On the Observed Inverse Relationship between Rainfall Amount and Dissolved Mineral Content

Abstract

AbstractRainfall samples collected on the high plains of West Texas exhibit a high degree of variability with respect to the concentration of dissolved solids. That such variations should occur is to be expected, but there remains some uncertainty regarding factors that influence the ionic composition of individual samples. Measurements often show a distinct decrease in concentration with increasing precipitation amount. The reason for this inverse relationship is not intuitively obvious; however, it can be explained from a theoretical perspective. A theory was proposed that describes the concentration of dissolved solids in a collected rainfall sample. The theoretical basis of the derived equation rests upon fundamental principles of conservation of fluid volume and conservation of mass. This equation, which provides valuable insight into the process, suggests that if the rain sampling tube is absolutely clean at the start of a rain event, then the rainfall sample will not be altered by its collection and, therefore, will provide a true measure of rainfall chemistry. However, if windblown dust or other impurities are allowed to deposit in the rain gauge prior to or during the early stages of a rain event, then the concentration of dissolved solids can be very large for small sample volumes and not at all representative of the true concentration within the rain cloud. Results suggest that impurities in the rain sample can be appreciably diluted by the addition of relatively pure rainwater such that the concentration will asymptotically approach the true concentration as the rainfall sample volume increases.