Wet atmospheric deposition samples were collected following every rain event that occurred from 2004 to 2008 in the region of Dalian in the northeast of China to monitor nitrogen levels.The volume of rainwater was collected and measured by a rain gauge and each sample was analyzed for total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) concentrations.Mean annual volume of rainfall ranged from 438.25 mm to 850.94 mm,and the mean annual concentration of TIN was 3.47 mg/L which was negatively related to the volume of rainfall.Maximum TIN concentrations of 4.29 mg/L were measured during the smallest rainfall event (438.25 ram) whereas the minimum TIN value of 2.96 mg/L was measured during the largest rainfall event of 850.94 mm.Nitrogen in rainwater originated primarily from the local application of agricultural fertilizers and from more distant and widespread exhaust of automobiles.Variation in TIN concentrations among years were highly significant.The annual precipitation inputs of TIN was positively related to the volume of rainfall,and were surprisingly high with deposition fluxes ranging from 10.24 kg/ha/yr to 25.17 kg/ha/yr.The maximum mean annual flux of 25.17 kg/ha/yr is equivalent to 53.94 kg/ha/yr usage of CO(NH)2,an amount that may have caused changes in terrestrial life.Strong seasonal patterns of TIN also were observed over the course of our study.We found that the majority of TIN deposition occurred during the summer (June-August) which accounted for 56.44% of total annual precipitation and 40.06% of total annual N deposition.Annual TIN fluxes decreased considerably after the rainy season and reached their lowest levels in the winter (1.39 kg/ha/yr) and autumn (2.98 kg/ha/yr).