Studying precipitation chemistry by multivariate analysis based on data of rural stations in Russian Barents Region

Multivariate analysis methods have been applied to studying variations in the concentrations of Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, S, Sb, Si, Sn, Sr, Th, Tl, U, V, Zn, Cl^?, NO ₃ ^? , SO ₄ ^2? as components of precipitation at 11 rural stations under project “Ecogeochemistry of Barents Region”. Hierarchic factor analysis revealed the structure and space-time distribution of seven first-order factors and two second-order factors. The combinations of ingredients that determine the composition of first-order factors characterize the sources of precipitation composition, which have been found to be specific and volatile products of fuel oil and coal combustion, marine and earth aerosols, and biogenic processes. Second-order factors showed two independent sets of components, which are typical of the chemistry of precipitation at the examined stations in winter and summer. Step-by-step discriminant and cluster analysis made it possible to classify the observational stations by precipitation chemistry and demonstrate the extent of difference between them.