The Impact of Wildfires on Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition in the United States: A Multiple Linear Regression-based Analysis

Nitrogen deposition can exert a significant impact on global ecosystems. The increased occurrence of natural factors such as wildfires are becoming more important in atmospheric deposition especially with the continued decreases of the anthropogenic emissions in developed countries. In this study, we investigate the mechanisms by which the increasingly frequent wildfires affect nitrogen deposition in the United States using comprehensive datasets and multiple linear regression (MLR) methods. We found a downward trend in nitrogen deposition in the U.S. (-0.09 kgN ha yr-1), mainly due to the decreases in oxidative nitrogen deposition (-0.1 kgN ha yr-1). In contrast, reduced nitrogen deposition showed a slight increase (0.02 kgN ha yr-1). Our preliminary results show that wildfires contributed ~10% to the U.S. domestic deposition overall, but the magnitudes and signs of impact vary geographically, depending on the frequency and intensity of wildfires and the dominant deposition types. On average across the U.S., wildfires predominantly negatively contribute to wet deposition, while their contributions to dry deposition is smaller or slightly positive. Specifically, wildfires enhance dry deposition in the western U.S. while inhibiting wet deposition in the southeastern U.S. Wildfires exert a suppressive effect on both oxidized and reduced forms of nitrogen deposition in the southeastern U.S. Our study highlights the significant influence of wildfires on nitrogen deposition, underscoring the need to consider wildfire events in environmental management and policy-making.