Absorption photometry of patterned deposits on IMPROVE PTFE filters.

The IMPROVE program (Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environments) tracks long-term trends in the composition and optics of regional haze aerosols in the United States. The absorptance of red (633-nm) light is monitored by filter photometry of 24 h-integrated samples of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5).

Which visibility indicators best represent a population's preference for a level of visual air quality?

Several studies have been carried out over the past 20 or so years to assess the level of visual air quality that is judged to be acceptable in urban settings. Groups of individuals were shown slides or computer-projected scenes under a variety of haze conditions and asked to judge whether each image represented acceptable visual air quality. The goal was to assess the level of haziness found to be acceptable for purposes of setting an urban visibility regulatory standard.

Origin of Fine Particulate Carbon in the Rural United States.

Carbonaceous compounds are a significant component of fine particulate matter and haze in national parks and wilderness areas where visibility is protected, i.e., class I areas (CIAs).

Aerosol species concentrations and source apportionment of ammonia at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Changes in ecosystem function at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) are occurring because of emissions of nitrogen and sulfate species along the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, as well as sources farther east and west. The nitrogen compounds include both oxidized and reduced nitrogen. A year-long monitoring program of various oxidized and reduced nitrogen species was initiated to better understand their origins as well as the complex chemistry occurring during transport from source to receptor.

A seasonal nitrogen deposition budget for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Nitrogen deposition is a concern in many protected ecosystems around the world, yet few studies have quantified a complete reactive nitrogen deposition budget including all dry and wet, inorganic and organic compounds. Critical loads that identify the level at which nitrogen deposition negatively affects an ecosystem are often defined using incomplete reactive nitrogen budgets. Frequently only wet deposition of ammonium and nitrate are considered, despite the importance of other nitrogen deposition pathways.

Uncertainties in PM2.5 gravimetric and speciation measurements and what we can learn from them.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal land management community (National Park Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management) operate extensive particle speciation monitoring networks that are similar in design but are operated for different objectives.

Deposition of reactive nitrogen during the Rocky Mountain Airborne Nitrogen and Sulfur (RoMANS) study.

Increases in reactive nitrogen deposition are a growing concern in the U.S. Rocky Mountain west.

Using high time resolution aerosol and number size distribution measurements to estimate atmospheric extinction.

Rocky Mountain National Park is experiencing reduced visibility and changes in ecosystem function due to increasing levels of oxidized and reduced nitrogen. The Rocky Mountain Atmospheric Nitrogen and Sulfur (RoMANS) study was initiated to better understand the origins of sulfur and nitrogen species as well as the complex chemistry occurring during transport from source to receptor. As part of the study, a monitoring program was initiated for two 1-month time periods--one during the spring and the other during late summer/fall.

Critique of "Precipitation in light extinction reconstruction" by P.A. Ryan.

The goal of the Regional Haze Rule (RHR) is to return visibility in class I areas (CIAs) to natural levels, excluding weather-related events, by 2064. Whereas visibility, the seeing of scenic vistas, is a near instantaneous and sight-path-dependent phenomenon, reasonable progress toward the RHR goal is assessed by tracking the incremental changes in 5-yr average visibility. Visibility is assessed using a haze metric estimated from 24-hr average aerosol measurements that are made at one location representative of the CIA.

Reconciliation and interpretation of the Big Bend National Park light extinction source apportionment: results from the Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational Study--part II.

The recently completed Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational (BRAVO) Study focused on particulate sulfate source attribution for a 4-month period from July through October 1999. A companion paper in this issue by Schichtel et al. describes the methods evaluation and results reconciliation of the BRAVO Study sulfate attribution approaches.

Reconciliation and interpretation of Big Bend National Park particulate sulfur source apportionment: results from the Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational Study--part I.

The Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational (BRAVO) study was an intensive monitoring study from July through October 1999 followed by extensive assessments to determine the causes and sources of haze in Big Bend National Park, located in Southwestern Texas. Particulate sulfate compounds are the largest contributor of haze at Big Bend, and chemical transport models (CTMs) and receptor models were used to apportion the sulfate concentrations at Big Bend to North American source regions and the Carbón power plants, located 225 km southeast of Big Bend in Mexico. Initial source attribution methods had contributions that varied by a factor of > or =2.

Spatial, temporal, and interspecies patterns in fine particulate matter in Texas.

The Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational (BRAVO) field study was conducted from July to October 1999 and was followed by several years of modeling and data analyses to examine the causes of haze at Big Bend National Park TX (BBNP). During BRAVO, daily speciated fine (diameter <2.5 microm) particulate concentrations were measured at 37 sites throughout Texas.

Particulate nitrate measurement using nylon filters.

Nylon filters are a popular medium to collect atmospheric fine particles in different aerosol monitoring networks, including those operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) program.

Back-trajectory analyses of fine particulate matter measured at Big Bend National Park in the historical database and the 1996 scoping study.

