Chemical Characteristics of Atmospheric Precipitation in Shenzhen
深圳大气降水的化学组成特征

The precipitation chemical components are good indicators of the air pollution. With rapid economic developing, air quality has greatly changed in Shenzhen. To investigate Chemical feature of precipitation and atmospheric pollution characteristics in Shenzhen, two-year precipitation samples in Shenzhen were collected and analyzed. Based on the dataset, chemical characteristics of rainwater in Shenzhen were discussed. Results show that the concentration of the sum of anions and cations in Shenzhen rainwater was lower compared to northern cities like Beijing, whereas the acidification of rainwater was very serious in Shenzhen. Volume-weighted mean pH values of rainwater were 4.48 and 4.68 respectively, and 88% and 91% of rain events were acidic in 2004 and 2005, respectively. The contribution of SO2-4 to Shenzhen rainwater acidity was smaller than that in northern cities and NO-3 and Cl- played an important part to acidification of Shenzhen precipitation. The contribution of Cl- and Na+to rainwater chemical components was higher, indicating the significant marine influence on Shenzhen precipitation. The secondary components like SO2-4, NO-3 and NH+4 contributed significantly to total ions of rainwater and they accounted for more than 40% of total ions in 2004 and 2005, which indicated the severe secondary pollution in Shenzhen. There was the obvious difference in origins for different rainwater components. Cl-, K+ and Na+were mainly from marine contribution while SO2-4, NO-3, Ca2+ and Mg2+ were mainly from non-sea salt fraction. Formic acid, acetic acid and oxalic acid were most abundant low-molecular weight organic acids and the sum of their concentrations accounted for 94% and 99% of total organic acids determined in 2004 and 2005, respectively.