Dry deposition of reactive nitrogen and sulfur compounds in the greater Seoul area

Abstract

While deposition is a removal process of pollutants from the atmosphere, it is an intake process of such pollutants into the ground. It is suggested that surface waters in the Greater Seoul Area, used as a source of drinking water, have been affected by severe air pollution. In this work, the dry deposition of reactive nitrogen and sulfur species was estimated for three typical days in each season for the year of 1997. The CTT (California Institute of Technology) photochemical model incorporated with a gaseous oxidation reaction of SO2 was used. The study revealed that reactive nitrogen deposition was the largest in summer and sulfur deposition was the largest in winter. Most of the reactive nitrogen was deposited in the form of HNO3 and NO2, but HNO3 deposition is highly dependent on the season according to the extent of photochemical production. On the other hand, the contribution of sulfate to the total deposition of sulfur was minimal partly because of low deposition velocity and of the neglect of possible inflow from the boundaries. Approximately 53% of the reactive nitrogen and 30% of the sulfur emitted in the study area was deposited in the ground in the dry form on an annual basis.