WATOX-85: An aircraft and ground sampling program to determine the transport of trace gases and aerosols across the Western Atlantic Ocean

This paper presents an overview of the design and results of WATOX-85, an intensive measurement program of a variety of trace chemicals in the atmosphere of the western North Atlantic Ocean. WATOX-85 is a component of the Western Atlantic Ocean Experiment (WATOX), which is designed to determine the fate and flux of several types of chemical compounds that are advected eastward from North America to the Atlantic Ocean atmosphere. WATOX-85 occurred during the period February-April 1985. Measurements of the composition of gases, aerosols and precipitation were performed at ground level at Lewes, Delaware and High Point, Bermuda and in the boundary layer and free troposphere off the east coast of Virginia and around the island of Bermuda. The above ground measurements were performed with a Beechcraft King Air aircraft. Atmospheric sampling was focused on times when the flow was westerly, generally just after cold front passages. In the gas phase SO₂, HNO₃, NO, NO_x., HCHO, O₃, CO, C_2-C₄ HCs and Rn were measured. SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, trace metals, HCOOH, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and chlorinated HCs were analyzed in the precipitation and aerosol samples that were collected.