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 pa rticles in the atmosphere. However, the concentrations of acid forming ions, such as SO42- and NO3-, were higher than the concentrations exp ected in a typical urban atmosphere. Most of the SO42- in rain water w as in the form of CaSO4. Rain-aerosol coupling were examined by simult aneous sampling of aerosols with rain. The ions most efficiently scave nged from the atmosphere were found to be SO42- and Ca2+. (C) 1996 Els evier Science Ltd