Chemistry of fog water collected in the Mt. Rokko Area (Kobe City, Japan) between April 1997 and March 2001

Fog chemistry was studied for four years (April 1997-March 2001) at Mt. Rokko (altitude 931 m) in Kobe, Japan. A collection of samples was obtained at a mountainous site close to a highly industrialized area. The samples were collected by an active string-fog collector. The summer fog was dense and frequent. The geography of Mt. Rokko is linked to the seasonality of the occurrence and the thickness of the fog. Among the meteorological parameters, the relative humidity was important for the occurrence of fog. The correlation of the concentrations of the components in fog water indicated that (NH4)(2)SO4 and/or NH4HSO4 were involved in the process of the formation of fog drops in the atmosphere. The concentration of the components decreased with an increase in the liquid water content (LWC) of the fog, and the seasonal variation of the concentration of some components depended on the seasonal variation of the LWC. The equivalent ratio of NO3- to non-sea salt (nss-) SO42- was considerably larger than that in precipitation. Ammonium ion accounted for the largest percentage of cations, which indicates that NH4 was an important counter cation for NO3- and nss-SO42-. A unique fog event in which the air pollutants seemed to be scavenged stoichiometrically was sometimes observed. The methodology used for collecting fog water at 60 mL intervals provided detailed information.