we are on day two going at it again…
Luis Cuadra-Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Researcher, Prather Research Group; University of California, San Diego