Relationships among Lead, Iodine, Trace Metals and Ice Nuclei in a Coastal Urban Atmosphere

Abstract

Particulate lead, aluminum, sodium, vanadium, manganese and iodine, vapor phase iodine and ice nuclei were measured simultaneously in Providence, Rhode Island, over a period of one year. Interrelationships found were governed primarily by the physical properties of the aerosol. Weak positive correlations were observed between lead and ice nuclei. An argument is given using lead as an indicator of the aerosol surface area maximum, or that fraction of the aerosol which contains the greatest number of potential ice nucleating sites. Ice nucleus concentrations appeared to be controlled by large-scale air mass advection to the site studied.