»Air Quality Monitoring
- Coastal Plain / Piedmont / Blue Ridge
Physiographic Region
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.
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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).
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Document the annual status of and trends in wet and dry deposition in MIDN parks.
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Report on the annual status of and trends in mercury concentration and deposition in precipitation in MIDN parks.
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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.
Parks: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (APCO), Booker T. Washington National Monument (BOWA), Eisenhower National Historic Site (EISE), Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FRSP), Gettysburg National Military Park (GETT), Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (HOFU), Petersburg National Battlefield (PETE), Richmond National Battlefield Park (RICH), Shenandoah National Park (SHEN), Valley Forge National Historical Park (VAFO)
Protocol status: Protocol is in place and data is being collected at a national level.
Contacts: Air Resource Division
Links:
Air Resources Information System
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/Permits/ARIS/networks/midn.cfm
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/Permits/ARIS/SHEN/index.cfm
Air Quality Annual Data Summary Reports
http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/Monitoring/ads/ADSReport.cfm
Shenandoah Air Quality Webpage
http://www.nps.gov/shen/naturescience/mon_air.htm
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