Preliminary measurements of summer nitric acid and ammonia concentrations in the Lake Tahoe Basin air-shed: implications for dry deposition of atmospheric nitrogen

Abstract

Over the past 50 years, Lake Tahoe, an alpine lake located in the Sierra Nevada mountains on the border between California and Nevada, has seen a decline in water clarity. With significant urbanization within its borders and major urban areas 130 km upwind of the prevailing synoptic airflow, it is believed the Lake Tahoe Basin is receiving substantial nitrogen (N) input via atmospheric deposition during summer and fall. We present preliminary inferential flux estimates to both lake surface and forest canopy based on empirical measurements of ambient nitric acid (HNO 3), ammonia (NH 3), and ammonium nitrate (NH 4NO 3) concentrations, in an effort to identify the major contributors to and ranges of atmospheric dry N deposition to the Lake Tahoe Basin. Total flux from dry deposition ranges from 1.2 to 8.6 kg N ha −1 for the summer and fall dry season and is significantly higher than wet deposition, which ranges from 1.7 to 2.9 kg N ha −1 year −1. These preliminary results suggest that dry deposition of HNO 3 is the major source of atmospheric N deposition for the Lake Tahoe Basin, and that overall N deposition is similar in magnitude to deposition reported for sites exposed to moderate N pollution in the southern California mountains.