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Temporal and Elevation-Related Variability in Precipitation Chemistry from 1993 to 2002, Eastern Erzgebirge, Germany

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Abstract

The Erzgebirge, part of the so-called former “Black Triangle”, used to represent the strongest regional air pollution of Central Europe. To test the hypothesis of deposition enhancement with height, an altitudinal gradient along a N-S transect from the Elbe river lowlands to the Erzgebirge summit was chosen to investigate chemical composition, elevation-related variability, temporal changes, and seasonal patterns of ion concentrations from 1993 to 2002. The following questions were to be answered: (1) Which role does orography play on the composition of precipitation?, (2) Does fog occurrence overrule the orographic influence?, (3) Are there changes in the past 10 years, and if so, why?, (4) Do relevant seasonal changes occur and why?

Air streams from westerly and to a lesser degree south-easterly directions prevail. The average precipitation was ion-poor (23 μS cm−1 and acidic (pH 4.5). Sulphate still was the dominant anion (52.3–59.9 μeq L−1, while NH+ 4 determined the cations (41.9–62.2 μeq L−1. Ion concentrations decreased with altitude to about 735 m a.s.l. and subsequently increased. The seeder-feeder effect largely explains the chemical composition of precipitation; enhanced in winter through snow crystals. Sub-cloud scavenging does not explain the observed patterns. Fog occurrence enhanced the observed effects at higher altitudes. Deposition amounts doubled from the lowlands to the Erzgebirge summit. From 1993 to 2002, acidity decreased by about 50%, mainly due to reduced SO2 -emissions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisziplinäres Ökologisches Zentrum, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Brennhausgasse 14, D-09599, Freiberg, Germany

    Jörg Matschullat & Kirsten Pleßow

  2. Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung, Leipzig, Germany

    Erika Brüggemann

  3. Institut für Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Fachgebiet Umweltmineralogie, TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstr. 9, D-64287, Darmstadt

    Frank Zimmermann

  4. Institut für Pflänzenchemie und Holzchemie, TU Dresden, Dresden

    Otto Wienhaus

Authors
  1. Frank Zimmermann
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  2. Jörg Matschullat
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  3. Erika Brüggemann
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  4. Kirsten Pleßow
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  5. Otto Wienhaus
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Correspondence to Frank Zimmermann.

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Zimmermann, F., Matschullat, J., Brüggemann, E. et al. Temporal and Elevation-Related Variability in Precipitation Chemistry from 1993 to 2002, Eastern Erzgebirge, Germany. Water Air Soil Pollut 170, 123–141 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-006-2860-2

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