We are the National Park Service

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Class I Area Ozone Trends John Vimont

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NPS administers over 130 national parks, national
monuments, and other units in the WRAP states.
Of these, 36 are Class I air quality areas.
NPS units in the West encompass a wide variety of
resources and ecosystems, from high alpine tundra
to deserts.
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conserve the scenery and the natural and
historic objects and wild life thereinas will
leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
generations. (NPS Organic Act)
Wilderness areasshall be administered for the
use of the American people in such a manner as
will leave them unimpaired for future use and
enjoyment as wilderness (Wilderness Act of 1964)
preserve, protect and enhance the air quality
in national parks, national wilderness areas,
national monuments, national seashores, and other
areas of special national or regional natural,
recreational, scenic, or historic value. (Clean
Air Act as amended in 1977)
declares as a national goal the prevention of
any future, and the remedying of any existing,
impairment of visibility in mandatory class I
Federal areas which impairment results from
manmade air pollution. (Clean Air Act as amended
in 1977)
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the Federal Land Manager should assume an
aggressive role in protecting the air quality
related values of land areas under their
jurisdiction. In cases of doubt the land manager
should err on the side of protecting the air
quality-related values for future generations.
(Senate Report No. 95-127, 95th Congress, 1977)
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Mandatory Class I Area Boundaries
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Health Advisories

• Visitors expect to come to National Parks and
  have Clean Air
• Some parks that experience high ozone, issue
  advisories

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• Ozone and ozone effects in western national
  parks
• Are certain western plant species sensitive to
  ozone?
• Do sensitive plant species occur in western
  parks?
• Are ozone concentrations high enough in the West
  to induce injury in sensitive vegetation? Are
  ozone concentrations increasing/decreasing?
• Has ozone injury been documented to vegetation in
  national parks in the West?

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Yes - sensitivity is determined by chamber
studies, where plants are exposed to ozone at or
near ambient concentrations and evaluated for
symptoms. Plant sensitivity is species-specific
some species have defense mechanisms that protect
against ozone injury, while others are very
sensitive.
Are western plant species sensitive to ozone?
Ninebark
Scoulers willow
Chamber studies have found several dozen western
species to be sensitive to ozone.
Do sensitive plant species occur in parks? Yes -
nearly all western parks contain one or more
ozone sensitive species.
Quaking aspen
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• How does ozone affect sensitive species?
• - Visible symptoms
• Stipple (small red, purple, dark spots)
• Fleck (many small yellow spots)
• Chlorosis, bleaching (loss of green color)
• Necrosis (dead tissue)
• Premature leaf fall (senescence)
• - Physiological symptoms
• Reduced photosynthesis
• Reduced growth
• - Acute vs. chronic injury
• Acute - induced by high concentrations of ozone
• Chronic - induced by long-term cumulative doses
  of ozone

Ozone-injured leaf
Normal leaf
Aspen
Ponderosa pine
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• Are ozone concentrations in the West high enough
  to induce injury in sensitive vegetation?

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SUM06 sum of all hourly concentrations greater
than .06 ppm
Representative SUM06 ozone injury
thresholds Natural ecosystems 8-12 ppm-hr
(foliar injury) Tree seedlings 10-16
ppm-hr (reduction in growth)
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Has ozone injury been documented to vegetation in
national parks?
ponderosa pine
Ozone injury surveys have been very limited in
western national parks (to a few California parks
and others).
healthy ozone-injured

• - California parks
• Extensive injury to ponderosa pine and Jeffrey
  pine documented at Lassen Volcanic, Sequoia/Kings
  Canyon, and Yosemite NPs.
• Injury documented to understory species (mugwort,
  Mexican elder) at Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP.
• - Other Western parks
• Injury to ponderosa pine documented at Saguaro
  NP.
• Injury to understory species at Bryce Canyon NP,
  Cedar Breaks NM, and Zion NP (UT).

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Lassen Volcanic, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, and
Yosemite NPs foliar injury to 15-50 of
ponderosa pines and Jeffrey pines at SUM06
25-30 ppm-hr. Some areas of Lassen Volcanic NP
had foliar injury to 20 of pines at SUM06 lt 10
ppm-hr
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• Ozone and ozone effects in western national parks
• Are certain western plant species sensitive to
  ozone? YES
• Do sensitive plant species occur in western
  parks? YES
• Are ozone concentrations high enough in the West
  to induce injury in sensitive vegetation? YES
• Has ozone injury been documented to vegetation in
  national parks in the West? YES

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How do ozone concentrations in national parks
compare with nearby urban areas?
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Do diurnal patterns of ozone differ from parks to
nearby urban areas?
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O3 Scavenging by NO

• Fresh NOX emissions mostly as NO
• NO O3 NO2 O3
• At night when photochemistry shut down get
  suppression of O3 where have fresh emissions
• Typical urban signature
• Dont see this in remote areas

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• What has NPS done to better understand ozone and
  its effects?
• Extensive monitoring network in parks
• Inventory of ozone-sensitive plant species for
  all parks
• Limited identification of ozone injury in field
• Risk assessment for potential ozone injury in
  parks
• NPS information needs
• Better ozone monitoring coverage
• Ozone sensitivity of additional western plant
  species
• Injury threshold information for western species
• Comprehensive field survey information

