Abstract:

The determination of the chemical composition of rainfall related to the origin of the air masses, in two urban sites in Greece during the year 2006, is investigated in this study. Two model automatic rain samplers were installed, the first in the city of Larissa, Thessaly, central Greece and the second in Heraklio, Attica, a northern suburb of Athens. The concentrations (ppm) of the major cations (H+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, NH4+ and Mg2+) and major anions (NO 3-, NO2-, HCO3 -, and SO42-), as well as total hardness (ppm CaCO3), pH and electric conductivity in 25°C (μS/cm) for 27 rainfall samples -11 samples in Larissa and 16 samples in Heraklio (Athens)- were determined. In Larissa, the figures of pH range from 5.13 to 6.13 while in Heraklio (Athens), the pH within the range 5.62 to 7.88 indicates a shift of the rainfalls towards alkalinity. The electric conductivity in Larissa ranges from 16.30 μS/cm to 110.60 μS/cm and in Heraklio (Athens) from 7.00 μS/cm to 151.00 μS/cm. The analysis showed that Ca2+ and Mg2+ appear the highest concentrations out of the examined cations, while HCO 3- and SO42- present the highest concentrations within the anions. Moreover, in order to find out the origin of the air masses, the air mass back trajectories were calculated using the HYSPLIT 4 model of Air Resources Laboratory of NOAA for two different levels: 1500 and 3000 m (a.m.s.l.). © by PSP 2008.

Notes:

Export Date: 2 November 2015CODEN: FENBECorrespondence Address: Nastos, P. T.; University of Athens, Department of Geography and Climatology, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, Panepistimiopolis 157 84 Athens, Greece; email: nastos@geol.uoa.grReferences: Beilke, P., Acid deposition. The present situation in Europe (1983) Technical Report EUR, , 8307, Comm. Eur. Communities, 3-30;CEC (1985) Report on the actions of the Commission of the EEC on acid deposition, , EUR 9985 EN, 1-57; Pierson, W.R., Chang, T.Y., Acid rain in Western Europe and Northeastern United States- Technical appraisal (1986) Critical Reviews in Environmental Control, 16, pp. 167-192; Glavas, S., A wet only precipitation study in a Mediterranean site, Patras, Greece (1988) Atmospheric Environment, 22, pp. 1505-1507; Dikaiakos, I.G., Tsitouris, C.G., Siskos, P.A., Melissos, D.A., Nastos, P.T., Rainwater Composition in Athens, Greece (1990) Atmospheric Environment, 24 B, pp. 171-176; Samara, C., Tsitouridou, R., Balafoutis, C., Chemical Composition of Rain in Thessaloniki, Greece, in relation to Meteorological Conditions (1992) Atmospheric Environment, 26 B, pp. 359-367; LeBolloch, O., Guerzoni, P., Acid and alkaline deposition in precipitation on the western coast of Sardinia, central Mediterranean (1995) Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 85, pp. 2155-2160; Tuncel, P.G., Ungoer, P., Rain water chemistry in Ankara, Turkey (1996) Atmospheric Environment, 26 B, pp. 483-490; Guelsoy, G., Tayanc, M., Ertuerk, F., Chemical analysis of the major ions in the precipitation of Instanbul, Turkey (1999) Environmental Pollution, 105, pp. 273-280; Vocom, I.E., Air pollution damage to buildings on the Acropolis (1979) Journal of Air Pollution and Control Association, 29, pp. 333-338; Skoulikidis, T.N. (1983) Effects of primary and secondary air pollutants and acid depositions on (ancient and modern) buildings and monuments. In: Proceedings of the EEC Symposium: Acid deposition. A Challenge for Europe. Karlsruhe, 193-226Cheng, R.I., Hwu, I.R., Kim, J.T., Leu, P.M., Deterioration of marble structures. The role of acid rain (1987) Analytical Chemistry, 59, pp. 104A-106A; Dikaiakos, J.G., Nastos, P.T., (1987) Chemical analysis of rain in Athens, (23). , Publication of the Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, University of Athens; Smirnioudi, V.N., Siskos, P.A., Chemical Composition of Wet and Dust Deposition in Athens, Greece (1992) Atmospheric Environment, 26 B, pp. 483-490; Kelepertsis, A.E., Nastos, P.T., Alexakis, D.E., Kanellopoulou, E.A., Chemical analysis of rain in Athens (2002) Proceedings of the 6 th Hellenic Congress in Meteorology, Climatology and Atmospheric Physics, pp. 122-131. , Ioannina, Greece; Kita, I., Sato, T., Kase, Y., Mitropoulos, P., Neutral rains at Athens, Greece: A natural safeguard against acidification of rains (2004) Science of the Total Environment, 327, pp. 285-294; Nastos, P.T., Alexakis, D., Kanellopoulou, E.A., Kelepertsis, A.E., Chemical composition of rainwater in Athens, in relation to the pollutants sources (2004) Proceedings of the 7th Hellenic Scientific Congress in Meteorology-Climatology and Atmospheric Physics, pp. 845-855. , Nicosia, Cyprus; Nastos, P.T., Alexakis, D., Kanellopoulou, E.A., Kelepertsis, A.E., Chemical composition of wet deposition in Athens, Greece, related to the origin of air masses (2007) Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 58, pp. 167-179; Glavas, S., Moschonas, N., Origin of observed acidic-alkaline rains in a wet-only precipitation study in a Mediterranean coastal site, Patras, Greece (2002) Atmospheric Environment, 36, pp. 3089-3099; Mihalopoulos, N., Stephanou, E., Kanakidou, M., Pilitsis, P., Bousquet, P., Tropospheric aerosol ionic composition in the Eastern Mediterranean region (1997) Tellus, 49 B, pp. 314-326; Tsikritsis, G.E., Precipitation Chemistry in Central Greece (2006) Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 15, pp. 1499-1505; Moody, J.R., Lindstrom, R.M., Selection and cleaning of plastic containers for storage of trace element samples (1977) Analytical Chemistry, 49, pp. 2264-2267; Draxler, R.R., Hess, G.D., Description of the HYSPLIT-4 modeling system (1997) NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL, ALP-224, p. 24; Draxler, R.R., Hess, G.D., An overview of the HYSPLIT-4 modeling system for trajectories, dispersion and deposition (1998) Australian Meteorological Magazine, 47, pp. 295-308; Rogora, M., Mosello, R., Marchetto, A., Long-term trends in the chemistry of atmospheric deposition in Northwestern Italy: The role of increasing Saharan dust deposition (2004) Tellus B, 56, pp. 426-434;

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