Evidence of sulphur and nitrogen deposition signals at the United Kingdom Acid Waters Monitoring Network sites

Some recent studies of trends in sulphate in surface waters have alluded to possible lag effects imposed by catchment soils, resulting in discrepancies between trends in deposition and run-off. To assess the extent of these possible effects in the UK, sulphate concentration data from the United Kingdom Acid Waters Monitoring Network (AWMN) sites are compared with estimates of sulphur deposition at each site. From these data, input–output budgets are computed at an annual time scale. The estimated budgets suggest a close association between catchment sulphur inputs and outputs at an annual scale, with well-balanced annual budgets at most sites, indicative of only minor lag effects. A similar analysis of the AWMN site nitrogen budget shows little evidence of an association between nitrogen inputs and outputs at this time scale.