title: On the relationship between acid rain and cloud type.
abstract: Spanish European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) stations were selected to relate acid rain episodes with the meteorological structure that caused the rainfall during a 5-year period. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the origin of major ions (SO4(2-), NO3-, Cl-, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, and Na+) in the rainwater. In addition, the meteorological origin of the rain was identified. Previous works suggested a relationship between acid rain and storm convective clouds. However, statistical analyses of pH values show that only the short-lived convective phenomena may cause acid rain in Spain. In fact, rain generated by fronts and that related to long-lived convective systems is neutral or even slightly basic. Results suggest that the acid rain might be related to the meteorological time scale instead of to the cloud type.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. luis.cana@fisica.ulpgc.es
authors.forename: Luis C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Cana-Cascallar
mesh_terms: D015258:Acid Rain; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008685:Meteorological Concepts; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D015258:Acid Rain