Journal Article

Quantifying atmospheric nitrogen deposition through a nationwide monitoring network across China

Tian, K., Liu, P., Zhang, L. J., Sun, Y. X., He, C. E., Zhang, Q., Tang, L., Zhang, Y., Pan, Y. P., Xiong, Z. Q., Collett, J. L., Wu, Q. H., Shi, X. K., Zhang, L., Kuang, F. H., Liu, H., Zhang, Y. Y., Huang, J. L., Tong, Y. A., Shen, J. L., Lu, S. H., Du, E. Z., Tang, S., Liu, X. J., Goulding, K., Xin, Y. J., Jin, X., Xu, W., Ren, J., Tang, Q. Y., Zhu, B., Tang, A. H., Li, Q. Q., Li, W. Q., Wu, L. H., Yang, D. W., Xue, J., Zhong, X. H., Shi, K., Shi, X. J., Liang, T., Luo, X. S., Shi, W. Q., Dore, A. J., Li, K. H., Zhang, F. S.

2015

Overview

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.

• Publisher: Copernicus GmbH,Copernicus Publications
• Subject: 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