Abstract
An atmospheric aerosol sampling campaign was carried out at the mountain top location of Mt. Sefuri (1,050 m) from April, 1998 to October, 1999 to study biochemical characteristics of atmospheric aerosols. Atmospheric aerosols were sampled for the coarse and fine particles over a year with a sampling interval of nearly once a week. In this report, we examined chemical compositions in the individual coarse particles (>2 micro meters) by means of microsampling FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectroscopy. It is revealed that these particles often show a -CONH- absorption, which may come from a biological aerosol particle. From longterm observation over one cycle of the year, these aerosol particles were found to show peak occurrence during spring to early summer. Based on the above results and microscopic examination, we suggest a possible origin of these aerosol particles as a piece of exuviae of the arthropods transported to the mountain top location from the nearby forest.
