An acid rain study in the Washington, D. C. area

Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Journal of Applied Meteorology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1989)028<0948:AARSIT>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:5475019

Patrinos, A A.N.; Leach, M J; Brown, R M ^[1]; Tanner, R L ^[2]; Binkowski, F S ^[3]

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1. Atmospheric Sciences Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York (US)
2. Environmental Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

A field study in the Washington, D.C. area explored the impact of urban emissions and mesoscale meteorology on precipitation chemistry. The study was a follow-up to an earlier, considerably more industrialized, study in the Philadelphia area; emissions along the Delaware Valley were found to affect the deposition of nitrate and sulfate on the urban mesoscale. The Washington studies were designed to complement and enhance the earlier study with an expanded sampling domain, sequential precipitation sampling and airborne measurements. Four storms were sampled successfully between October 1986 and April 1987. Results appear to confirm the conclusions of the Philadelphia study, although the upwind--downwind contrast in nitrate and sulfate deposition is not as pronounced. This difference is attributed to the area's widely distributed emission patterns and to the prevailing theories regarding the production of nitric acid and sulfric acid on the relevant time and space scales. The importance of mesoscale meteorology and hydrogen peroxide availability is highlighted in at least two of the sampled storms.

• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5475019
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Meteorology; (USA), Vol. 28:9; ISSN 0894-8763
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
NITRATES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
SULFATES
WASHINGTON DC
ACID RAIN
AIR QUALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
METEOROLOGY
SAMPLING
STORMS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
DISASTERS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
MASS TRANSFER
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RAIN
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
USA
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport- (-1989)