The physical and chemical characteristics of atmospheric aerosol were determined at a site remote from anthropogenic influences, on the edge of the Antarctic continent. The number concentration (0.12–3.12 μm diameter) ranged between 9 and 90 cm−3 and the corresponding mass between 0.1 and 3.7 μg m−3. The concentration of sulphate in two filter samples was 0.29 and 0.48 μg m−3. Size distributions at the site were remarkably invariant. The two major factors affecting the size distribution and concentration were occurrence of precipitation and atmospheric stability, respectively.

The New Zealand Meteorological Service has instrumented a Fokker Friendship F27 aircraft as part of its research program in meteorology and the atmospheric sciences. The aircraft, which has large underwing pylons to carry sampling probes, has been used for cloud physics, aerosol, and trace gas studies in the remote Pacific and for the study of mesoscale southerly changes off the east coast of New Zealand.

Measurements of the size distribution and concentration of the atmospheric aerosol were made from an instrumented aircraft at altitudes of up to 6 km around New Zealand (37°S to 46°S) and during flights to other southwest Pacific islands (to 9°S). Measurements were also made at the surface in Antarctica (78°S). Single‐particle optical counters were used to cover the size range 0.06 μm to 8.0 μm radius. The results show that the free troposphere aerosol concentration ranged from 1.8 to 46 cm−3 and the size distribution was characterized by a “Junge” slope around −3.5. In the planetary boundary layer, including Antarctica, the concentrations were generally greater and more variable, and the size distributions often bimodal.