Estimation of the potential and probable source regions for acid precipitation. Final report. [MAP3S]

Concentrations of ionic species collected in the Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Study (MAP3S) have been diagnosed to ascertain whether a relationship exists between the concentrations of sulfate and nitrate in precipitation and the magnitude of estimated upwind emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, respectively. It was found that, even when segregated by season, the data fail to exhibit any well-defined relationship between emissions and resultant concentrations. Additionally, no significant correlation could be discerned between sulfate concentrations in precipitation and the inverse of estimated upwind wind speed. A regional-scale sulfur transport and deposition model was employed to estimate source-receptor relationships for sulfur compounds at each of the MAP3S receptors for each of three years, 1979 to 1981. These calculations illustrate that the range of variation in many specific source-receptor relationships may be as large as the absolute value of the source-receptor relationship itself. 42 references, 44 figures, 9 tables.