Lake Resources at Risk to Acidic Deposition in the Eastern United States

摘要

Watershed descriptors have been obtained or compiled for 1439 watersheds in the northeastern and upper midwestern United States. A methodology, which combines multiple linear regression procedures with a simple deterministic model for alkalinity shows promise as a tool for acid precipitation assessments. Mean absolute errors in predicted lake alkalinity concentrations of approximately + or - 100 micro eq/L were obtained with no significant difference (at the 0.05 significance level) between predicted and observed alkalinity histograms. Estimates of the lake resources-at-risk across the depositional gradient from Minnesota to the Adirondack Park of New York were established.