Abstract
Few studies of atmospheric deposition come from the fast growing region of Southeast Asia. Precipitation in Changhua City in central Taiwan was collected to examine its chemical composition and relationship with meteorological patterns. Fifty percent of the precipitation measurements had pH<5.0. Deposition fluxes of most ions were comparable to that reported for heavily industrialized temperate regions. Storms associated with air masses which originated in China had higher ion concentrations than other storms, suggesting substantial contribution of long-range transport. Two factors, a sea salt factor and an anthropogenic factor, explained more than 70% of the variation in precipitation chemistry. A third factor had a high loading only on H+, suggesting that pH of precipitation in Changhua City was not dominated only by acidic or basic ions alone. Instead it is determined by all components. The influences of soil and dust, as indicated by high loading on Ca2+ and K+, cannot be recognized without sea salt correction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbas, M. Z. M., Bruns, R. E., Scarminio, I. S. and Ferreira, J. R.: 1993, ‘A multivariate statistical analysis of the composition of rainwater near Cubatao, SP, Brazil’, Environ. Pollut. 79, 225–233.
Arndt, R. L. and Carmichael, G. R.: 1995, ‘Long-term transport and deposition of sulfur in asia’, Water,Air and Soil Pollut. 85, 2283–2288.
Avila, A.: 1996, ‘Time trends in the precipitation chemistry at a mountain site in northeastern spain for the period 1983–1994’, Atmos. Environ. 30, 1363–1373.
Bridgman, H. A.: 1992, ‘Evaluating rainwater contamination and sources in southeast Australia using factor analysis’, Atmos. Environ. 26, 2401–2412.
Butler, T. J. and Likens, G. E.: 1998, ‘Weekly and daily precipitation chemistry network comparisons in the eastern U.S.: NADP/NTN vs MAP3S/AIRMoN’, Atmos. Environ. 32, 3749–3765.
Chang, K. H., Jeng, F. T., Tsai, Y. L. and Lin, P. L.: 2000, ‘Modeling of long-range transport on Taiwan’s acid deposition under different weather conditions’, Atmos. Environ. 34, 3281–3295.
Chang, C. T., Lin, T. C. and Hsueh, M. L.: 2001, ‘Evaluating contaminations of rainfall in Changhua city using factor analysis’, J. Geogr. Sci. 31, 41–54.
Chang, C. T., Lin, T. C. and Hsueh, M. L.: 2003, ‘Comparisons of acid deposition between Changhua city and Taichung city’, J. Geogr. Sci. 33, 77–90.
Chen, C. S., Lin, N. H., Peng, C. M. and Jeng, F. T.: 1996, ‘Acidic deposition on Taiwan and associated precipitation systems’, Proceedings of International Conference on Acid Deposition in East Asia, Taipei, Taiwan 28–30, 124–132.
Cheng, M. T. and Chen, J. L.: 2000, ‘Source appointment of atmospheric particulates near Taichung Coal-Fired Power Plant’, Mon. J. Taipower’s Engin. 620, 46–58.
Durand, P., Neal, C. and Lelong, F.: 1992, ‘Anthropogenic and natural contributions to the rainfall chemistry of a mountainous area in the Cevennes national park (Mont-Lozere, southern France)’, J. Hydrol. 130, 71–85.
Finzi, A. and Viarengo, S.: 1991, ‘An application of multivariate analysis to acid rain data in Northern Italy to discriminate natural and man-made compounds’, Environ. Monit. Assess. 17, 273–280.
Fujita, S. I., Takahashi, A., Weng, J. H., Huang, L. F., Kim, H. K., Li, K. Huang, T. C. and Jeng, F. T.: 2000, ‘Precipitation chemistry in East Asia’, Atmos. Environ. 34, 525–537.
Galloway, J. N., Zhao, D. W., Jiling, X. and Likens, G. E.: 1987, ‘Acid rain: China, United States, and a remote area’, Science 236, 1559–1562.
Hara, H., Kitamura, M., Mori, A., Noguchi, I., Ohizumi, T., Seto, S., Takeuchi, T. and Deguchi, T.: 1995, ‘Precipitation chemistry in Japan 1989–1993’,Water, Air and Soil Pollut. 85, 2307–2312.
Ichikawa, Y. and Fujita, S.: 1995, ‘An analysis of wet deposition of sulfate using a trajectory model for East Asia’, Water Air and Soil Pollut. 85, 1927–1932.
Jacob, D. J., Waldman, J. M., Munger, J. W. and Hoffmann, M. R.: 1985, ‘Chemical composition of fogwater collected along the California coast’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 730–736.
Kessler, C. J., Porter, T. H., Firth, D., Sager, T. W. and Hemphill, M. W.: 1992, ‘Factor analysis of trends in Texas acidic deposition’, Atmos. Environ. 26, 1137–1146.
Larssen, T., Hans, S. M., Ame, S., Jan, M., Ivar, P. M., Rolf, D. V., Espen, L., Valter, A., Tang, D. and Odd, E.: 1999, ‘Acid deposition and its effects in china: An overview’, Environ. Sci. Policy 2, 9–24.
Lin, N. H., Lee, H. M. and Chang, M. B.: 1999, ‘Evaluation of characteristics of acid precipitation in Taipei, Taiwan using cluster analysis’, Water Air and Soil Pollut. 113, 241–260.
Lin, T. C., King, H. B., Hsia, Y. J., Wang, L. J. and Liou, C. B.: 1996, ‘Evaluating rainfall contamination in Fu-shan Experimental Forest using factor analysis’, Quart. J. Chinese For. 29, 121–132.
Lin, T. H.: 2001, ‘Long-range transport of yellow sand to Taiwan in spring 2000: observed evidence and simulation’, Atmos. Environ. 35, 5873–5882.
NADP: 2002, Quality Assurance Plan, Central Analytical Laboratory, 2002. National Atmospheric Deposition Program. Version 1.3, pp. 23–25, Illinois, USA.
NADP: 2004, National Atmospheric Deposition Program. http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/isopleths/maps2003/.
Sequeira, R. and Peart, M. R.: 1995, ‘Analysis of the pH of daily rainfall at a rural site in Hong Kong, 1989–1993’, Sci. Total Environ. 159, 177–183.
Tao, W. K., Chen, C. S., Jia, Y. and Lang, S.: 2000, ‘Two heavy precipitation events in Taiwan: Regional scale model simulations’, Proceedings of Workshop on Numerical Simulations of Precipitation in Taiwan Area. Chung-Li, Taiwan, National Central University, pp. 19–20.
Wadleigh, M. A., Schwarcz, H. P. and Kramer, J. R.: 1993, ‘Sulphur isotope tests of seasalt correction factors in precipitation: Nova Scotia, Canada’, Water Air and Soil Pollut. 77, 1–16.
Yang, L. G.: 2000, ‘Analysis of afternoon convective precipitation over Taiwan (in Chinese). M.S. thesis, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, National Central University, Taiwan, 120pp, Available from Institute of Atmospheric Physics, National Central University, Chung-Li, Taiwan.
Yeh, H. C. and Chen, G. T. J.: 1984, ‘Some aspects of front climatology over southern part of China and the adjacent oceans in winter half year’, Q. J. Meteorol. 101, 9–20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chang, CT., Lin, TC. & Hsueh, ML. Characterizinig Precipitation Chemistry in Changhua, Central Taiwan Using Weather Conditions And Multivariate Analysis. Water Air Soil Pollut 165, 61–75 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-005-4812-7
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-005-4812-7