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Cloud water was sampled during 8 months, in 2008 and 2009, at the puy de Dome high-altitude atmospheric research station (France). The concentrations of (7)Be and (210)Pb, both naturally occurring radionuclides, and (137)Cs of anthropogenic origin, were determined. Those values are useful for a better knowledge of the aftermath cloud deposition and more generally for wet deposition assessment of radionuclides. This is of primary interest in case of a nuclear accident, especially considering (137)Cs deposition, both for high-altitude locations that are regularly embedded by clouds and also for lowlands where fog can occur. The (7)Be and (210)Pb average activity concentrations in cloud water found were 1.9±0.11 mBq m(-3) air and 140±10 μBq m(-3) air, respectively. For (137)Cs, the average concentration was 0.14±0.02 μBq m(-3) air. This very low-level is representative of the long term post-accidental background level. Indeed, for the studied period, the last accidental (137)Cs release was that of Chernobyl accident, in April 1986. To our knowledge this is the first data about (137)Cs reference level determination in cloud water. The comparison between cloud water and rain water concentrations showed a ratio cloud/rain ranging between 3.4 and 8.1, in agreement with previous studies performed on inorganic compounds. Scavenging efficiencies of aerosols by cloud droplets were also calculated with the additional aerosol concentrations routinely measured at the station and were quite low (0.13-0.40) compared to what has previously been observed for inorganic soluble ions., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The atmospheric concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb, and ⁷Be were measured over a three-year period at two research stations located less than 12 km apart and at different altitudes (puy de Dôme, 1465 m a.s.l. and Opme, 660 m a.s.l., France). Seasonal trends in all radionuclides were observed at both stations, with high concentration measured during the summer and low concentrations during the winter. The ²¹⁰Pb concentrations at both stations were similar to each other. Higher concentrations of both ⁷Be and ¹³⁷Cs were measured at puy de Dôme than at Opme. These observations can be explained by the stratospheric and upper tropospheric sources of ⁷Be and the long-range transportation of ¹³⁷Cs at high altitudes. Air mass origins during sampling periods were classified into several groups by their route to the stations (marine, marine modified, continental and mediterranean). We observed that ⁷Be concentrations were constant regardless of the air mass origins, unlike ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb concentrations that increased when influenced by continental air masses. Higher ⁷Be concentrations were observed when air masses were arriving from the upper troposphere than from the boundary layer, the opposite was observed for ¹³⁷Cs. The temporal trend in concentrations of ⁷Be shows good agreement with previous modelling studies suggesting that there is a good understanding of its sources and the atmospheric vertical mixing of this radionuclide. The sources and mixing of ²¹⁰Pb, however, seem to be more complex than it appeared to be in previous modelling studies., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This work constitutes the first large report on aerobic cultivable microorganisms present in cloud water. Seven cloud-event samples were collected at the Puy de Dôme summit, and cultivation was performed leading to the isolation of 71 bacterial, 42 fungal and 15 yeast strains. Most of the fungi isolated were of Cladosporium or Trametes affiliation, and yeasts were of Cryptococcus affiliation. Bacteria, identified on the basis of their 16S rRNA gene sequence, were found to belong to Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria (Alpha, Beta and Gamma subclasses) and Bacteroidetes phyla, and mainly to the genera Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Staphylococcus, Streptomyces, and Arthrobacter. These strains appear to be closely related to some bacteria described from cold environments, water (sea and freshwater), soil or vegetation. Comparison of the distribution of Gram-negative vs. Gram-positive bacteria shows that the number of Gram-negative bacteria is greater in summer than in winter. Finally, a very important result of this study concerns the ability of half of the tested strains to grow at low temperatures (5 degrees C): most of these are Gram-negative bacteria, and a few are even shown to be psychrophiles. On the whole, these results give a good picture of the microbial content of cloud water in terms of classification, and suggest that a large proportion of bacteria present in clouds have the capacity to be metabolically active there. This is of special interest with respect to the potential role of these microorganisms in atmospheric chemistry.