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Annual variations in wet-deposition chemistry related to changes in climate

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Abstract

National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP)/National Trends Network precipitation type, snow-season duration, and annual timing of selected chemical wet-deposition maxima vary with latitude and longitude within a 35-year (1979–2013) data record for the contiguous United States and Alaska. From the NADP data collected within the region bounded by 35.6645°–48.782° north latitude and 124°–68° west longitude, similarities in latitudinal and longitudinal patterns of changing snow-season duration, fraction of annual precipitation recorded as snow, and the timing of chemical wet-deposition maxima, suggest that the chemical climate of the atmosphere is linked to physical changes in climate. Total annual precipitation depth has increased 4–6 % while snow season duration has decreased from approximately 7 to 21 days across most of the USA, except in higher elevation regions where it has increased by as much as 21 days. Snow-season precipitation is increasingly comprised of snow, but annually total precipitation is increasingly comprised of liquid precipitation. Meanwhile, maximum ammonium deposition occurs as much as 27 days earlier, and the maximum nitrate: sulfate concentration ratio in wet-deposition occurs approximately 10–21 days earlier in the year. The maximum crustal (calcium + magnesium + potassium) cation deposition occurs 2–35 days earlier in the year. The data suggest that these shifts in the timing of atmospheric wet deposition are linked to a warming climate, but the ecological consequences are uncertain.

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Acknowledgments

George F. Ritz (USGS) and Thomas G. Huntington (USGS) are gratefully acknowledged for their invaluable technical and editorial reviews of the manuscript. Jill Baron (USGS) provided appreciated technical consultation. Four anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for significant improvements to this study and the manuscript. Funding was provided by the U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Networks and Analysis Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Office of Water Quality, Branch of Quality Systems, Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop 401, Bldg. 95, Box 25046, Denver, CO, 80225, USA

    Gregory A. Wetherbee

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado Water Science Center, Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop 415, Bldg. 53, Box 25046, Denver, CO, 80225, USA

    M. Alisa Mast

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  1. Gregory A. Wetherbee
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  2. M. Alisa Mast
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Correspondence to Gregory A. Wetherbee.

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Wetherbee, G.A., Mast, M.A. Annual variations in wet-deposition chemistry related to changes in climate. Clim Dyn 47, 3141–3155 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3017-7

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