Table 1 Site- and regional-specific descriptors of the element content in the EMS2015

Atmospheric deposition

Average Cd, Hg, Pb deposition for the years 2013–2015 and 2015 (EMEP)^b

cd_dep1315, cd_dep15

hg_dep1315, hg_dep15

pb_dep1315, pb_dep15

[μg m⁻² a⁻¹]

Mean N-deposition of the years 2013–2015 and 2015 (EMEP)^b

N_1315, N_15 (see also explanations in Table 2)

[mg m⁻² a⁻¹]

Mean N-deposition of the years 2013–2015 (LOTOS-EUROS)^b

LE_all_N (see also explanations in Table 2)

[mg m⁻² a⁻¹]

Meteorology

Local main wind direction^c,d

MainWindDirection

–

Average annual rainfall^b

pre1315_gk

[mm/a]

Average rainfall of the last 3 or 90 days (before sampling)

pre3 days, pre90 days

[mm]

Weather conditions ^c

Weather

–

Geology/Soil/Relief

Soil type, humus species, exposure^{c, d}

SoilTexture

HumusSpecies

SlopeDirection

–

Source rock, soil type^d

–

Thickness of the humus layer^c

HumusLayer

[cm]

Slope inclination^c

SlopeGradient

[°]

Orographic height^{b, c}

elev_eu_gk

[m ü. NN]

Background values of HM content (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, V, Zn) in topsoils (50th percentile)^b

HM_Ob50P

[mg/kg]

Sample extraction

Moss species, vegetation, occurrence, lime particles^c

MossSpecies

SamplingFrom

Frequency

VisibleDustParticles

–

Vegetation structure

Distance of the extraction site from the projection of the tree or shrub layer of surrounding forests and shrubs (minimum, maximum, mean value)^c

DistTreeCrownsAverage

DistTreeCrownsMin

DistTreeCrownsMax

DistShrubsAverage

DistShrubsMin

DistShrubsMax

[m]

Height of the tree layer of surrounding forests and shrubs (minimum, maximum, mean)^c

TsLayerHeightAverage

TsLayerHeightMin

TsLayerHeightMax

[m]

Degrees of coverage of the tree and shrub layer^e

TreeCoverage

ShrubCoverage

TreeShrubCoverage

[%]

Leaf area index^e

LAI (= sLAI), LAI2 (= wLAI)

–

Potential emission sources

Spatial density of surrounding land uses (agricultural, forestry, urban-industrial) in radii of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 km around the moss sampling point^b

agr1–300

for1–300,urb1

− 300

[%]

Population density in radii 5, 50, 100 km around the moss sampling point^b

popdens5–100

Inhabitant

Distance to local emission sources (veg. free area, agricultural land, etc.), Surface area, Arable land, Stable, Detached house, Rural settlement, Urban settlement, Unstable. Road, small country road, large country/federal road, railway, motorway, industry with high chimney, small industry, waste incineration plant, landfill, thermal power plant, building site, raw material extraction^{c, d}

SDistNoneVegetationAreas

SDistAgriculturalAreas

SDistAnimalFarmingUnits

SDistPloughedAgriculturalFields

SDistSingleHouses, SDistVillage

SDistTown, SDistUnsealedRoads

SDistSmallPavedCountryRoads

SDistFederalRoads, SDistMotorways, SDistRailroadTracks

SDistIndustriesWithHighChimneys

SDistSmallIndustries

SDistWasteIncinerationFaculties

SDistDumpingGrounds

SDistCombustionEnergyPlants

SDistConstructionSites

SDistGravelPit

[m]

Distance to the sea (North Sea and Baltic Sea)^b

CDistSea

[km]

Potential risk of erosion of arable soils by wind (1, 2, 5 km—radii)^b

pegwind_1–5

[0–5]