Variation in chemical wet deposition with meteorological conditions

Abstract

Analysis of hourly sequential precipitation samples collected at Brookhaven National Laboratory over a 4-y period shows systematic relationships between amounts of chemicals deposited in precipitation and meteorological conditions. Samples were taken by an automatic, sequential sampler and measured for pH, conductivity and the concentrations of major ions. Concurrent measurements and observations were made of the synoptic situation, precipitation type and rate, wind speed and direction, and temperature. Deposition per unit area was computed for subsets of the data classified by meteorological and time parameters. Results demonstrate that precipitation amount alone is not an adequate predictor of chemical wet deposition because of the variability of concentration in precipitation which is a complex function of emission rates and atmospheric processes. Results, however, document those conditions under which most material is deposited and those circumstances in which deposition occurs at the greatest rate. When classified by season, hydrogen and sulfate ion deposition are greatest in the summer when precipitation is lowest and least in the winter when precipitation is greatest. Nitrogen in both nitrate and ammonium has a similar but less extreme pattern. By synoptic type, all chemicals are deposited most heavily in warm front precipitation but the fraction of hydrogen and sulfate deposited in cold front and squall line hours is greater than the fraction of precipitation. All chemicals are deposited most heavily in steady rain when examined by precipitation type but thundershowers deposit chemicals of anthropogenic origin in amounts disproportionate to precipitation amounts. Results are also presented from data classified by other parameters.