Study of atmospheric pollution scavenging. Eighteenth progress report

Technical Report · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5341885· OSTI ID:5341885

Semonin, R G; Bartlett, J D; Bowersox, V C; Gatz, D F; Naiman, D Q; Peden, M E; Stahlhut, R K; Stensland, G J

The analysis of aerosol samples obtained in rural east-central Illinois reveals a seasonal maximum in SO/sub 4/ during May to July and a similar pattern for NH/sub 4/. The annual median SO/sub 4/ is about 1 to 1.5 ..mu..g/m/sup 3/. In contrast to these ions, NO/sub 3/ displays highest values in the cold season. Soil-related species (Ca, K) seem to maximize in relation to farm tillage and harvesting practices. The NO/sub 3/ in recent precipitation samples over the northeast US increased between 1 and 2 times the values observed in the mid-1950's. A case study from SCORE-78 suggests that all ion concentrations analyzed from sequentially collected samples decreased from the onset of rain to a minimum corresponding to the heaviest rain rates. Four groups of elements in 10 event rain samples were identified using factor analysis. The groups include soluble and insoluble crustal elements, soluble pollutant metals and sulfate, and insoluble pollutant metals. Utilizing the factor analysis approach, the St. Louis METROMEX precipitation chemistry data showed that the SO/sub 4/ deposition patterns group consistently with those of other soluble pollutants. Additional factor analysis efforts on the St. Louis rainwater data set revealed that soluble and insoluble concentrations of a given element have different deposition patterns suggesting that scavenging and/or precipitation formation processes dictate the patterns. An approach to managing the vast data base of rain chemistry used in the above studies is described. The software also examines the data for certain aspects of quality assurance. The procedures used to analyze ambient air filter samples are discussed.

• Research Organization: Illinois State Water Survey, Urbana (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AS02-76EV01199
• OSTI ID: 5341885
• Report Number(s): COO-1199-60
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AEROSOL MONITORING
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CALCIUM
CHEMISTRY
COLLOIDS
DATA
DATA COMPILATION
DATA FORMS
DISPERSIONS
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GRAPHS
GREAT LAKES REGION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ILLINOIS
INFORMATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METALS
MIDWEST REGION
MISSOURI
MONITORING
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POTASSIUM
PRECIPITATION SCAVENGING
RAIN WATER
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLS
SOLUBILITY
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TABLES
USA
VARIATIONS
WATER