Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, sulfur and chloride in Thessaloniki, Greece

In the present study, the wet and dry depositions of particulate NO3−, SO42−, Cl− and NH4+ were measured using a wet/dry sampler as a surrogate surface. Gas phase compounds of nitrogen, sulfur and chloride (HNO3, NH3, SO2 and HCl) were measured by an annular denuder system (ADS) equipped with a back up filter for the collection of particles with diameter ≤ 5 μm. Ambient concentrations of NO, NO2 and SO2 were also taken into consideration. Sampling was conducted at an urban site in the center of the city of Thessaloniki, northern Greece. The presence of the aerosol species was examined by cold/warm period and the possible compounds in dry deposits were also considered. Dry deposition fluxes were found to be well correlated with ambient particle concentrations in order to be used for the calculation of particle deposition velocity. Average particulate deposition velocities calculated were 0.36, 0.20, 0.20 and 0.10 cm s− 1 for Cl−, NO3−, SO42− and NH4+, respectively. Total dry deposition fluxes (gas and particles) were estimated at 3.24 kg ha− 1 year− 1 for chloride (HCl + p-Cl), 9.97 kg ha− 1 year− 1 for nitrogen oxidized (NO + NO2 + HNO3 + p-NO3), 5.32 kg ha− 1 year− 1 for nitrogen reduced (NH3 + p-NH4) and 15.77 kg ha− 1 year− 1 for sulfur (SO2 + p-SO4). 70–90% total dry deposition was due to gaseous species deposition. The contribution of dry deposition to the total (wet + dry) was at the level of 60–70% for sulfur and nitrogen (oxidized and reduced), whereas dry chloride deposition contributed 35% to the total. The dry-to-wet deposition ratio of all the studied species was found to be significantly associated with the precipitation amount, with nitrogen species being better and higher correlated. Wet, dry and total depositions measured in Thessaloniki, were compared with other countries of Europe, US and Asia.