Long-term trends in the chemical composition of precipitation over western Japan

Wet deposition monitoring was conducted at six rural stations in western Japan, during the period from 1987 through 1996. Long-term trends in the concentration of non-sea salt ions were analyzed on the basis of the data obtained. The monitoring results indicated that annual average concentrations of NO3- and NH4+ in precipitation significantly increased on the order of 45%, and that of nss-Ca2+ and nSS-SO42-, concentrations did not change over the past 10 years. The ratio of NO3-/nss-SO42- in precipitation significantly increased, the ratio of NO3-/NH4+ showed no marked fluctuations, and the ratio of [nss-Ca2++NH4+]/[nss-SO42-+NO3-] slightly increased during the period. These findings suggested that the wet deposition of NO3- and NH4+ in western Japan, particularly that in the winter season, was influenced by the long-range transport of nitrogen oxides and ammonia from the Asian continent.