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Long-term increasing trends in the wet deposition of secondary inorganic constituents in SW Indian precipitation

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Abstract

Precipitation chemistry measurements are essential to estimate the deposition of ionic components that are beneficial or harmful to the ecosystems and quantify the wet scavenging of the atmospheric constituents. A long-term (2006 to 2016) database of the water-soluble inorganic components in the rainwater (RW) at Pune (an urban location) and Sinhagad (a high-altitude rural location) in southwest India was examined to understand the trends in measured anthropogenic components and the factors controlling the chemistry of RW in this region. We observed the long-term increasing trends in NH4+ at Pune and SO42−, NO3¯, and NH4+ at Sinhagad. About 10% of rain samples were acidic (below 5.6). Low pH values were generally measured at Pune (8%) and Sinhagad (9%) stations when the air mass back trajectories (AMBTs) originated from land. This study suggests that NO3¯ plays a vital role in acidifying the rain in both the sampling stations, though SO42− remains the dominant factor. The high concentrations of Ca2+ and NH4+ have played a significant role in neutralizing the acidity of RW. The cluster analysis of AMBTs showed that at Pune 74% and Sinahagd 65% of rain events were associated with oceanic air masses from the Arabian Sea.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to the Director, IITM, Pune, India for the support and encouragement given to undertake this work. Thanks are also due to the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited authorities, Pune, for their cooperation and for providing space at their Microwave Tower station at Sinhagad.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Divecha Center for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Banglore, 560012, India

    Krishnakant B. Budhavant

  2. Maldives Climate Observatory-Hanimaadhoo, Maldives Meteorological Services, Malé, Maldives

    Krishnakant B. Budhavant

  3. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pashan, Pune, 411008, India

    Ranjeeta D. Gawhane, Pasumarthi Surya Prakash Rao & Pramod D. Safai

  4. Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    Hari Ram Chandrika Rajendran Nair

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  1. Krishnakant B. Budhavant
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  2. Ranjeeta D. Gawhane
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Correspondence to Krishnakant B. Budhavant.

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Budhavant, K.B., Gawhane, R.D., Rao, P.S.P. et al. Long-term increasing trends in the wet deposition of secondary inorganic constituents in SW Indian precipitation. Air Qual Atmos Health 14, 667–677 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00970-z

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