INVESTIGATIONS OF THE DUST CONTENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE

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Abstract
This paper is a continuation of papers on the same subject that appeared in the Monthly Weather Review for March, 1924, and June, 1925. It summarizes measurements of the dust content of the atmosphere made on the campus of the American University, District of Columbia, between December, 1922, and June, 1931, inclusive, excluding the month of June, 1923. This gives 9-year means for the winter and spring months and 8-year means for the summer and fall. The monthly averages and the annual totals show a gradual increase in the dust content of the atmosphere for the years 1923–1928, with a slight decrease in the years 1929 and 1930. Records of the total solar radiation received on a horizontal surface show that an increase in atmospheric dust has been accompanied by a decrease in the solar radiation intensity during the cold half of the year, November to April, inclusive, without a corresponding decrease during the warm months of the year. The greatest percentage of increase in the atmospheric dust content is shown in the minimum amount recorded in each month, where the annual average for 1930 was more than double that for 1923 and 1924. This increase in local atmospheric dust does not appear to have been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the distance to which prominent objects like mountain peaks and high hills can be seen. A relation is shown between the sulphur (SO2) content and the dust content of the atmosphere.

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