The pH Level of Snowfall in Fairbanks in Comparison to Other

Parts of the World

Brittany Burglin, 11th grade

Monroe Catholic High School, Fairbanks, Alaska

Mr. Greg Kahoe, gkahoe@northstar.k12.ak.us
\<mailto:gkahoe@northstar.k12.ak.us\>

**ABSTRACT**

I compared the pH of snow samples in Fairbanks to the pH of snow samples
in Sweden, Finland,and Norway by using internationally recognized
scientific protocols and comparing my results with those entered into
the GLOBE website (www.globe.gov \<http://www.globe.gov\>) by students
in other countries. I hypothesized that the pH level of snow in
Fairbanks to be less acidic than snow in other parts of the world
because of the lack of industrial activity in Fairbanks. I followed the
GLOBE protocols for measuring the pH of new snowfall. Then I compared
the Fairbanks data with data inserted on the GLOBE website from other
countries. The ANOVA test (p= 2.57x10-²³) allowed me to reject the null
hypothesis that there is no difference in the pH levels in the different
countries with 99.9% confidence. The pH of the snow in Fairbanks was
similar to the pH levels in Sweden and Norway, but Finland had
significantly higher pH levels than the other countries in my test. My
hypothesis was not supported by the experiment. My results were
inconclusive as to whether or not the lack of industrial activity
affects the pH level of a new snow sample.

**BACKGROUND**

I compared the pH of snow samples in Fairbanks, Alaska to the pH of snow
samples in different areas of other countries. I did this by using
internationally recognized scientific protocols and comparing my results
with the data entered into the GLOBE website (\<http://www.globe.gov\>)
by other students all over the world. GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on,
primary and secondary school-based science and education program.
Through GLOBE, students are able to report data for scientists and other
students to use in their research. The countries I chose were Finland,
Sweden, and Norway. I carried out my experiment by following GLOBE
protocols and procedures. I entered the data from my experiment into the
GLOBE web site. Other students across the world will be doing the same
experiment the exact same way I am. I compared their data to the data I
collected to reach a final conclusion. The final conclusion gave me an
estimate of certain types of pollution into the snow in Fairbanks over
the winter and if the acidity level increased, decreased, or stayed the
same. I then compared my data to other parts of the world to see if the
acidity level is a major problem in our city compared to other northern
climates of the world.

Last year I tested the pH changes of snow samples in different areas in
Fairbanks throughout the winter. I did not reach an ultimate conclusion
for this experiment with only one year of testing. My results showed
that melted snow samples in Fairbanks

became more acidic the farther we were into winter, but I needed another
year or so of testing to see if the acidity of snow is different from
year to year or if my results were consistent. I wanted to do a
continuation of this project, so this year I have refined my sampling
techniques, upgraded my instruments, and with GLOBE I am able to make
global comparisons of snow pH.

**INTRODUCTION: Research Question/Hypothesis**

All precipitation that falls to the earth as snow or rain is somewhat
acidic. The acidity level of melted snow and rain samples can be found
by using pH strips or a pH meter. I used a pH meter to find the pH level
of my melted snow samples. A pH meter measures the acidity level of a
sample by using a scale from 1-14. Seven is the reading of pure, neutral
water that is neither acidic or basic. Readings below a seven are
considered acidic. The acidity level increases as the scale decreases,
meaning the strongest acids have a pH close to zero. A reading above a
seven indicates a substance is basic, the most basic substances are
closest to a change of one pH unit to the next equals a ten times change
in the acidity level. pH is logarithmic, meaning a reading of seven is
ten times more basic than a reading of six. The definition of acidity is
the relative amount of hydrogen ions, H+, that are present in a
solution. This is from water molecules separating because of the
attraction between other water molecules. When an acid is dissolved in
water, the concentration of hydrogen ions increases. The concentration
of hydrogen ions decreases when a basic substance is dissolved in water.
The pH of a solution will determine what chemical reactions can occur
and how well these reactions will work. This information helped me
determine the acidity level of my samples. From there I might be able to
determine the causes of the acidity level.

