Background Bioaerosol Characterization.

Abstract : Total aerosol and biological size distributions have been determined for both background (marine) and continental air masses at the Mace Head atmospheric research station on the west coast of Ireland. A combination of meteorological and condensation nuclei number concentration data were used to characterise the air masses. The aerosol size distribution, ranging in diameter from 0.5 microns up to about 50 microns, was obtained from stained samples, using both conventional microscopy and a digital imaging system. In general, lower biological aerosol number concentration levels, by factors from about 2-3 were found for marine background air in comparison with the more polluted continental air. Fluorescence emission spectra were also obtained for both background and polluted conditions.