Half-century nitrogen deposition increase across China: A gridded time-series data set for regional environmental assessments

A wide variety of studies have revealed a substantial increase in nitrogen (N) deposition in China, but the lack of spatially-explicit time-series N deposition data set has long hindered us from assessing the impacts of atmospheric N input on ecosystem services. In this study, we combined site-level monitoring, gridded precipitation data and atmospheric transport modeling results to generate annual N bulk deposition data in China with a spatial resolution of 10 km × 10 km and a time span from 1961 to 2008. It shows that national average N deposition rate had large interannual variation, and it increased by 59%, from 12.64 kg N ha−1 yr−1 in the 1960s to 20.07 kg N ha−1 yr−1 in the recent decade, with the most rapid increase centered in the southeastern China that is already N-enriched. Large spatial variation as well as dry deposition input has to be taken into account when estimating the amount of N deposited onto land surface of China. The spatial and temporal information on N deposition derived from this study could be used by ecosystem, hydrological, and climate modeling as well as by policy makers for assessing the impacts of nitrogen enrichment on regional climate, water resources, and biogeochemical cycles. •Gridded N deposition data in China during 1961–2008 was developed in this study.•China's N deposition is found to increase by 59%, to 20.07 kg N ha−1 yr−1 in the 2000s.•Spatial heterogeneity ought to be considered in estimating China's N deposition.