Analyses of the sources of fine particles associated with visibility reduction at Big Bend National Park during a 10-year period from 1989-1998 and from a regional visibility scoping study conducted during September and October 1996 at 19 sites in Texas and Mexico are summarized and compared. Fine sulfate particles are the largest fraction of the fine mass, and scattering by sulfates is estimated to be nearly half of the non-Rayleigh light extinction at Big Bend. Fine particulate sulfur concentrations are seasonal, with the highest values occurring during the summer and fall when back trajectory analyses show that air masses are most likely to arrive at Big Bend from the southeast after passing over Mexico or from areas to the northeast including east Texas.

Sampling duration calculations.

Routine air quality monitoring produces filter samples that, when analyzed, yield the total amount of the aerosol present in the volume of air drawn by the pump in the monitoring device during the given sampling period. From this we obtain an average concentration of the aerosol for the given duration. The samples are therefore really aggregate samples.

A preliminary look at source-receptor relationships in the Texas-Mexico border area.

Several factors have recently caused visibility impairment at Big Bend National Park, TX, to be of interest. Analyses of historical data collected there have shown that visibility is poorer and fine particle concentrations are higher at Big Bend than at other monitored Class I areas in the western United States. In addition, air masses frequently arrive there after crossing Mexico, where emissions are not well known.

Trends in the extremes of sulfur concentration distributions.

Understanding the response of air quality parameters such as visibility to the implementation of new air quality regulations, population growth and redistribution, and federal land managing practices is essential to the evaluation of air quality management plans on air quality in federal Class I areas. For instance, the reduction of SO2 emissions from large single point sources should result in the decrease of extreme sulfate concentrations, while population growth in geographic areas outside of urban centers could cause a slow widespread increase of sulfate and organic concentrations. The change in federal land managing practice of increased prescribed fire on a year-round basis in lieu of large naturally occurring wild fires could have the same effect; that is, the frequency of high sulfur days increase and low sulfur days decrease as the result of the management practice.

An analysis of the yearly changes in sulfur concentrations at various national parks in the United States, 1980-1996.

An apparent increasing trend in the summer concentrations of particulate sulfur at Shenandoah (for the time period 1982-1995) and at Great Smoky Mountains (for the time period 1984-1995) has been pointed out by some researchers. Others have suggested that these increasing trends may be an analytical artifact resulting from the switch from the Stacked Filter Units (SFU) measurement system to the IMPROVE (Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) measurement system that occurred during the winter of 1987. To obtain a better understanding of the effect of the protocol change, we investigate the changes in the seasonal averages of sulfur concentrations for successive pairs of years for the period 1980-1996 for about 20 national park sites in the United States.

Interpretation of trends of PM and reconstructed visibility from the IMPROVE network.

Under the IMPROVE visibility monitoring network, federal land managers have monitored visibility and fine particle concentrations at 29 Class I area sites (mostly national parks and wilderness areas) and Washington, DC since 1988. This paper evaluates trends in reconstructed visibility and fine particles for the 10th (best visibility days), 50th (average visibility days), and 90th (worst visibility days) percentiles over the nine-year period from 1988-96. Data from these sites provides an indication of regional trends in air quality and visibility resulting from implementation of various emission reduction strategies.

Aerosol light scattering measurements as a function of relative humidity.

The hygroscopic nature of atmospheric fine aerosol was investigated at a rural site in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during July and August 1995. Passing the sample aerosol through an inlet, which housed an array of Perma Pure diffusion dryers, controlled the sample aerosol's relative humidity (RH). After conditioning the aerosol sample in the inlet, the light scattering coefficient and the aerosol size distribution were simultaneously measured.

Light scattering characteristics of aerosols at ambient and as a function of relative humidity: Part II--A comparison of measured scattering and aerosol concentrations using statistical models.

The eastern United States national parks experience some of the worst visibility conditions in the nation. To study these conditions, the Southeastern Aerosol and Visibility Study (SEAVS) was undertaken to characterize the size-dependent composition, thermodynamic properties, and optical characteristics of the ambient atmospheric particles. It is a cooperative three-year study that is sponsored by the National Park Service and the Electric Power Research Institute and its member utilities.

Light scattering characteristics of aerosols as a function of relative humidity: Part I--A comparison of measured scattering and aerosol concentrations using the theoretical models.

The Southeastern Aerosol and Visibility Study (SEAVS) was undertaken to characterize the size-dependent composition, thermodynamic properties, and optical characteristics of the ambient atmospheric particles in the southeastern United States. The field portion of the study was carried out from July 15 to August 25, 1995. As part of the study a relative humidity controlled inlet was built to raise or lower the relative humidity to predetermined levels before the aerosol was passed into an integrating nephelometer or particle-sizing device.

Estimates of particle hygroscopicity during the Southeastern Aerosol and Visibility Study.

Aerosol water content was determined from relative humidity controlled optical particle counter (ASASP-X) size distribution measurements made during the Southeastern Aerosol and Visibility Study (SEAVS) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during summer 1995. Since the scattering response function of the ASASP-X is sensitive to particle refractive index, a technique for calibrating the ASASP-X for any real refractive index was developed. A new iterative process was employed to calculate water mass concentration and wet refractive index as functions of relative humidity.