Quantifying atmospheric nitrogen deposition through a nationwide monitoring network across China

• Published in: Atmospheric chemistry and physics Vol. 15; no. 21; pp. 12345 - 12360
• Main Authors: Xu, W., Luo, X. S., Pan, Y. P., Zhang, L., Tang, A. H., Shen, J. L., Zhang, Y., Li, K. H., Wu, Q. H., Yang, D. W., Zhang, Y. Y., Xue, J., Li, W. Q., Li, Q. Q., Tang, L., Lu, S. H., Liang, T., Tong, Y. A., Liu, P., Zhang, Q., Xiong, Z. Q., Shi, X. J., Wu, L. H., Shi, W. Q., Tian, K., Zhong, X. H., Shi, K., Tang, Q. Y., Zhang, L. J., Huang, J. L., He, C. E., Kuang, F. H., Zhu, B., Liu, H., Jin, X., Xin, Y. J., Shi, X. K., Du, E. Z., Dore, A. J., Tang, S., Collett, J. L., Goulding, K., Sun, Y. X., Ren, J., Zhang, F. S., Liu, X. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 09.11.2015; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Airborne sensing; Anthropogenic factors; Atmospheric models; Continuous flow; Deposition; Dry deposition; Fluxes; Human influences; Land use; Monitoring; Nitrogen; Nitrogen deposition; Precipitation; Precipitation gauges; Rural land use; Spatial variations; Trends; East Asia; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Europe; China
• ISSN: 1680-7324; 1680-7316; 1680-7324
• DOI: 10.5194/acp-15-12345-2015

A Nationwide Nitrogen Deposition Monitoring Network (NNDMN) containing 43 monitoring sites was established in China to measure gaseous NH3, NO2, and HNO3 and particulate NH4+ and NO3− in air and/or precipitation from 2010 to 2014. Wet/bulk deposition fluxes of Nr species were collected by precipitation gauge method and measured by continuous-flow analyzer; dry deposition fluxes were estimated using airborne concentration measurements and inferential models. Our observations reveal large spatial variations of atmospheric Nr concentrations and dry and wet/bulk Nr deposition. On a national basis, the annual average concentrations (1.3–47.0 μg N m−3) and dry plus wet/bulk deposition fluxes (2.9–83.3 kg N ha−1 yr−1) of inorganic Nr species are ranked by land use as urban > rural > background sites and by regions as north China > southeast China > southwest China > northeast China > northwest China > Tibetan Plateau, reflecting the impact of anthropogenic Nr emission. Average dry and wet/bulk N deposition fluxes were 20.6 ± 11.2 (mean ± standard deviation) and 19.3 ± 9.2 kg N ha−1 yr−1 across China, with reduced N deposition dominating both dry and wet/bulk deposition. Our results suggest atmospheric dry N deposition is equally important to wet/bulk N deposition at the national scale. Therefore, both deposition forms should be included when considering the impacts of N deposition on environment and ecosystem health.