Estimates of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1950-2050

Reactive nitrogen is transported from the atmosphere to the landscape as wet and dry deposition that contributes to annual nitrogen loads to the Chesapeake Bay. Estimates of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition to the Chesapeake Bay watershed during 1950 to 2050 are presented, and are based on field measurements, model simulations, statistical relations, and surrogate constituents used for estimates. Wet atmospheric nitrogen deposition has generally been quantified from weekly precipitation sample collections, whereas dry atmospheric nitrogen deposition has been simulated by a model at an hourly time step.