Acid rain is a factor directly related to my topic. Acid rain is defined
as rain with a pH level below 5.6. (Helme, 1991) Rain becomes acidic
when pollutants in the air combine with atmospheric water and then fall
to the earth in some kind of precipitation. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides mainly come from coal-burning electric plants. The sulfur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides react with other substances in the atmosphere,
creating acid rain. (Helme,1991) Sulfur dioxide is the bigger problem of
the two. It is created by the combustion of sulfur in the coal. The
sulfur then reacts with the air, creating sulfur dioxide. (Helme, 1991)
The consumption of coal for utility purposes has almost doubled since
about the 1970s because almost 55% of the electricity in the United
States is producing coal. Pollution controls have lowered the acid rain
levels over the last fifteen years, (Helme, 1991) but acid rain is an
increasing problem and causes the corrosion of buildings and monuments
and sometimes kills species of plants and animals. Acid rain can also
threaten human health.

Another factor that could affect my samples is the combustion of fossil
fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels from cars and factories releases
sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, halogen compounds, and a variety of other
hydrocarbons into the air. The reaction of these substances with water
forms other highly acidic substances. (Time-Life Company, 1992) Gases
such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides occur naturally in the air
and then dissolve in cloud droplets creating acidic rain. (Helme, 1991)
Nitrates, another compound that increases acidity, are released from
cars, trucks, and power plants. They greatly increase the acidity level
of water during snow melt in the spring. (Simonin, 1998) Carbonic acid,
another potential pollutant, is formed as precipitation falls through
the air, giving rain a somewhat acidic pH level. (Halstead,1997) The pH
of rain varies because of a lot of known factors, such as nitrates and
carbonic acid, and unknown factors.

All over the United States, people are working to reduce air pollution,
hoping the amount of acid rain will decrease. New York was the first
state to pass an acid deposition control act in 1984(Simonin, 1998). In
1990, the Clean Air Act Amendment was passed by the Federal government.
This amendment included important control programs for acid rain,
including a sulfur control program that began in 1995. (Simonin, 1998)

Other studies to figure out a solution to the acidic deposition problem
include many studies by the Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Marine
Resource in New York. They monitored fish survival in caged fish
studies, put transmitters on brook trout during the spring and followed
them to see what locations they moved to, and the fish populations were
measured before acidic periods and after acidic periods. Since 1990,
they have stopped researching and have been focusing on controlling acid
levels in lakes, streams, and rivers. (Simonin, 1998) Studies are also
being conducted in the Adirondack Mountain region to figure out how to
reduce the amount of acidic substances in the rivers, lakes, and streams
because fish populations have been lost and water animals have moved to
other lakes where there isn't an abundance of food. As a solution, the
emissions of sulfur dioxide have been reduced causing reduction in the
amounts in rainwater, decreasing the acidic deposition of sulfate by
about 25%. The bad part of this is the amount of calcium, magnesium, and
other basic compounds in rainwater have also been decreased because the
soot portion of air pollution has been reduced. These substances help
neutralize the acidity level or rain and snow. (Simonin,1998) Alaska
doesn't have as much industrial pollution or the population of New York;
however, locally in Fairbanks we have coal fired power plants and the
Fairbanks North Star Borough has instituted free bus rides in order to
bring Fairbanks in compliance with the Federal Clean Air act during
winter months. These studies that have been conducted in New York, can
give us ideas on how to reduce certain factors of acid levels.

Acidic precipitation is caused mainly by pollutants such as sulfur
dioxide. These pollutants react with other substances in the atmosphere,
creating acid rain or snow. As my hypothesis, I don't expect the pH
level of the snow in Fairbanks to be as acidic as snow in other parts of
the world because of the lack of industrial activity in Fairbanks.
Although we have plants around town, we don't have any huge coal burning
factories or power plants. In most cities, the release of pollutants
from these plants is one of the main causes in the increase in acidity
level. However, the location and weather factors in Fairbanks would
cause the acid level to be somewhat acidic. I suspect that the acid
level in Fairbanks will increase over the winter months because
Fairbanks is in a valley, a low lying area, which creates cold weather
inversion which would trap more pollutants in the atmosphere. Also, due
to diminishing sunlight over winter months, evaporation and melting of
snowfall would diminish significantly, which would tend to allow
pollutants to accumulate in the snow. Therefore, location, climate, and
industrial activity are factors which will separate my findings in
Fairbanks from other areas around the world.

