• Catchment Management
• Project Background
• Monitoring
• Soil Descriptions
• Vegetation Descriptions
• Topography
• Allt a' Mharcaidh references
• Deposition Chemistry
  • Bulk deposition chemistry
  • Interception deposition chemistry
• Snow
• Vegetation community composition
• Soil characteristics and chemistry
• Ground water chemistry
• Surface water chemistry
• Automatic Weather Station (CEH)
• Current Research Project
• Management of the Reserve

Allt a' Mharcaidh Catchment

Bulk Deposition Chemistry

The quality and quantity of bulk deposition is monitored at the site using standard 12" ground level gauges. In 1986 five ground level rain gauges (RG 1,2,3,4,5,) were located at selected sites within the catchment that represent differences in altitude, topography and aspect.
In 1990, the original experimental design was modified to account for an area of the catchment that was exposed, north facing and with no instrumentation. A bulk deposition collector was introduced to the existing network of collectors at 760 m (RG 7).
Sampling at RG1 stopped in 1990 and restarted in 1998. Following the completion of the deposition study in 1997, most of the bulk deposition gauges were removed but long term monitoring of bulk deposition continues at site 2 (RG2 at the AWS) and at deposition gauge 1 near the stream outflow.

The deposition sampling programme took place in the snow-free periods from spring through to autumn each year to avoid snow contamination in the samples. From 1986-1989 samples were collected every fortnight, thereafter the sampling frequency increased to weekly intervals until 1997. From 2004, sample collection took place at the bulk gauges during routine sampling campaigns approximately 14 times per year.

To access the data charts click on interactive chart or use the list below:

• Rain Gauge 1
• Rain Gauge 2
• Rain Gauge 3
• Rain Gauge 4
• Rain Gauge 5
• Rain Gauge 7

Analytical data were rejected from the study when there was evidence of contamination from birds (i.e. phosphate concentrations >0.5 mgl^-1, potassium >0.2 mgl^-1, nitrogen species >0.5 mgl^-1). No observation was rejected as long as the sum base cations (Mg, Na, K, Ca, H, NH₄-N) / sum of acid anions (SO₄-S, NO₃-N, Cl) was within a ± 10 % error for that individual sample