Laboratory measurements of dry deposition of sulphur dioxide on to several soils from England and Wales

A laboratory method for measuring the dry deposition of sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) on to soils is described. The effect of soil type on deposition velocity ( v g ) was examined using samples of soils collected from 16 sites in England and Wales. Although the values of v g measured for soils at field capacity did not differ significantly they were related to soil pH; thus they ranged from 0.422 cm s −1 at pH 4.5 to 0.648 cm s −1 at pH 7.5. Oven drying reduced v g from an average value of 0.535 cm s −1 for soils at field capacity to 0.264 cm s −1 . A large proportion of deposited SO 2 was recovered from the soil as sulphate S. At an atmospheric concentration of 36 μg SO 2 m −3 , about the mean for Great Britain, the input of sulphur through this process would be 10 kg ha −1 in a 4‐month fallow period.