GRADIENT DISTRIBUTION OF ACID RAIN IN THE SCENIC RESORT OF THE BAIYUN MOUNTAIN IN GUANGZHOU

1 INTRODUCTION Sitting in the central part of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou is one of the cities in China that are most polluted by acid rain. Broad attention has been brought to the problem. Since the early 1980s, a series of observation and studies h…

GRADIENT DISTRIBUTION OF ACID RAIN IN THE SCENIC RESORT OF THE BAIYUN MOUNTAIN IN GUANGZHOU

This paper analyzes the samples of rainwater from January to October 1999 at three monitoring sites of Baiyun Mountain and of aerosol composition in near-surface layer in January and June 1999 at two sites. The results suggest that (1) The pH value of rainwater is between 3.13 and 7.18, and the frequency of acid rain is more than 58 %. With the ascent of the monitoring sites, the pH value of rainwater decreases, and the frequency of acid rain increases. (2) In January, the chemical aerosol compositions at different altitudes are similar, but in June the acidity of aerosol rises at the higher site because of the increase of SO42-. (3) In rainwater, the proportion is such that SO42- is the most significant anion and Ca2 is the most important cation, but both of them decrease as the altitude ascends. The proportion of NO3- and NH4 rise at the higher site and have more contribution to the acidity of rainwater. (4) As the impact of automobile emissions around Baiyun Mountain, the proportion of NO3-/SO42-molecular concentration reaches 0.40, and NO3- is relatively more important to the rain acidity at the higher site.