Dry deposition and particle size distributions of nitrate and sulfate in ambient air

Abstract

This study reports the dry deposition pollutants of anion species (NO 3 -and SO 4 -2 ) in the Ping Tung City of Southern Taiwan. Several deposition properties are discussed in this paper. It included dry deposition flux, anion species size distribution and deposition velocities. Noll Rotary Impactor (NRI) and Microorifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) were used to collect ambient air coarse and fine particulate. Dry deposition plate was applied to collect particle deposition flux. Dionex 2000i/SP Ion Chromatography equipped with 4 mm AG4A-SC and AS4A-SC column was employed to analyze the anion species. The eluent solution is 1.8 mM sodium carbonate/1.7 mM sodium bicarbonate. The measured dry deposition flux of nitrate ranged from 0.63 to 3.96 mg/m 2 -day and averaged 2.12 mg/m 2 -day, while the measured dry deposition of sulfate ranged from 1.17 to 9.53 mg/m 2 -day and averaged 3.92 mg/m 2 -day. The particle size distribution of nitrate has bimodal particle size distributions. However, the sulfate displayed uniform particle size distribution for all four sampling sites. Mean cumulative fraction (F%) of nitrate in the particle size range below 1, 2.5, 10 and 25 µm, in sequence, were 34.6%, 60.9%, 91.0% and 97.6%, respectively. However, the mean F% of sulfate in the particle size range below 1, 2.5, 10 and 25 um, in sequence, were 57.3%, 82.6%, 90.3% and 98.0%, respectively. The sulfate has more F% in the submicron particles. The mean MMD o of nitrate and sulfate are 2.35 and 0.87 µm, respectively. The mean dry deposition velocities of nitrate and sulfate are 0.45 and 0.38 cm/sec, respectively.