Rain water chemistry in Ankara, Turkey

Samples of rain water were collected in Ankara for the period between September 1989 and May 1990, by using wet-only sampler. Concentrations of major cations (H+, Na+ K+ Ca2+ and NH4+) and major anions (Cl−, NO3− and SO42−) were determined for the first time in Turkey. The rain water was not acidic owing to high concentrations of alkaline soil particles in the atmosphere. However, the concentrations of acid forming ions, such as SO4− and N03, were higher than the concentrations expected in a typical urban atmosphere. Most of the SO4− in rain water was in the form of CaSO4. Rain-aerosol coupling were examined by simultaneous sampling of aerosols with rain. The ions most efficiently scavenged from the atmosphere were found to be SO42− and Ca2+.