Wet deposition in the northeastern United States

Abstract

Attempts are made to examine concentration and wet deposition of pollutant material at selected stations within the northeastern United States and to characterize as many events as possible with respect to air mass origin. Further attempts are made to develop a regional pattern for the deposition of dominant ion species. MAP3S (US Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Pollution Study) data for 1977 to 1979 are used to determine concentration and deposition on an event basis from which monthly, seasonal, annual, and cumulative averages are developed. The ARL-ATAD trajectory model is used to characterize individual events as to air mass origin. Case studies are examined to illustrate variability in the chemical composition of precipitation originating from distinctly different air mass trajectories. A difference in concentration of pollution-related ions in precipitation is noted between Midwest/Ohio Valley and Great Lakes/Canadian air mass origins for carefully selected cases. Total deposition of the major ions is examined in an effort to develop a regional pattern for deposition over a period of at least one year. For that purpose, total deposition is normalized to remove the variability in precipitation amounts for inter-station comparison. No marked gradient is noted in the normalized deposition totals within the northeast ofmore » the United States. The Adirondack region exhibited the lowest normalized ion deposition value, while the Illinois station showed the highest of the MAP3S network. The data analysis suggest that the acid rain phenomena covers the entire northeast. The concept of large scale mixing emerges to account for the lack of a significant gradient in the normalized deposition. « less

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