Atmospheric Environment 237 (2020) 117580 Available online 4 June 2020 1352-2310/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Infuence of the precipitation interval on wet atmospheric deposition M. Peretti a , G. Pi ~ neiro b, c, d , M.E. Fern� andez Long a , D.A. Carnelos a, c, d, * a Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, C� atedra de Climatología y Fenología Agrícolas, Buenos Aires, Argentina b Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, C� atedra de Ecología, Buenos Aires, Argentina c CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiol� ogicas y Ecol� ogicas vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA), Buenos Aires, Argentina d LART- Laboratorio de An� alisis Regional y Teledetecci� on, Buenos Aires, Argentina HIGHLIGHTS � A positive relationship between WAD and DWP has been observed for the US. � The amount of precipitation of each event and variability between sites strongly infuence on WAD. � There is a short period of time in which the increase in WAD with increases in the DWP is greater and it occurs between 0 and 5 DWP. A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Soluble ions Atmospheric composition Wet atmospheric deposition ABSTRACT Atmospheric deposition (AD) is the transfer of soluble ions found in the atmosphere to the earth’s surface by sedimentation (dry deposition) or by their inclusion or solution in raindrops (wet deposition, WAD). In this way, AD links the atmosphere with terrestrial ecosystems, being a key part of biogeochemical cycles. Although numerous investigations have quantifed WAD, little is known about the temporal deposition patterns and the factors that control them. The objective of this work was to determine the relationship between the number of days without precipitation (DWP) between two rain events and the WAD magnitude. For this, we worked with AD data of soluble ions (Ca 2þ , Mg 2þ , K þ , Na þ , NH 4 þ , NO 3  , Cl  and SO 4 2 ) obtained from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program of the United States. This network contains more than 250 collections and measurement sites of WAD that provide information of quantities, trends and geographic distribution of ions contained in rainwater. 198 sites were selected to cover the environmental variability of the US. In addition, each site had atmospheric deposition records between 1994 and 2018. A positive relationship between WAD and DWP was observed in the region analyzed, however the effect of DWP was low. The model proposed achieved to explain much of the variability in wet depositions and demonstrated that, the amount of precipitation of the event and variability between sites strongly infuence on WAD. We found that there is a short time interval in which the increase in WAD due to increases in the number of days without rain is greater and occurs between 0 and 5 days. 1. Introduction Atmospheric deposition (AD) is a key component of nutrient cycling in ecosystems, which helps to determine and trace biogeochemical fuxes in the land at multiple scales. AD is one of the main natural routes of nutrient entry into ecosystems and determines their spatial redistri- bution between different landscapes and regions (Baker et al., 2007). In this way, AD links the atmosphere to terrestrial systems as part of the cycling of ions (Souza et al., 2006). AD includes the fux of a chemical compound to the earth’s surface dissolved in rain water (wet AD; WAD) and the fux of trace gases and particles via turbulent exchange and gravitational settling followed by the interaction with exposed surfaces (dry AD; DAD) (Fowler et al., 2009; Schlesinger, 2000; Vet et al., 2014a, 2014b). Through WAD, chemical substances in the atmosphere are incorporated into water by solubilization, returning in the form of rain or snow to the land surface. Rainwater has a fundamental role in cleaning the atmosphere and taking particles and contaminants to the earth’s surface. As a result, * Corresponding author. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, C� atedra de Climatología y Fenología Agrícolas, Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail addresses: merperetti@agro.uba.ar (M. Peretti), carnelos@agro.uba.ar (D.A. Carnelos). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Atmospheric Environment journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117580 Received 3 January 2020; Received in revised form 20 March 2020; Accepted 28 April 2020