Source Identification of Total Nitrogen Based on CHEMTAX Model Using Hydrochemical Fingerprint Indicators: Mixing Experiment of End-member Samples and Generation of Virtual Datasets

This data is used in paper: Source Identification of Total Nitrogen Based on CHEMTAX Model Using Hydrochemical Fingerprint Indicators: Mixing Experiment of End-member Samples and Generation of Virtual Datasets. This study aimed to establish a total nitrogen (TN) source identification method using CHEMTAX model combined with fingerprint indicators. In this work, various types of TN sources were collected and mixed to obtain simulated river water samples with known proportions. Several hydrochemical indicators of both sources and simulated samples were tested as a dataset. Based on this dataset we established the TN source identification method by using four cations (K+, Ca2+, Na+ and Mg2+) and two elements Sr and Si. The reliability and limitation of the method was analyzed from three aspects, including the selection of fingerprint indicators, classification of pollution source groups, and the statistical characteristics of each fingerprint indicator of sources. Correlation between calculated and preset proportion proved this method was reliability. A framework for establishing methods for source identification could be used in other source identification fields.