Abstract
The pH and the concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, ammonia, and calcium in rainwater were measured for two periods of a single midwest rainstorm which occurred over a mesometeorological network in central Illinois on 24–25 July 1979. Regression analysis was used to compare ion concentrations with rainfall amount, and ion balance was used to compare cation and anion concentrations at individual sites. Only the ions SO4 2- and NO3 - show any significant relationship to rainfall amount, decreasing as rainwater amounts increase (r=−0.57 and −0.60, respectively). During the first period of the rainstorm, a sequential sampler measurements allowed the calculation of detailed temporal variations in SO4 2-, pH, and rain rate. SO4 2- decreased, and pH increased as the rate increased and the opposite temporal pattern occurred as the rain decreased at the end of the period. Reasons for these variations are discussed.
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Research done while a visiting scientist at the Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A.
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Bridgman, H.A. Rainwater acidity and ion concentration correlations in a midwest storm system. J Atmos Chem 12, 299–317 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00114772
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00114772