222RN at Bermuda and Mauna Loa: Local and distant sources

Continuous measurements of atmospheric²²²Rn were made for the past three years by the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) at the Atmosphere/Ocean Chemistry Experiment site located at Tudor Hill, Bermuda and at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory Mauna Loa Observatory. The²²²Rn analyzer is based on the two-filter tube method. At the Bermuda site, monthly median²²²Rn concentration range from 50 to 700 mBq m^–3, and the concentrations vary seasonally, with a maximum in the winter and a minimum in the summer. The concentrations are significantly elevated when local winds traverse the island. At MLO, monthly median²²²Rn concentrations range from 100 mBq m^–3 during the fall months to 400 mBq m^–3 during the spring months. The springtime maximum values correspond to periods of rapid transport in the free troposphere from the Asian continent, corroborated by backward air mass trajectories. The²²²Rn data are also used to help decipher local daily upslope/downslope conditions present at MLO. This study illustrates the value of atmospheric²²²Rn monitoring, when screened through the filter of local meteorology, in studying the transport of continental air to the oceans, as well as the dynamics of local meteorological effects.