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Wet atmospheric deposition of nitrogen: 20 years measurement in Shenzhen City, China

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Abstract

We presented measurements of wet deposition of NH +4 –N and NO −3 –N from 1986 to 2006 in Shenzhen City, China. Over the past 20 years, NO −3 –N concentration had significantly increased, but a reverse trend was found for NH +4 –N. The main form of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) was NH +4 –N and the average NH +4 –N/NO −3 –N ratio was 1.57 in this area. The contribution of NO −3 –N to TIN increased from 28–42% in the period of 1986–2000 to 50–63% during 2001–2006. The increased deposition flux of NO −3 –N resulted in the increasing trend of TIN, although NH +4 –N showed a decreasing trend over time. Average deposition flux of TIN during 1986–2006 was 13.24 kg/ha/year, with a minimum value of 6.03kg/ha/year in 1988 and a maximum value of 20.52 kg/ha/year in 1997. Wet deposition fluxes of N appeared to vary with season, 81% occurred in the warm season (from April to September). The wet deposition of TIN to the Shenzhen Reservoir reached 8,902 kg in 2006, which contributed 9.95% of the total nonpoint pollution to the reservoir and will be increased in the future.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Non-profit Foundation of the Ministry of Water Resource Management (NO. 20120133) and “the Eleventh Five-year” Technology Support Project: water pollution control and treatment technology, Ministry of Science and Technology of China (NO. 2008ZX07423-001-003). Thanks are given to the Shenzhen Environmental Monitoring Station for the provision of the precipitation chemical data. Two anonymous reviewers are also acknowledged for their critical comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119260, Singapore

    Yilong Huang & XiXi Lu

  2. Shenzhen Water Resource Planning and Design Institute, Bureau of Water Resource of Shenzhen Municipality, Shenzhen, 518036, China

    Yilong Huang & Kai Chen

  3. Singapore–Delft Water Alliance (SDWA), National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Engineering Workshop 1,# 08-25, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    Yilong Huang

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  1. Yilong Huang
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Correspondence to Yilong Huang.

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Huang, Y., Lu, X. & Chen, K. Wet atmospheric deposition of nitrogen: 20 years measurement in Shenzhen City, China. Environ Monit Assess 185, 113–122 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2537-9

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