The main objective of the WP5 was first to build up an operational homogeneous network of coastal Mediterranean atmospheric stations able to collect both wet and dry deposition, to quantify the mass fluxes and to determine the chemistry and origin of fallouts. Today, the network comprises 3 stations (Cap Béar, Frioul and Cap Ferrat) instrumented with the same equipment (MTX™ wet and dry sampler Italia). All sites are equipped with meteorological stations.
The sampling strategy has been harmonized on 3 sites (14 days of collection for dry deposition – sampling on Tuesday; sampling after every major rain event) so that the collected information can be easily compared. All sites are equipped with meteorological stations. Analyzes for soluble and no soluble biogenic elements are pooled and made by the MIO. Metals samples are analyzed by the CEFREM and the LOV.
Particulate mass fluxes are determined from filtration and weighting of particulate material on membranes. The observation of atmospheric mass fluxes, the deposition (dry + wet inputs) of biogenic elements, macro-nutrients and selected metallic geotracers (Al used to characterize mineral, natural inputs, Na for marine inputs, and Cd, Pb, and Zn for the anthropogenic signature) has already permitted to identify and characterize the most significant deposition events. The 3 stations were not operational at the same time, but we have an almost complete common set of data for the 2012-2014 period.