Organic Compounds in Cloud Water and their Deposition at a Remote Continental Site
Open Access
- 1 September 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association
- Vol. 43 (9) , 1239-1244
- https://doi.org/10.1080/1073161x.1993.10467201
Abstract
Some organic compounds (alkylbenzene, chlorinated hydrocarbons and poiycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in clouds have been determined from samples collected above the canopy of a coniferous forest. The cloud samples were collected during 1987 and 1988 at Mt. Mitchell State Park, North Carolina, a remote high elevation (∼2006 m MSL) continental site. Concentrations of the organic chemicals in clouds were in the range of 0.2 to ∼200 ng mL-1; and their estimated deposition rates via clouds were found to range from 1.58 * 104 to 4.67 * 106 ng m-2 yr-1. Great variations in concentrations were found which can best be explained, based on 72 hour back trajectory analysis, by different source locales and moving air masses. The concentration of these chemicals exceeded their water solubility as predicted by Henry's Law, suggesting that clouds are an excellent scavenger of organic chemicals in the ambient environment.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Monitoring the chemical climate of the Mt. Mitchell State Park for evaluation of its impact on forest declineTellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 1989