Response of a grassland ecosystem to air pollutants : 4. The chemical climate: concentrations of relevant non-criteria pollutants (trace gases and aerosols)

The concentrations of sulfur dioxide, nitric acid, nitrous acid, hydrogen chloride, ammonia and sulfate, nitrate, chloride and ammonia in aerosols were measured continuously for 2 years at the rural site of Rotenkamp near Braunschweig in South East Lower Saxony. The level of air pollution registered is typical for rural industrial areas in Central Europe. Long range transport of polluted air masses from Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony affects air quality when high-pressure areas over Eastern Europe result in easterly winds and reduced vertical exchange due to low inversion layers.