RUI: Organic Acids in Coastal North Carolina Rainwater

酸雨和酸沉降已经成为科学界的主要研究课题 和政治上的担忧。 雨水具有天然的酸度， 溶解的二氧化碳 虽然雨水的酸度 由于人类排放的某些气体， 其他自然资源也可能有所贡献。 之间 这些自然资源是植被， 天然有机酸，如乙酸和甲酸。 一个 了解有机酸的作用，它们的来源， 生态系统在其起源中的影响与一个 更全面地了解导致 酸雨的形成。 该项目的主要目标是建立 雨水中甲酸和乙酸的浓度范围 两个不同的，但附近的沿海北卡罗来纳州的环境， 盐沼和森林，以评估生态系统是否可以 影响了它所接收的降水的成分。 雨水收集将根据暴雨情况进行， 生长和非生长季节。 雨水样本将 通过离子色谱法分析氯化物，硫酸盐，硝酸盐， 铵、甲酸和甲酸。酸度（pH） 雨水也将被测量。第二个目标是 确定取样程序对测量的 甲酸和乙酸的浓度。

Acid rain and acid deposition have become major scientific and political concerns. Rain has a natural acidity due to dissolved carbon dioxide. Although the acidity of rain can be made even greater by the emission of certain gases from human endeavors, other natural sources may contribute as well. Among these natural sources is vegetation which is presumably a source of natural organic acids such as acetic and formic acids. An understanding of the role of organic acids, their origin, and the influence of ecosystems in their origin is relevant to a more complete understanding of processes leading to the formation of acid rain. A primary goal of this project is to establish concentration ranges of formic and acetic acid in rainwater from two distinct but nearby coastal North Carolina environments, a salt marsh and a forest, to evaluate whether an ecosystem can influence the composition of the precipitation that it receives. Rainwater will be collected on an storm event basis during growing and non-growing seasons. The rainwater samples will be analyzed by ion chromatography for chloride, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, formic acid, and formic acid. The acidity (pH) of the rainwater will be measured as well. A secondary goal is to determine the effect of sampling procedure on the measured concentrations of formic and acetic acids.