Air Quality Monitoring

Parks: All MIDN parks

Vital signs:

Ozone
Wet and dry deposition
Air contaminants (mercury)
Visibility and particulate matter

Justification: Air quality can affect human and ecosystem health. The Clean Air Act of 1970 set out to preserve, protect and enhance air quality in the country, and in 1977 amended the act to include all NPS units greater than 6,000 acres as Class I areas receiving the greatest level of protection. Only Shenandoah National Park in the Mid-Atlantic Network is a Class I park, but all parks in the network will benefit from improved air quality. Park managers will benefit from knowing the type and extent of various air pollutants in order to evaluate their impacts on park resources. The NPS Air Resources Division (ARD) administers an Air Monitoring Program that provides current air quality conditions and assesses long-term trends in pollutants that affect national park resources. The data comes from a variety of sources including monitoring stations in parks and a number of interagency programs.

Monitoring objectives:

1. Document the annual status of and trends in atmospheric ozone concentrations in MIDN parks using metrics that are relevant to human health (e.g., 8-hour average) and plant response (e.g., SUM06).

2. Document the annual status of and trends in wet and dry deposition in MIDN parks.

3. Report on the annual status of and trends in mercury concentration and deposition in precipitation in MIDN parks.

4. Report on the annual status of and trends in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter (PM10) concentrations and composition in MIDN parks as they pertain to visibility impairment and human health.

Protocol status: Protocols in place and data being collected at a national level.

Air Quality Annual Data Summary Reports
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/Monitoring/ads/ADSReport.cfm

Ozone:
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/monitoring/network.cfm
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/monitoring/docs/FinalOzoneProtocol.pdf

Wet and dry deposition:
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/monitoring/wetmon.cfm
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/Monitoring/docs/WetDepProtocol_NRTR2007_004.pdf
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/monitoring/drymon.cfm
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/Permits/ARIS/networks/docs/200605FinalDryDepProtocol.pdf