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MAPPING CRITICAL LEVELS OF OZONE, SULPHUR DIOXIDE AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE FOR CROPS, FORESTS AND NATURAL VEGETATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Citation:
Rosenbaum, B., T. Strickland, AND M. McDowell. MAPPING CRITICAL LEVELS OF OZONE, SULPHUR DIOXIDE AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE FOR CROPS, FORESTS AND NATURAL VEGETATION IN THE UNITED STATES. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-94/347 (NTIS PB94210481).
Description:
Air pollution abatement strategies for controlling nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone emissions in the United States focus on a "Standards-based" approach. his approach places limits on air pollution by maintaining a baseline value for air quality, no matter what the ecosystem can or cannot withstand. n this paper, the authors present example critical levels maps for the conterminous U.S. developed using the "effects-based" mapping approach as defined by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Task Force on Mapping. his approach emphasizes the pollution level or load capacity an ecosystem can accommodate before degradation occurs, and allows for analysis of cumulative effects. hey present the first stage of an analysis that reports the distribution of exceedances of critical levels for NO2, SO3, and O, in sensitive forest, crop, and natural vegetation ecosystems in the contiguous United States. hey conclude that extrapolation to surrounding geographic areas requires the analysis of diverse and compounding factors that preclude simple extrapolation methods. ollutant data depicted in this analysis is limited to locationally specific data, and would be enhanced by utilizing spatial statistics, along with converging associated anthropogenic and climatological factors. alues used for critical levels were derived from current scientific knowledge. hile not intended to be a definitive value, adjustments will occur as the scientific community gains new insight to pollutant/receptor relationships. he authors recommend future analysis to include a refinement of sensitive receptor data coverages and to report relative proportions of exceedances at varying grid scales.
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MAPPING CRITICAL LEVELS OF OZONE, SULPHUR DIOXIDE AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE FOR CROPS, FORESTS AND NATURAL VEGETATION IN THE UNITED STATES