Modelling the contribution of different sources of sulphur to atmospheric deposition in the United Kingdom

In order to understand relationships between sources and receptors of atmospheric deposition, computer models must be used. This paper describes a Lagrangian acid deposition model that represents emissions of trace species across Northern Europe. The chemistry of sulphur dioxide, dimethyl sulphide and hydrogen sulphide is represented and the model tested against estimates of UK wet and dry deposition. Mean UK wet and dry deposition for the period 1992–1994 was 206 and 145 ktonne S yr^-1, respectively. The model predicted wet and dry deposition of 222 and 166 ktonne S yr^-1, in good agreement with measurements. The model has been used to examine the sources of deposited S to the UK. For a base year of 1992, 86% of the UK's SO₂ emissions are exported. The S deposition attributable from mainland European sources was 36% of the UK total S deposition, in good agreement with other UK models but this differs substantially from the calculations of the EMEP model. Natural sources of S deposition from planktonic emissions of dimethyl sulphide, biological emissions of hydrogen sulphide and non-eruptive volcanic emissions of sulphur dioxide contributed approximately 1% of the modelled UK S deposition, of which 95% originated from dimethyl sulphide. The explicit chemical scheme for dimethyl sulphide incorporated into the model showed that 24% of the resultant deposited S was methane sulphonic acid. Boundary conditions of the model were tested and it was found that initialisation of sulphur dioxide and sulphate concentrations to representative ambient conditions had a very small effect. The modelled contribution of UK and European sources to UK S deposition was approximately 40 and 60%, respectively, showing the dramatic change arising from projected UK SO₂ emissions in 2010. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

How and why is Aquatic Quality Changing at Nahanni National Park Reserve, nwt, Canada?

Nahanni National Park Reserve is located at southwestern NWT-Yukon border. One of the first UNESCO World Heritage sites, Nahanni lies within Taiga Cordillera and Taiga Shield Ecozones. Base and precious metal mining occurred upstream of Nahanni prior to park establishment. Nahanni waters, sediments, fish, and caribou have naturally elevated metals levels. Baseline water, sediment and fish tissue quality data were collected and analyzed throughout Nahanni during 1988–91 and 1992–97. These two programs characterized how aquatic quality variables are naturally varying in space and time, affected by geology, stream flow, seasonality, and extreme meteorological and geological events. Possible anthropogenic causes of aquatic quality change were examined. Measured values were compared to existing Guidelines and site-specific objectives were established.     

Remote SO2 Mass Flux Measurements Using COSPEC

During the intensive Nanticoke Environmental Field Study of May/June 1978, three Barringer Correlation Spectrometers (COSPEC) were employed to obtain remote sensing estimates of sulfur dioxide emissions from a coal fired hydroelectric generating station. The results from about one hundred half-hourly sampling periods shows that the COSPEC derived estimate is within 7% of those computed by the utility. The sources of the variance in the COSPEC flux estimate are examined and sampling recommendations regarding the use of COSPEC for this purpose are made.     

Description and evaluation of a model of deposition velocities for routine estimates of dry deposition over North America. Part II: review of past measurements and model results

Numerical sensitivity tests and four months of complete model runs have been conducted for the Routine Deposition Model (RDM). The influence of individual model inputs on dry deposition velocity as a function of land-use category (LUC) and pollutant (SO₂, O₃, SO²⁻₄ and HNO₃) were examined over a realistic range of values for solar radiation, stability and wind speed. Spatial and temporal variations in RDM deposition velocity (V_d) during June – September 1996 time period generated using meteorological input from a mesoscale model run at 35 km resolution over north-eastern North America were also examined. Comparison of RDM V_d values to a variety of measurements of dry deposition velocities of SO₂, O₃, SO²⁻₄ and NHO₃ that have been reported in the literature demonstrated that RDM produces realistic results. Over northeastern NA RDM monthly averaged dry deposition velocities for SO₂ vary from 0.2 to 3.0 cm s⁻¹ with the highest deposition velocities over water surfaces. For O₃, the monthly averaged dry deposition velocities are from 0.05 to 1.0 cm s⁻¹ with the lowest values over water surfaces and the highest over forested areas. For HNO₃, the monthly averaged dry deposition velocities have the range of 0.5 to 6 cm s⁻¹, with the highest values for forested areas. For SO²⁻₄, they range from 0.05–1.5 cm s⁻¹, with the lowest values over water and the highest over forest. The monthly averaged dry deposition velocities for SO₂ and O₃ are higher in the growing season compared to the fall, but this behaviour is not apparent for HNO₃ and sulphate. In the daytime, the hourly averaged dry deposition velocities for SO₂, O₃, SO²⁻₄ and HNO₃ are higher than that in the nighttime over most of the vegetated area. The diurnal variation is most evident for surfaces with large values for leaf area index (LAI), such as forests. Based on the results presented in this paper, it is concluded that RDM V_d values can be combined with measured air concentrations over hourly, daily or weekly periods to determine dry deposition amounts and with wet deposition measurements to provide seasonal estimates of total deposition and estimates of the relative importance of dry deposition.     

