Visibility Data Summary for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Transcription

1 Visibility Data Summary for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe A&WMA Rocky Mountain States Section 2012 Section Conference Cassie Archuleta Project Scientist, Air Resource Specialists Jay Littlewolf Air Quality Administrator, Northern Cheyenne Tribe May 15, 2012

2 The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation Located in present-day southeastern Montana ARS begin drafting annual air quality data summary reports for the tribe in 2008 (visibility, particulate and gaseous and met. data) This presentation includes visibility data in the context of EPA s Regional Haze Rule (RHR) Brief background on RHR Summary of Northern Cheyenne Visibility Data

3 EPA s Regional Haze Rule Requirement for states to develop and implement plans to improve visibility in 156 Class I Areas (includes national parks and wilderness areas) Improve visibility on the 20% Worst days in the Baseline period to reach Natural Conditions by 2064 Ensure visibility on the 20% Best days does not degrade Periodically assess the improvement in visibility between the Baseline and 2064 to show that Reasonable Progress is being achieved

4 Measuring Visibility impairment Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) Aerosol samplers Network that supports RHR Begin in 1988, expanded in 2002 Several particulate species are measured 24-hour samples every third day Light extinction is calculated from aerosol mass and RH SCATTERERS Organics ABSORBER Nitrates Soil Elemental Carbon Sulfates Coarse Mass Sea Salt

5 Class I Areas 156 Visibility Protected Federal Class I Areas (e.g. National Parks, Wilderness Areas)

6 Tribal Class I Areas 6 Tribal Class I Areas (non-mandatory per RHR requirements) Spokane Flathead Northern Cheyenne Fort Peck Forest County Potawatomi Yavapai-Apache

7 IMPROVE Monitoring Sites 162 IMPROVE Monitoring Sites Spokane Flathead Northern Cheyenne Fort Peck Forest County Potawatomi Yavapai-Apache

8 Regional IMPROVE Data 8

9 Deciviews Glideslope for 20% Worst Days NOCH1 IMPROVE Site DV Baseline Progress Glide Slope Natural Conditions 9

10 Aerosol Extinction (Mm -1 ) Individual Species Extinction 20% Worst Days, NOCH1 IMPROVE Site Higher Particulate Nitrate Extinction (red) Lower Particulate Organic Extinction (green) 10

11 2008 and 2010 IMPROVE Aerosol Seasonality of 20% Worst Days 2008 = High fire year 20% Worst Days mostly in Summer 2010 = Low fire year 20% worst days mostly in winter/spring

12 Current RHR activity The RHR requires progress checks every 5 years Several states have progress reports due in baseline period compared to progress period Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) Collaborative effort of state governments, tribal governments, and various federal agencies Works with western states to develop the technical basis for the RHR Current projects include summarizing monitoring and emissions data for state RHR reasonable progress updates WRAP Homepage: WRAP Technical Support System website:

13 Summary Unlike states, tribes are not required to comply with RHR mandates Visibility summaries in the context of the RHR are still valuable to determine if regional haze implementation plans developed by nearby states are sufficient to address regional haze issues on the reservation Data summaries indicate that while RHR goals are being met, this is mostly due to reduced fire emissions Further control of man-made sources (e.g. sulfate and nitrate) will be important to reach natural conditions estimates for the reservation 13

14 Worst Day Average 2064 Natural Conditions Questions? Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation Automated Digital Camera Big Horn Mountains View Collocated with NOCH1 IMPROVE Site

15 IMPROVE Aerosol Sampler

16 IMPROVE Equation b ext fs(rh) Small Amm.Sulfate 4.8 fl(rh) Large Amm.Sulfate fs(rh) Small Amm. Nitrate 5.1 fl(rh) Large Amm. Nitrate Small Organic Carbon Mass 6.1 Large Organic Carbon Mass Elemental Carbon Fine Soil fss(rh) Sea Salt Coarse Mass NO (ppb) 2 Rayleigh Scattering (Site Specific) For For Total 3 Large Total Total 20μg/m 20 Small Total Large 3 Total 20μg/m Large Total