Interannual variability of estimated monthly nitrogen deposition to coastal waters due to variations of atmospheric variables model input

PINEDA ROJAS, A.L.; VENEGAS, L.E.

ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2010 vol. 96 p. 88 - 102

0169-8095

In this work, the influence of the interannual variation of meteorological input data on thenitrogen (N) deposition estimated applying atmospheric dispersion models is discussed. As acase study, the deposition of atmospheric oxidized N coming from the NOx generated in theMetropolitan Area of Buenos Aires to waters of de la Plata River is evaluated for three years,considering high spatial (1 km2) and temporal (1 h) resolutions. The interannual variation ofmonthly N dry deposition is in the range 10–160%, being mostly controlled by thephotochemical activity of the atmosphere and the frequency of winds towards the river. Thevariation of monthly wet deposition values between years is in general greater than a factor of2. It is mainly affected by the frequency of rainy hours and the precipitation rate during offshorewind conditions, and reaches a factor of 124 as a result of the variation of these variables in afactor of 4 and 3, respectively. These results show that estimated monthly N deposition tocoastal waters may vary significantly between years. The evaluation of the atmospheric N thatcan be transferred to coastal waters can therefore be improved considering several years ofatmospheric input data.