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    Number exceedances per year Number exceedances per year Number exceedances per year 2002 3-yr avg   Number exceedances per year annual
Site Name Park Name 2000 2001 2002 Avg 4th hi   2003 2003 4th hi
Ash Mountain Sequoia-Kings Canyon 40 61 80 105   67 110
Lookout Point Sequoia-Kings Canyon 52 40 81 103   48 104
Clingmans Dome Great Smoky Mountains 21 11 29 98   3  
Lower Kaweah Sequoia-Kings Canyon 8 27 73 98   42 100
Cove Mountain Great Smoky Mountains 18 10 35 96   3  
Look Rock Great Smoky Mountains 12 4 32 94   9 90
Black Rock Joshua Tree 27 1 33 94   38 111
Cadillac Acadia 3 9 8 93      
  Cape Cod 3 13 9 93      
Turtleback Dome Yosemite 6 4 24 89   10 90
  Cowpens 4 1 13 87      
Big Meadows Shenandoah 1 8 6 85   6 86
McFarland Hill Acadia - - 9 6 84   2  
  Mammoth Cave 4 2 4 84   1  
  Chamizal 2 - - 4 81      
  Death Valley - - 2 2 81      
  Pinnacles - - 2 5 81   1  
Cades Cove Great Smoky Mountains 2 - - 2 79   1  
  Rocky Mountain 2 - - 6 78   7 86 (81 3yr)
  Congaree Swamp - - 1 3 77      
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Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park
Lower Kaweah Monitoring Station
10-year trend in ozone by month and hour.
Average ozone
Ozone standard deviation
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Trend in Annual 4th Highest Daily 8-hr Max. Ozone
Turtleback Dome Station
3-yr average (2000 2003) 90 ppb
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Trend in Annual 4th Highest Daily 8-hr Max. Ozone
Ash Mountain Station
3-yr average (2000 2003) 107 ppb
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Trend in Annual 4th Highest Daily 8-hr Max. Ozone
Lower Kaweah Station
3-yr average (2000 2003) 101 ppb
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Trend in Annual 4th Highest Daily 8-hr Max. Ozone
Lookout Point Station
3-yr average (2000 2003) 104 ppb
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Trends in Number of 8-hr Ozone Exceedances
Park Name No. Exceeds in 2002 Slope (Increase per year) R sq.
Acadia 6 - 0.11 0.03
Cape Cod 9 - 0.30 0.06
Cowpens 13 0.37 0.16
Great Smoky Mtns 35 2.1 0.60
Joshua Tree 33 - 0.42 0.02
Mammoth Cave 4 0.14 0.02
Pinnacles 5 - 0.52 0.16
Rocky Mountain 6 0.16 0.26
Sequoia-Kings Canyon 81 0.66 0.05
Shenandoah 6 0.16 0.02
Yosemite 24 - 0.05 0.0005
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Ozone 8-hr Exceedances Rocky Mountain National
Park
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Ozone 8-hr Exceedances Pinnacles National Park
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Ozone 8-hr Exceedances Shenandoah National Park
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Ozone 8-hr Exceedances Sequoia-Kings
Canyon National Park
Lower Keweah
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Ozone 8-hr Exceedances Joshua Tree National Park
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Ozone 8-hr Exceedances Yosemite National Park
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SUM06 sum of all hourly concentrations greater
than .06 ppm
Representative SUM06 ozone injury
thresholds Natural ecosystems 8-12 ppm-hr
(foliar injury) Tree seedlings 10-16
ppm-hr (reduction in growth)
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Mark II version Will have small O3 instrument
box. No filter pack, just ozone and met
At Grand Canyon NP, Tuweep
At Rocky Mountain NP Longs Peak
Mark I version of portable ozone system
- includes filter pack, O3, and met
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Use of Ozone Forecasts by NPS

• Support in park
• ozone advisories

• Educational tool

• Understanding of regional ozone distribution

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Why Forecasts and Advisories

• parks exceeding EPA health
• standard for ozone (8-hr)
• change in peoples activities
• protection of most
• sensitive visitor population
• protection from long-term
• exposure by staff
• education and awareness
• of the public

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http//www2.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/index.htm
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NPS Ozone Advisories

• Widely broadcast announcements
• Acadia NP
• Great Smoky Mountains NP
• Mammoth Cave NP

• In park signs or to staff only
• Sequoia - Kings Canyon NP
• Shenandoah NP

Future advisories Joshua Tree NP
View from Acadia National Park monitoring station
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NPS Forecasting Experience

• Limited success using linear regression
• and neural net modeling techniques
• Use and participate in EPA AirNow
• http//www.epa.gov/cgi-bin/a
  irnow.cgi?MapDisplayFORECAST
• Use weather, air mass trajectory
• predictions, and present values
• Forecast using 3 hours with O3 gt 85 ppb
• (most reliable) and tomorrow like
• today (less than 50)
• Working with NOAA researchers (ETOS)
• http//www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/ozone.html
  http//thermal.atdd.noaa.gov/ETOS/ETOS.htm

www.epa.gov/airnow/
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NPS Ozone Forecast Needs

• days when 85 ppb 8-hr or
• 125 ppb 1-hr exceeded
• forecast by 4 pm the day before
• cancel advisories by 11 am
• estimation of high O3 period
• primarily for rural areas

http//hazecam.net/acadia.htm
www2.nature.nps.gov/ard/gas/advisory/ozone2.htm
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Expected Value from Forecasting
Improved ability to issue ozone advisories
Broader use and understanding of pollutant
forecasts
Better understanding of pollutant distribution
and transport
J. D. Ray, 10-2000