Cloudwater Analysis

Processing of atmospheric nitrogen by clouds may alter the type and amount of nitrogen that can then be deposited by wet and dry deposition to a forest. To investigate this hypothesis, cloud water was collected during summer 2005 over the forested region of the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, using a Beechcraft Duchess aircraft and a modified Mohnen Slotted Rod collector. The samples were analuzed for nitrate, sulfate, calcium, and ammonium concentrations to changes in ion concentrations between various altitudes in the same cloud field and between different types of clouds in an attempt to observe cloud processing of atmospheric nitrogen.