Low molecular weight (LMW) organic acids are important and ubiquitous chemical constituents in the atmosphere.A comprehensive study of the chemical composition of precipitation was carried out from June 2007 to June 2008 at a rural site in Anshun,in the west of Guizhou Province,China.During this period,118 rainwater samples were collected and the main LMW carboxylic acids were determined using ion chromatography.The average pH of rainwater was 4.89 which is a typical acidic value.The most abundant carboxylic acids were formic acid (volume weight mean concentration:8.77 μmol L-1) and acetic acid (6.90 μmol L-1),followed by oxalic acid (2.05 μmol L-1).The seasonal variation of concentrations and wet deposition fluxes of organic acids indicated that direct vegetation emissions were the main sources of the organic acids.Highest concentrations were observed in winter and were ascribed to the low winter rainfall and the contribution of other air pollution sources northeast of the study area.The ratio of formic and acetic acids in the precipitation ([F/A] T) was proposed as an indicator of pollution source.This suggested that the pollution resulted from direct emissions from natural or anthropogenic sources.Comparison with acid precipitation in other urban and rural areas in Guizhou showed that there was a decreasing contribution of LMW organic acids to free acidity and all anions in rainwater from urban to remote rural areas.Consequently,it is necessary to control emissions of organic acids to reduce the frequency of acid rain,especially in rural and remote areas.
Fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) from different land use patterns (matured forest, secondary forest, grassland and cropland) in a subtropical karst region of Guizhou Province, Southwest China, were measured for one year with a closed static chamber technique and by gas chromatography. The results showed that soil under different land uses was a source of atmospheric N2O. The cropland was a source with relatively high N2O as compared to forest and grassland, but no significant differences were observed. N2O emissions from soils varied with land use change and fertilizer application. There were two peaks of N2O flux occurred following the combination of two obvious precipitation and fertilizer events in the cultivated land. Converting from the matured forest to secondary forest tended to increase annual emissions of N2O (from 1.40 to 1.65 kg N ha -1 a -1 ), while changing land use from secondary forest to scattered grassland tended to decrease annual emissions of N2O slightly (from 1.65 to 1.45 kg N ha -1 a -1 ). Our range of cumulative annual N2O emission across different land uses (1.40-1.91 kg N ha -1 a -1 ) in a karst region is in general agreement with previously published data in a non-karst region. However, in the maize field, N2O emission factor (EF) was 0.34% for fertilizer application, which is about 71.2% lower than the IPCC default value. It is suggested that current IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) EF methodology could overestimate N2O emission from the karstic cropland. Anyway, the N2O emission from cropland in the karst region would contribute significantly to the global N2O budget, so reducing fertilization frequency during the crop growing season could lead to a decrease in N2O emission in the whole year.
NOx emissions from biogenic sources in soils play a significant role in the gaseous loss of soil nitrogen and consequent changes in tropospheric chemistry. In order to investigate the characteristics of NOx fluxes and factors influencing these fluxes in degraded sandy grasslands in northern China, diurnal and spatial variations of NOx fluxes were measured in situ. A dynamic flux chamber method was used at eight sites with various vegetation coverages and soil types in the northern steppe of China in the summer season of 2010.Fluxes of NOx from soils with plant covers were generally higher than those in the corresponding bare vegetation-free soils, indicating that the canopy plays an important role in the exchange of NOx between soil and air. The fluxes of NOx increased in the daytime,and decreased during the nighttime, with peak emissions occurring between 12：00 and14：00. The results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the diurnal variation of NOx fluxes was positively correlated with soil temperature（P 〈 0.05） and negatively with soil moisture content（P 〈 0.05）. Based on measurement over a season, the overall variation in NOx flux was lower than that of soil nitrogen contents, suggesting that the gaseous loss of N from the grasslands of northern China was not a significant contributor to the high C/N in the northern steppe of China. The concentration of NOx emitted from soils in the region did not exceed the 1-hr National Ambient Air Quality Standard（0.25 mg/m^3）.
Bing WangXinqing LeeBenny K.G. ThengJianzhong ChengFang Yang
