Fig. 4: Illustration of the atmospheric aerosol collection system onboard the R/V Tara.
From: Airborne microplastic particles detected in the remote marine atmosphere
The system is composed of an inlet, positioned 15 m above sea level, which is connected to a flow splitter leading to the filter holders. Each filter holder contains a different filter, for biological analysis, for chemical characterization, and for morphology using SEM. Air is being pulled from the inlet through all filter holders by a vacuum pump. The air flow rate through each filter was approximately 20 LPM (liter per minute), as measured by a flow-meter38.
