Jenny HandCIRA

Acadia National Park, ME1989 2008

Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments

(IMPROVE)

Caney Creek AR2001 2008

• The IMPROVE program is a cooperative measurement effort designed to– establish current visibility and aerosol conditions in mandatory

Class I areas;

– identify chemical species and emission sources responsible for existing anthropogenic and natural visibility impairment;

– document long-term trends for assessing progress towards the national visibility goal;

– and, with the enactment of the Regional Haze Rule, provide regional haze monitoring representing all Class I areas where practical.

IMPROVE

• 1987: Monitoring began at ~30 sites

• 2000: Expansion of network to 159 sites in support of the Regional Haze Rule

• 2011: 170 operating and 42 discontinued sites

Cohutta GA2002 2008

Big Bend National Park

IMPROVE Monitoring Site

IMPROVE Algorithm

Major Contributors

bext (Mm-1) = 3.0 * f(rh)* [Sulfate]+

3.0 * f(rh)*[Nitrate] +

4.0 * [Organic] +

1.7 *fSS(rh)*[Sea Salt] +

1.0 * [Soil] +

0.6 * [Coarse Mass] +

10.0 * [Elemental Carbon] +

Rayleigh ScatteringDeciview = 10*ln(bext/10)

dv ~ 0 for pristine conditions

2004–2008 Annual Mean DeciviewAmmonium sulfateAmmonium nitrateOrganic carbonElemental carbonSoilSea salt

Regional Haze Rule Progress

Moore and Copeland, 2011, IMPROVE Report V

IMPROVE V Report Highlights

• 1989–2008; 2000–2008

• Sulfate, Nitrate, Total Carbon, Soil, PM2.5, Coarse Mass, PM10

TRENDS:

Temporal trends are important for determining whether emission mitigation strategies are effective in meeting goals for improving air quality, and for use in evaluating model results that estimate the effects of aerosols on climate change.

IMPROVE V Report Highlights

San Gorgonio CA

1989 2008 SAGO1, -3.5 % yr-1

What is causing increasing sulfate concentrations during spring in the West?

Wheeler Peak NM

2001 2008WHPE1, 5.1 % yr-1

• Integration of data from EPA’s urban Chemical Speciation Network (CSN)

IMPROVE V Report Highlights

IMPROVE V Report Highlights

IMPROVECSN

Ammonium sulfateAmmonium nitrateOrganic carbonElemental carbonSoilSea salt

Urban Excess: Ammonium Sulfate

RURAL (IMPROVE) URBAN (IMPROVE+CSN)

URBAN/RURAL

Urban Excess: Elemental Carbon

RURAL (IMPROVE) URBAN (IMPROVE+CSN)

URBAN/RURAL

IMPROVE Report V is available online:

http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Publications/Reports/2011/2011.htm

Urban Excess: Ammonium Nitrate

RURAL (IMPROVE) URBAN (IMPROVE+CSN)

URBAN/RURAL

Urban Excess: Particulate Organic Matter

RURAL (IMPROVE) URBAN (IMPROVE+CSN)

URBAN/RURAL

Baltimore, Birmingham, Fresno, New York City, Phoenix, Puget Sound, and Washington, D.C., for 2005–2008

CSN and IMPROVE Comparisons

Baltimore, Birmingham, Fresno, New York City, Phoenix, Puget Sound, and Washington, D.C., for 2005–2008

CSN and IMPROVE Comparisons