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Source apportionment of nitrogen deposition to Rocky Mountain National Park using CMAQ-ISAM
Citation:
Schwede, D. AND S. Napelenok. Source apportionment of nitrogen deposition to Rocky Mountain National Park using CMAQ-ISAM. NADP 2019 Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium, Boulder, Colorado, November 04 - 08, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Rocky Mountain National Park is impacted by high levels of nitrogen deposition which has harmful effects on this sensitive ecosystem. To inform mitigation strategies, it is important to understand the sources that contribute to the deposition and the relative amounts of deposition contributed from the sources. CMAQ v5.3 includes an updated version of the Integrated Source Apportionment Method (ISAM) that provides several improvements over previous versions. ISAM was used to conduct a source apportionment study to identify important sources of nitrogen deposition to the park.
Description:
Excess deposition of sulfur and nitrogen can cause harmful effects to ecosystems. Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) has historically been at risk to damage due to high nitrogen deposition. In order to develop strategies to reduce deposition levels, information on geographical sources and emission sectors that contribute to the deposition levels is needed. Using the Integrated Source Apportionment Method (ISAM) in CMAQv5.3, we analyze the contribution to deposition in RMNP for 2016 from multiple emission source sectors including agricultural fertilizer, agricultural animal operations, mobile sources, electric generating units, and wildfires. Additionally, we assess the contribution from individual states and regions to the deposition in the park.