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in south-east Scotland: Quantification of the organic nitrogen fraction in wet,dry and bulk deposition

Water soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) compounds are ubiquitous in precipitation and in the planetary boundary layer, and therefore are a potential source of bioavailable reactive nitrogen. This paper examines weekly rain data over a period of 22 months from June 2005 to March 2007 collected in 2 types of rain collector (bulk deposition and “dry + wet” deposition) located in a semi-rural area 15 km southwest of Edinburgh, UK (N55°51′44″, W3°12′19″). Bulk deposition collectors are denoted in this paper as “standard rain gauges”, and they are the design used in the UK national network for monitoring precipitation composition. “Dry + wet” deposition collectors are flushing rain gauges and they are equipped with a rain detector (conductivity array), a spray nozzle, a 2-way valve and two independent bottles to collect funnel washings (dry deposition) and true wet deposition. On average, for the 27 weekly samples with 3 valid replicates for the 2 types of collectors, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) represented 23% of the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) in bulk deposition. Dry deposition of particles and gas on the funnel surface, rather than rain, contributed over half of all N-containing species (inorganic and organic). Some discrepancies were found between bulk rain gauges and flushing rain gauges, for deposition of both TDN and DON, suggesting biological conversion and loss of inorganic N in the flushing samplers.     

The relationship of sulfur emissions to sulfate in precipitation—II. Gas phase processes

A climatological box model is applied to wet deposition of sulfur in eastern North America using the extreme assumption that all wet-deposited sulfates originate in sulfate aerosol. The measured sulfate in precipitation during 1977–1979 constrains the probability that an SO₂ molecule emitted in the eastern United States is oxidized before deposition or outflow from the region to values greater than 0.5 and more likely near 1.0. This result implies that uniform SO₂ emission reductions will produce nearly proportional reductions in wet sulfates originating in those emissions and deposited on land. A similar result was obtained previously using the more likely assumption that oxidation and removal of SO₂ in precipitating clouds is the major source of wet deposition of sulfur. Therefore, it is argued that uniform regional reductions in annual average SO₂ emissions will produce nearly proportional reductions in wet sulfur deposited on land and originating in those emissions. The amount of wet sulfate deposition is demonstrated to constrain the mean scale of transport along air parcel trajectories for the precursor of wet sulfur, whether SO₂ or sulfate aerosol, to values greater than 900 km. An examination of previous microscopic photochemical models indicates that the sulfate aerosol formation rate is roughly proportional to local SO₂ concentrations, an inference which is consistent with the result of the climatological model.     

Concentration,sources and particle size distribution of the atmospheric aerosol of the oviedo urban nucleus (Spain)

The average hourly variation of particle concentration and its charged fraction has been determined in the city of Oviedo (Spain). The population density in the central zone of Oviedo, a city of 180,000 inhabitants, is one of the highest in Europe. The city is not very industrialized.The average particle size distribution in winter and summer has been studied resulting in unimodal spectra, which are fitted to a log-normal distribution.It has been demonstrated that the average distributions in the city of Oviedo are a direct consequence of two primary sources, traffic and heating systems.     

A five-year climatology of back-trajectories from the Izaña baseline station,Tenerife, Canary Islands

As a contribution to the climatological characterization of the Izaña baseline observatory (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain), back-trajectories were calculated and an air mass climatology was developed for a 5-year period. On a daily basis, 5-day back-trajectories were computed for the 850- and 700-HPa levels from January 1983 to December 1987. Trajectories were separated into long- and short-range flows and classified into categories depending on the path followed by the air masses. Flows from the North Atlantic Ocean were much more frequent than flows from continental sectors. In addition, seasonal variations of the sector frequencies were studied and synoptic meteorological patterns were associated with each trajectory category.