Abstract
The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) established a cooperative monitoring network for precipitation chemistry to survey acidic deposition in October 1987. The major objectives of this monitoring program were to collect fundamental data on the temporal and spatial distribution of acidicdeposition and to provide a database to assess the effects of acidification on terrestrial ecosystems. On the basis of the data collected between October 1987 and September 1996, we analyzed (i) wet depositions of major ions in precipitation;(ii) seasonal variation and long-term trend of chemical composition;(iii) atmospheric sulfur budget over the Japanese Archipelago; and developed a long-range transport model to estimate acidic deposition. In this paper, I describe the design of the CRIEPI monitoring network, meteorological and geological factors affecting the chemical composition of precipitation, and the present status of acidic deposition in East Asia.
