On the Relationship between Acid Rain and Cloud Type |
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| Authors: | Luis C Cana-Cascallar |
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| Institution: | 1. Physics Department , Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Spain luis.cana@fisica.ulpgc.es |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Spanish European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) stations were selected to relate acid rain episodes with the meteorological structure that caused the rainfall during a 5-year period. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the origin of major ions (SO4 2?, NO3 ?, Cl?, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, and Na+) in the rainwater. In addition, the meteorological origin of the rain was identified. Previous works suggested a relationship between acid rain and storm convective clouds. However, statistical analyses of pH values show that only the short-lived con-vective phenomena may cause acid rain in Spain. In fact, rain generated by fronts and that related to long-lived convective systems is neutral or even slightly basic. Results suggest that the acid rain might be related to the meteorological time scale instead of to the cloud type. |
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