Contrasting Wet Deposition Composition Between Three Diverse Islands and Coastal North American Sites

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-28-2020

Abstract

This study examined spatial variations of precipitation accumulation and chemistry for six sites located on the West and East Coasts of the U.S., and one site each on the islands of Hawaii, Bermuda, and Luzon of the Philippines (specifically Manila). The nine coastal sites ranged widely in both mean annual precipitation accumulation, ranging from 40 cm (Mauna Loa, Hawaii) to 275 cm (Washington), and in terms of monthly profiles. The three island sites represented the extremes of differences in terms of chemical profiles, with Bermuda having the highest overall ion concentrations driven mainly by sea salt, Hawaii having the highest SO42− mass fractions due to the nearby influence of volcanic SO2 emissions and mid-tropospheric transport of anthropogenic pollution, and Manila exhibiting the highest concentration of non-marine ions (NH4+, non-sea salt [nss] SO42−, nss Ca2+, NO3−, nss K+, nss Na+, nss Mg2+) linked to anthropogenic, biomass burning, and crustal emissions. The Manila site exhibited the most variability in composition throughout the year due to shifting wind directions and having diverse regional and local pollutant sources. In contrast to the three island sites, the North American continental sites exhibited less variability in precipitation composition with sea salt being the most abundant constituent followed by some combination of SO42−, NO3−, and NH4+. The mean-annual pH values ranged from 4.88 (South Carolina) to 5.40 (central California) with NH4+ exhibiting the highest neutralization factors for all sites except Bermuda where dust tracer species (nss Ca2+) exhibited enhanced values. The results of this study highlight the sensitivity of wet deposition chemistry to regional considerations, elevation, time of year, and atmospheric circulations.

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