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Chemical composition of rain water and influence of airmass trajectories at a rural site in an ecological sensitive area of Western Ghats (India)

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Abstract

Samples of rain water were collected during monsoon season (June to September) of 2006 and 2007 at Hudegadde, a rural site located in an ecological sensitive area of Western Ghats. The collected samples were analyzed for pH, conductivity and major ions. At this site, rainwater pH varied from 4.20 to 7.39 with 5.65 as volume weighed mean. The observed mean was slightly lower than the average pH reported at most of the Indian continental sites. Monthly variation showed that average pH of rain water was the lowest during September (end of monsoon) and the highest during July (peak of monsoon). Overall, marine sources had dominating influence at this site. However, significant influence of anthropogenic and crustal sources from local as well as inter-continental regions was also noticed. As compared to NO −3 , higher concentration of SO 2−4 was noticed which might be due to contribution from industrial activities responsible for SO2 emission. At this site, influence of five types of airmass trajectories was noticed i.e. i) C.I.O. (Central part of Indian Ocean)-when air masses blown from Maldives and nearby region of central Indian ocean. These airmasses had higher concentrations of nss Ca2+ which did not show any adverse impact on the pH; ii) N.W.I.O.(North-West Indian Ocean)-when airmasses travelled from oceanic region close to north-east Africa. These airmassses had higher concentrations of nss sulphate and nitrate and gave rise to acid rain; iii) S.W.I.O. (South -West Indian Ocean)- when airmasses came from southern part of Indian ocean (close to Mauritius). During these airmasses, rain water samples had almost equal ratio of nss SO 2−4 and nss Ca2+ similar to N.W.I.O but very low NO −3 ; iv) Gulf-when airmasses were observed coming from Gulf region. Although these airmasses contributed only 2% of the total number of samples but carried high amount of nss SO 2−4 which gave rise to acid rain. The second lowest pH was observed during these airmasses which might be due to very high nssSO 2−4 /nssCa2+ ratios; v) N.W.I.O. + S.W.I.C. (North-West Indian Ocean+South-West Indian Continental)- when airmasses originated from north-west Indian Ocean travelling towards south continental part of India and then arriving to the site. During these airmasses, samples showed typical influence of urban activities having high concentrations of nss SO 2−4 and NO −3 leading to the lowest pH of rain water.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. H Rodhe and Dr L Granat, Stockholm University, Sweden for their valuable support and suggestions and Director, IICT for his encouragements. RAPIDC-CAD financial support from SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) through Stockholm University (IMI MISU) and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is gratefully acknowledged. Our sincere thanks are due to Mr. K.C. Hegde for helping in sample collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Jetta Satyanarayana, Loka Arun Kumar Reddy & R Nageswara Rao

  2. National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, 110 012, India

    Monika Jain Kulshrestha

  3. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110 067, India

    Umesh Chandra Kulshrestha

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  1. Jetta Satyanarayana
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  4. R Nageswara Rao
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Correspondence to Umesh Chandra Kulshrestha.

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Satyanarayana, J., Reddy, L.A.K., Kulshrestha, M.J. et al. Chemical composition of rain water and influence of airmass trajectories at a rural site in an ecological sensitive area of Western Ghats (India). J Atmos Chem 66, 101–116 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-011-9193-2

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