Dry deposition fluxes and deposition velocities of trace metals in the Tokyo metropolitan area measured with a water surface sampler.

Abstract

Dry deposition fluxes and deposition velocities (=deposition flux/atmospheric concentration) for trace metals including Hg, Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn in the Tokyo metropolitan area were measured using an improved water surface sampler. Mercury is deposited on the water surface in both gaseous (reactive gaseous mercury, RGM) and particulate (particulate mercury, Hg(p)) forms. The results based on 1 yr observations found that dry deposition plays a significant if not dominant role in trace metal deposition in this urban area, contributing fluxes ranging from 0.46 (Cd) to 3.0 (Zn) times those of concurrent wet deposition fluxes. The deposition velocities were found to be dependent on the deposition of coarse particles larger than approximately 5 microm in diameter on the basis of model calculations. Our analysis suggests that the 84.13% diameter is a more appropriate index for each deposited metal than the 50% diameter in the assumed undersize log-normal distribution, because larger particles are responsible for the flux. The deposition velocities for trace metals other than mercury increased exponentially with an increase in their 84.13% diameters. Using this regression equation, the deposition velocities for Hg(p) were estimated from its 84.13% diameter. The deposition fluxes for Hg(p) calculated from the estimated velocities tended to be close to the mercury fluxes measured with the water surface sampler during the study periods except during summer.