Atmospheric Contributions of Nitrate to Stormwater Runoff from Two Urban Watersheds
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 2
Abstract
Two independent methods were used to assess if atmospheric deposition was a major source of nitrate nitrogen () to stormwater in two small urban watersheds located in Lincoln, NE. First, event mean concentrations (EMCs) of in stormwater during approximately 13 storms were compared with corresponding concentration in regional wet deposition. Second, contributions to stormwater were estimated using Bayesian inference based on isotopic composition ( and in ). EMC values indicated that roughly half of the total N in storm runoff was from . Average mass flux per hectare between the watersheds was significantly different for organic nitrogen (N) but not for inorganic N (nitrate and ammonia N), suggesting inorganic N originates from similar sources. Both methods showed that atmospheric deposition was a major source of in stormwater for smaller storms ( in this study), when most runoff is likely to be derived from impervious cover. In larger storms, the relative contribution from atmospheric deposition was smaller, with nitrified soil and fertilizer being the largest proportional contributors.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 2 • February 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 14, 2017
Accepted: Aug 15, 2017
Published online: Dec 13, 2017
Published in print: Feb 1, 2018
Discussion open until: May 13, 2018
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