United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Atmospheric Research and Exposure
Assessment Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/600/S8-91/009 April 1991
EPA Project Summary
A Data Users Guide to the
Mountain Cloud Chemistry
Project
"Volker A; Mohnen~~;~~~
Atmospheric pollution Is deposited
on the forests of the eastern United
States in a variety of forms. Concern
has been raised that the exposure to
and deposition of these atmospheric
pollutants may play a role in the decline
of these forests. The Mountain Cloud
Chemistry Project (MGCP), sponsored
by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the National Acid
Precipitation Assessment Program
(NAPAP), has studied the exposure and
deposition of atmospheric constituents
to these forests.
Research scientists and technicians
of the MGCP have measured the con-
centrations of atmospheric pollutants
at six remote monitoring stations for
four growing seasons (1986-89). Mea-
surements of ozone, sulfur dioxide,
oxides of nitrogen, hydrogen peroxide,
cloud and rain water ions, meteoro-
logical parameters and other param-
eters of interest were collected at sites
in Rowland ME, Mt. Moosilauke NH,
Whiteface Mt. NY, Shenandoah Park VA,
Whitetop Mt. VA, and Mt. Mitchell NC.
Not all measurements were made at all
sites in all years.
This report serves to document the
type and amount of data collected for
the Mountain Cloud Chemistry Project
during the four warm seasons between
1986 and 1989. Details are presented
on: the locations of the six research/
monitoring sites, the types of measure-
ments made, the periods of record, the
quality of the data, and the availability
of the data.
This Project Summary was developed
by the EPA's Atmospheric Research
and Exposure Assessment Laboratory,
Research Triangle Park, NC, to an-
nounce key findings of the research
project that Is fully documented In a
separate report of the same title (see
Project Report ordering Information at
back).
Introduction
During the warm months of 1986-89 the
MGCP made measurements at six remote
sites in the eastern U.S.. These data
were collected under one set of protocols
and quality assurance procedures. A da-
tabase containing these data was as-
sembled by The Fleming Group in Al-
bany, NY. This report documents the
types of data collected and archived by
the MGCP, and the periods of record for
these data.
The Mountain Cloud Chemistry Project
(MGCP) was constituted to address three
primary objectives:
(1) Determine the elevational gradients
in wet and dry deposition of pollut-
ants and climate variables;
(2) Determine the relative significance
of various deposition mechanisms to
the fluxes of chemical species into
and through forest canopies;
(3) Determine the frequency distributions
of chemical, physical and climatic
exposure.
These objectives have been addressed
in other reports, most recently and com-
pletely in "An Assessment of Atmospheric
Printed on Recycled Paper
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Exposure and Deposition to High Eleva-
tion Forests in the Eastern United States."
Measurement Sites
Research/monitoring sites associated
with MCCP, their site codes and the loca-
tions of their primary measurement sites
are presented in Table 1.
T*bla1. MCCP Sites
Howland Forest, ME
HF
Mt. Moosftauke, NH
MS
Whltatacs Mountain, NY
WF
Shenandoah Park, VA
SH
Whitotop Mountain, VA
WT
Mt. Mitchell, NO
MM
lat 45f12'N
long. 6tP42-W
elev. 65 m
lat 43=59'N
long. 71°48'W
elev. 1000 m
lat. 44"23'N
long. 73P5TW
elev. 1483m
lat. 3&'38'N"'
long. 78f21-W
elev. 1014m
lat. 36=38'N
long. 81°36'W
elev. 1689m
lat. 3S°44'N
long. 82°16W
elev. 2038 m
Measurements
The measurements presented in Table
2 were made in accordance with the
"MCCP Standard Operating Procedures"
and the "MCCP Quality Assurance Plan."
The data collected at the MCCP sites
may be categorized as gaseous chemical
measurements, aqueous chemical mea-
surements and physical/meteorological
measurements.
Periods of Data Records
Measurements were performed during
the warm seasons at the MCCP sites from
1986-89. The Rowland Forest site com-
menced operations in 1987. The starting
and ending dates of these seasons varied
by site and year, largely due to logistical
be as short as two weeks or as long as
two months. During intensives the field
technicians attempted to collect samples
whenever possible (placing health and
safety concerns first and foremost).
Quality Assurance
The MCCP research sites follow stan-
dard data collection protocols and follow
MCCP Quality Assurance Project Plans
(QAPjPs) for all network standard mea-
surements. In the final measurement
season (1989), the QAPjPs in force cov-
ered meteorological monitoring, cloud wa-
ter collection and analysis, liquid water
content measurement, and monitoring of
ozone and sulfur dioxide.
Semi-annual QA reports summarize the
constraints. However, the sites generally QA program activities at each of the MCCP
•" ~^"^~~- "pS/iay and confirm field sites"andlab~s~These7epWts~lnclDde"
a presentation of data collected, precision
and accuracy goals, QC check results and
significant operational problems and cor-
rective measures taken at each lab and
ued through September-November.
These dates correspond closely with the
periods of record for continuous gas,
presence of cloud, throughfall and meteo-
rological measurements. However, cloud
water sampling and liquid water content
measurements were performed during
shorter, "intensive" monitoring periods
during the field seasons. Intensives might
f°r each measurement system.
Table 2. MCCP Measurements
Gaseous chemical measurements:
ozone-continuous
sullur dioxide-continuous
oxides of nitrogen-continuous
hydrogen peroxide
TECO49
UV photometry
TECO43a
pulsed fluorescence
TECO 14
emission spectroscopy
Kok
enzyme catalyzation
Aqueous chemical measurements:
cloud water Inorganic
Ion chemistry
cloud water hydrogen peroxide
rain chemistry from
precipitating clouds
throughM chemistry
ASRCandCASC
string collectors
ASRC and CASC
string collectors
funnels or buckets
funnels
PhyskaJ/Moteotological measurements
hourly average ppbv
hourly average ppbv
hourly average ppbv
hourly average ppbv,
hourly during events ~\imol/l
hourly during events ujnol/l
hourly during events \unol/l
weekly \unol/l
chud liquid water content
presence of cloud
precipitation amount
air temperature
rotative humidity
solar radiation
barometric pressure
wind speed
wind direction
Valente gravimetric
AWS forward scatter
tipping bucket
thermistor
capacitor
silicon photocell
piezoresistance
propellor anemometer
vane potentiometer
hourly during events \
hourly total
hourly total
hourly average
hourly average
hourly total
hourly average
hourly average
hourly vector ave.
g/rrf
hours
mm
°C
%
W/nf
mb
m/s
degrees
&U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1991/548-028/20218
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VofcarA. Mohnen is with Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University
of New York, Albany, NY 27711.
Ralph Baumgardner is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "A Data Users Guide to the Mountain Cloud Chemistry
Project," (Order No. PB91-168484/AS; Cost:$11.00, subject to change) willbe
available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental
Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA/600/S8-91/009
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