**RESEARCH METHOD**

To carry out this experiment, I followed GLOBE atmosphere protocols
(GLOBE Teacher's Guide, 1997). After the first snowfall, I inserted a
meter stick vertically into the snow until it touched the surface of the
ground. I then placed a white snowboard, or a 40 cm. by 40 cm. piece of
plywood, on top of the fallen snow. After a new snowfall, I inserted a
ruler into the snow until it touched the snowboard. I then recorded the
depth of the fresh snow in mm. at three different spots on the
snowboard. The average of these three measurements gave me the depth of
new snow. Next I measured the total depth of accumulated snow on the
ground. I recorded the current temperature, minimum temperature, and
maximum temperature.

After taking these measurements, I took the cylinder from a regulation
rain gauge and inverted it on the snowboard. Then I scooped the circle
of snow made by the rain gauge into the cylinder. Next, I brought the
cylinder indoors and placed a cover over the cylinder to prevent
evaporation when the snow melted. Once the snow had melted, I poured the
water into the measuring tube of the rain gauge and measured the depth
of the liquid water equivalent. After this I used a calibrated pH meter
to determine the pH level of the sample. I calibrated the pH meter
before each measurement. I used a 4.0, 10.0, followed by a 7.0 solution
to do this. I cleaned the snowboard and placed it on the snow's surface.

Finally, I entered the date and time of the data collection (in
Universal Time), the total depth of snow on the ground (mm), the number
of days the snow had accumulated on the snowboard, the depth of water
from the melted snow on the snowboard (mm), the current temperature,
minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and the pH level to the GLOBE
Student Data Server. I also entered information on cloud observations I
made. If snow had fallen, but the snow on the snowboard had been blown
away or someone had accidentally cleared the snowboard before I could
take the measurements, I enter "M" for missing data. If there was a
trace amount of snow, but not enough to take a measurement, I entered
"T" for trace amount. I took temperature measurements and cloud
observations every weekday and snow measurements when there was more
than a trace of snow. I took measurements from October 15, 2001 to
January 10, 2002.

I logged on to the GLOBE website (\<http://www.globe.gov\>) and
researched snow pH data for the same time period at different sites in
other countries. I found data for sites from Finland (Tavistia, Jinika,
Utajarvi, and Ammansaari), Sweden (Ljusdal), and Norway (Valdres). These
measurements had been recorded using the same instruments and protocols
that I used in my experiment. I then compared my data with the data from
other countries. To analyze the data, I used the ANOVA, or analysis of
variance test.

**RESULTS: DATA SUMMARY**

My results showed the average pH level in Fairbanks for the winter of
2001-2002 was 4.98. The average pH level of four sites in Finland was
6.72. Sweden had an average of 5.05 at one site while Norway had an
average of 4.72 at one site. From the result averages, I concluded that
Fairbanks has close to the same pH level as Sweden and Norway, but these
countries had a much lower average than Finland. The pH level of new
snow in Finland was close to 7, neutral, while the other countries had
averages in the 4-5 range, relatively acidic.

