Assessment of atmospheric deposition of nutrients in Minnesota

summary

The results of this research showed that the amount of nutrient in rainfall changes not only throughout the season but also by the amount of water in each precipitation event. Although the total amount of N we observed in the first year of the study were not as high as expected, they were still higher than what is reported by other national programs. Most interestingly was the water pH and how much it differs from what NOAA reports for the state. We were at least one unit higher than what is reported. The reason for this discrepancy is not known yet and warrant further investigations. The presence of high levels of Ca and K could be the reason for the high pH observed in the study. This is the first year that alkali and alkali earth metals have been measured in the study. It will be important to continue monitoring the concentration of those elements in rainfall and snow samples in the future years the study is conducted.