Characterization of Rainwater Dissolved Organic Matter by Ultrahigh Resolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry

Rainwater is a complex, heterogeneous mixture of dissolved organic matter (DOM) that remains largely uncharacterized at the molecular level. Rainwater with dissolved organic carbon values ranging from 3 to 450 μM was collected during 40 separate rain events from 2007-2011 that included coastal and terrestrial storms based upon 36 hour back trajectories. Individual rain samples were lypholized and solvent added in preparation for analysis by negative electrospray ionization and atmospheric pressure photoionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). This data set is unique in that each rain event was analyzed individually and not combined allowing for unprecedented insight into rainwater DOM at the molecular level on an episodic basis. Unique elemental compositions were assigned for compounds belonging to CHO, CHOS and CHON classes. Data visualization by van Krevelen diagrams showed clear differences in coastal and terrestrial storm events with a majority of coastal storms having high H/C (1.5-2.0) relative to terrestrial storms. Further inspection of the data revealed that rainwater has relatively high O/C (1.4) and low H/C (<0.5) which suggests rainwater DOM is compositionally different than fog water, water soluble organic carbon isolated from aerosols and surface waters.