Table 1. pH of Snow Samples from Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Fairbanks,
Alaska, U.S.A

![](media/image1.emf)![](media/image2.emf)

![](media/image3.emf)![](media/image4.emf)

![](media/image5.emf)

![](media/image6.emf)![](media/image7.emf)

![](media/image8.emf)

![](media/image9.emf)

![](media/image10.emf)

![](media/image11.emf)

![](media/image12.emf)

![](media/image13.emf)

![](media/image14.emf)

![](media/image15.emf)

**CONCLUSION**

The original intent of this experiment was to see if the acidity level
of snow samples in Fairbanks was different or consistent with that from
other parts of the world. The results did not support my hypothesis.
Results showed that the pH level of new snow in Fairbanks was consistent
with the pH level of new snow in the countries of Sweden and Norway, but
the acidity level of new snow in these countries was much more acidic
than the pH level in Finland. To analyze these results, I used the ANOVA
test. The test rejected the null hypothesis that there is no difference
in the pH levels in the different countries with a 99.9% confidence
(P=2.57X10-²³). Due to the lack of snow this winter and the time frame
of this experiment, my data is somewhat incomplete and could be
completely different if I was to continue this experiment over the rest
of the winter and for more years.

**DISCUSSION**

After talking with my teacher, we decided that averaging results was not
precise enough to draw any conclusions. This is because the average can
be the same in two different countries even if these countries have a
very different range of data. I conducted the ANOVA, or analysis of
variance test, because of the small sample sizes. The ANOVA test takes
samples and uses standard deviation and averages to compare different
samples in order to determine if the data came from the same population.
The ANOVA test determines the results by using a probability(P) to
reject or support the null hypothesis. P gives the probability that the
samples came from the same population. The data for Fairbanks had a
standard deviation of 0.79. Finland had a standard deviation of 0.54,
while Sweden had a standard deviation of 0.5 and Norway was 0.58. The
ANOVA test (P=2.57X10-²³) allowed me to reject the null hypothesis that
there is no difference in the pH levels in the different countries with
a 99.9% confidence. The ANOVA test also supported that snow pH levels in
Finland were much different than the other countries in my experiment.

For my original hypothesis, I didn't expect the pH level of the snow in
Fairbanks to be as acidic as snow in other parts of the world because of
the lack of industrial activity in Fairbanks. I had also said the
location and weather factors in Fairbanks would cause the snow's pH to
be somewhat acidic. I believed the snow pH in Fairbanks would decrease
over the winter months because Fairbanks is in a valley, a low lying
area, which creates cold weather inversion which would trap more
pollutants in the atmosphere. Due to diminishing sunlight over the
winter months, evaporation and melting of snowfall would diminish
significantly, which would tend to allow pollutants to accumulate in the
snow. For my original hypothesis, I stated location, climate, and
industrial activity would separate my findings in Fairbanks from other
areas of the world. I would have to extend my study further in order to
determine if the trapping of pollutants in the atmosphere, such as
combustion of fossil fuels, causes the change of the acidity level.

My hypothesis was not supported by the experiment. From my results, I
have concluded that Fairbanks can still have a fairly acidic pH level of
new snow samples even though there is a lack of industrial activity. My
results have led me to believe that my statement saying pollutants would
be trapped in the atmosphere because of cold weather inversion because
Fairbanks is in a valley, is true. I think this is a major reason why
Fairbanks had an acidic pH level. Another reason for the acidity level
in Fairbanks is the pollutants tend to accumulate in the snow because
there is very little evaporation and melting of snowfall because of the
diminishing sunlight.

This winter had very little snowfall, therefore there were only four
days with enough new snow to collect data. The results of this
experiment could have been completely different if we had received
greater amounts of snowfall this winter. More accurate results could be
determined if I continue this experiment other years.

**BIBLIOGRAPHY**

GLOBE website (\<http://www.globe.gov\>)

GLOBE Teacher's Guide. 1997. The GLOBE Program. Global Learning and

Observations to Benefit the Environment.

Halstead, J. 1997. Rains, Lakes, and Streams. Journal of Chemical
Education.

Helme, N., Neme, C. 1991. Acid Rain: The Problem. EPA Journal. Vol. 17

Simonin, H. 1998. The continuing saga of acid rain. New York State

Conservationist v.52

Brief Summary: The study was on the comparison of pH levels of snowfall
from Fairbanks, Alaska (which I measured) to snow pH levels in Finland,
Norway and Sweden (from the GLOBE Data Bank)