Variations of weekly atmospheric deposition for multiple collectors at a site on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Eight wet/dry precipitation collectors were modified to house four additional dryfall collectors and one bulk precipitation collector to sample atmospheric deposition for 12 weeks in a small area on the southwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee; sample contamination, primarily by insects, reduced the comparison to the last nine weeks. The deposition was determined for Ca2+, Na+, Cl-, and SO42- and nutrients including total phosphorus, orthophosphate, total ammonia plus organic nitrogen, and nitrite plus nitrate. In general, deposition was lower and less variable in wet precipitation than in bulk precipitation. The higher variability of the bulk precipitation was attributed to local contamination, particularly by dust and insects. Each wet/dry precipitation collector was fitted with dryfall collectors that consisted of the dry-side bucket on a wet/dry collector, which was preloaded with distilled and deionized water, and four glass dish collectors; two of the glass dishes were preloaded with water and the other two remained dry. The deposition to the dry dish collectors was not comparable in adjacent collectors for any constituent; however, the deposition in the adjacent water-loaded dishes was comparable for most major constituents, except nutrients. A comparison of Ortho-P deposition with Total-P indicated that the P collected by the dryfall collectors was predominantly reactive, which also was reflected in the bulk deposition, whereas that in the wet deposition was mostly nonreactive. The large variability in deposition of P among the bulk and dryfall collectors suggests that alternative methods must be used to evaluate the P sources and processes of atmospheric transfer.