Das Projekt "Analysis of the role of sea ice and frost flowers as a source of salt aerosol" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, Institut für Meereskunde (IfM) durchgeführt. Our project tries to answer the question: 'What kind of role do sea ice and frost flowers play as the source of sea salt aerosols in polar regions and what influences do the meteorological parameters have on the generation of sea salt aerosols and their transport in the atmosphere?'. Long-time measurements of aerosols at coastal stations in Antarctica show a strong depletion of sulfate during Antarctic winter. The same phenomena is also observed in frost flowers. This suggests that sea ice is a major source of atmospheric sea salt in Antarctica and gives new insights for the interpretation of ice core records. Moreover, sea ice and sea salt aerosols are thought to be the source of reactive Bromine and other halogen compounds which destroy effectively ozone in the troposphere. 25 years of continuous aerosol measurement at Neumayer station in Antarctica give us the possibility to make a statistical analysis of sea salt aerosols. Trajectory analyses are implemented to follow the atmospheric transport and therefore to determine the source regions of observed sea salt aerosols. A box model will be developed to compare the various influences of meteorological parameters on the mass of sea salt aerosols produced so that quantitative parameterization can be transferred to global circulation models which include detailed description of atmospheric chemistry and aerosols to investigate the generation of halogen chemistry and ozone destruction in the troposphere.