Influence of the Copper Smelter in Krompachy (Slovakia) on Atmospheric Deposition

The contribution deals with the evaluation of atmospheric deposition monitoring in 2009–2017 which was realised in the vicinity of the copper smeltery in Krompachy (Slovakia). The samples were collected from the seven sites, which are located from 1.2 to 10 km from the main pollution source. The atmospheric deposition fluxes of solid particles and elements (Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd, As) were determined separately for “water soluble” and “insoluble” fraction. The detailed analysis of deposition fluxes showed a significant effect of the copper smeltery. In addition to the expected high levels of deposition of copper (21–140), the above-average high deposition of lead (11–124), zinc (86–464) and cadmium (0.6–3.4 μg.m–2.day–1) were measured in comparison with different areas. The highest values of deposition fluxes of these elements were detected at sites near the copper smeltery. The level of zinc deposition disagrees with its registered emissions.

Comparing atmospheric trace element accumulation of three moss species

Introduction: The intention of Vietnam to participate in the European-Asian Moss Survey in the framework of The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - International Cooperative Programme on effects of air pollution on natural vegetation and crops (UNECE ICP Vegetation) necessitates choosing appropriate moss species that grow in the tropical and subtropical climate of Vietnam. The three selected moss species, divided into phytogeographical elements, were as follows: Leucobryum (aduncum, albidum), Hypnum commutatum and Barbula indica. Methods: The present study focuses on Central Vietnam where 18 samples of the three above moss species were collected in the vicinity of Dalat and Hue cities. Elements in the moss samples were detected by neutron activation analysis (NAA) at the IBR-2 reactor of the Division of Neutron Activation Analysis, Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. Results: The analytical results for twenty-three trace elements, which were used to study elemental accumulation abilities of the three moss species in the air, were Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, As, Br, Rb, Sr, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Th, and U. The accumulation abilities were found to decrease in the following order: Leucobryum > Hypnum > Barbula. However, Leucobryum, because of its short stem, was not judged to be a suitable candidate for biomonitoring. Conclusion: The element accumulation abilities of Hypnum moss were better than those for Barbula, but both were comparable and could be used as indicators for air deposition monitoring; however, Hypnum was not widely present in Vietnam. Thus, Barbula indica moss could be used for performance of atmospheric deposition monitoring in Vietnam.

Model Inter-Comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia) phase III: multimodel comparison of reactive nitrogen deposition over China

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in China has attracted public attention in recent years due to the increasing anthropogenic emission of reactive nitrogen (Nr) and its impacts on the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. However, limited long-term and multisite measurements have restrained the understanding of the mechanism of the Nr deposition and the chemical transport model (CTM) improvement. In this study, the performance of the simulated wet and dry deposition for different Nr species, i.e., particulate NO3- and NH4+, gaseous NOx, HNO3 and NH3 have been conducted using the framework of Model Inter-Comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia) phase III. A total of nine models, including five Weather Research and Forecasting models coupled with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) models, two self-developed regional models, a global model and a Regional Atmospheric Modeling System coupled with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (RAMS-CMAQ) model have been selected for the comparison. For wet deposition, observation data from 83 measurement sites from the East Asia Acid Deposition Monitoring Network (EANET), Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN), China Agricultural University Deposition Network (CAUDN), National Acid Deposition Monitoring Network (NADMN) and Department of Ecological Environment (DEE) of China have been collected and normalized for comparison with model results. In general, most models show the consistent spatial and temporal variation of both oxidized N (Nox) and reduced N (Nrd) wet deposition in China, with the normalized mean error (NME) at around 50 %, which is lower than the value of 70 % based on EANET observation over Asia. Both the ratio of wet or dry deposition to the total inorganic N (TIN) deposition and the ratios of TIN to their emissions have shown consistent results with the Nationwide Nitrogen Deposition Monitoring Network (NNDMN) estimates. The performance of ensemble results (ENMs) was further assessed with satellite measurements. In different regions of China, the results show that the simulated Nox wet deposition was overestimated in northeastern China (NE) but underestimated in the south of China, namely southeastern (SE) and southwestern (SW) China, while the Nrd wet deposition was underestimated in all regions by all models. The deposition of Nox has larger uncertainties than the Nrd, especially in northern China (NC), indicating the chemical reaction process is one of the most important factors affecting the model performance. Compared to the critical load (CL) value, the Nr deposition in NC, SE and SW reached or exceeded reported CL values and resulted in serious ecological impacts. The control of Nrd in NC and SW and Nox in SE would be an effective mitigation measure for TIN deposition in these regions. The Nr deposition in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) with a high ratio of TIN ∕ emission (∼3.0), indicates a significant transmission from outside. Efforts to reduce these transmissions ought to be paramount due the climatic importance of the Tibetan region to the sensitive ecosystems throughout China.