ATMOSPHERIC SULFUR AND NITROGEN IN WEST JAVA

Wet-only rainwater composition on a weekly basis was determined at fou r sites in West Java, Indonesia, from June 1991 to June 1992. Three si tes were near the extreme western end of Java, surrounding a coal-fire d power station at Suralaya. The fourth site was similar to 100 km to the east in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Over the 12 months study p eriod wet deposition of sulfate at the three western sites varied betw een 32-46 meg m(-2) while nitrate varied between 10-14 meg m(-2). Wet deposition at the Jakarta site was systematically higher, at 56 meg m( -2) for sulfate and 20 meg m(-2) for nitrate. Since sulfate and nitrat e wet deposition fluxes in the nearby and relatively unpopulated regio ns of tropical Australia are both only similar to 5 meg m(-2) anthropo genic emissions of S and N apparently cause significant atmospheric ac idification in Java. It is possible that total acid deposition fluxes (of S and N) in parts of Java are comparable with those responsible fo r environmental degradation in acid-sensitive parts of Europe and Nort h America.