Fine and Coarse Ionic Aerosol Components in Relation to Wet and Dry Deposition

The distribution of acidic andalkaline constituents (SO₄ ^2-,NO₃ ^-, Cl^-, NH₄ ⁺, Na⁺,K⁺, Ca²⁺) between the fine and coarseparticle range has been examined in an urban locationin Thessaloniki, N. Greece over an 8-month period. The chemistry of wet and dry deposition collected overthe same period was also examined. Statisticalassociations between species within each environmentalphase were investigated using correlation analysis.Use of principal component analysis was made toinvestigate compositional similarities betweenaerosol, deposited dust and rain. It was found thatSO₄ followed by NO₃, NH₄ and Caprevailed in fine aerosol. Sulphates and Ca were alsothe prevailing ions in the coarse particle fraction.Wet deposition was found to be the dominant depositionmechanism for all species. The high dry depositionrates observed for Ca and SO₄ suggest that mostof the dry deposited sulphate is in the form ofCaSO₄. Scavenging ratios of ionic speciesassociated with coarse aerosol were higher than thecorresponding ratios for fine particles. Principalcomponent analysis suggested that variations in ioniccomposition of fine aerosol could be interpretedprimarily by gas-to-particle neutralization reactionsinvolving atmospheric ammonia. In contrast, theinteraction between SO₂ and HNO₃ with Cacompounds seems to be the most likely factor that canexplain variations in wet and dry deposition ioniccontents.