Concentrations of Nitrogen and Sulfur Species in Gas and Rainwater from Six Sites in Indonesia

Gas mixing ratios of SO₂, NO₂ and HNO₃ and nitrate and sulfate concentrations in rainwater have beenmeasured at six sites in Indonesia. The sites, Jakarta, Serang,Cilegon, Merak and Bogor, in Java, and Bukit Koto Tabang inSumatra, provide a range of pollution regimes in Indonesia.Jakarta and Bogor are heavily polluted sites in Java, whereasBukit Koto Tabang is a clean air station in a relativelyunpopulated area on the west coast of equatorial Sumatra. At thesesites rainwater was collected daily and gas samples weeklyduring 1996. The other three sites Serang, Cilegon and Merakrepresent smaller regional towns in west Java. At these sitesrainwater samples were collected weekly from June 1991 untilJune 1992.The results show that Jakarta has the highest volume-weightedmean sulfate concentrations in rainwater while the lowest weremeasured at Bukit Koto Tabang. Volume-weighted mean nitrateconcentration was about 24 μeq L^-1 at Jakarta and Bogor,significantly higher than the 0.8 μeq L^-1 measured atBukit Koto Tabang.Sulfur dioxide mixing ratios ranged from 4–7 ppbv in Jakarta toan average of 1.3 ppbv at Bukit Koto Tabang. Nitrogen dioxidemixing ratio was highest in Jakarta averaging 28 ppbv comparedwith the background mixing ratio of 1.2 ppbv at Bukit KotoTabang. Using dry deposition velocities estimated during aseparate study in the similar conditions of Malaysia enabled drydeposition estimates of SO₂, HNO₃ and NO₂.Results of estimated total acidic S and N deposition (wet anddry) were greater than 250 meq m^-2 yr^-1 at the Jakartaand Bogor sites compared with about 23 meq m^-2 yr^-1 atBukit Koto Tabang. At Jakarta and Bogor dry deposition accountedfor more than 50% of the total deposition estimates compared with about 20% at Bukit Koto Tabang. Such deposition rates arehigh when compared to critical loads estimated for Indonesia bythe RAINS-Asia model. In this model, critical loads in western Java and equatorial western Sumatra fall into one of twoclasses: 50–100 and 20–50 meq m^-2 yr^-1. Thus acidic deposition flux at Jakarta and Bogor wasfound to be above the predicted critical loads even for the moreacid insensitive soils.