Abstract
A statistical analysis was made of source trajectory air mass regions versus receptor [SO4 −2] in cloud water at Whiteface Mountain, Wilmington, New York for the summers of 1981 and 1982. Also tested was the assumption that in 1982 sulfate concentrations should decrease in the cloud water when associated with a trajectory from the west northwest. This assumption was based on the fact that Canadian smelters were idle during August 1982 which resulted in a reduction of SO2 emissions by approximately 75%.
The trajectory analysis was done using the NOAA/ARL transport model and anion-cation analysis of cloud water was performed using ion chromatography. The Canadian emission data were provided by the Air Resources Branch, Ministry of the Environment. Student's Test was used to test the null hypothesis that no [SO4 −2] differences existed in the cloud water collected during 1981 and 1982.
The results were suggestive of the following conclusions:
-
(1)
There is so much inherent noise in the data due to meteorological variability that the hypothesized decrease in [SO4 −2] from the smelting operation could not be detected.
-
(2)
The trajectory analysis is not precise enough, due to the frequency of soundings and station spacing, to indicate the correct source-receptor for Whiteface Mountain; and a careful analysis of cloud water samples associated with fast moving cold fronts from the Sudbury region might detect an effect on sulfate production.
-
(3)
The available meteorology does not seem sufficient to explain the variation seen at the Whiteface Mountain field station.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Calvert, J.: 1984, personal communication.
Castillo, R. A.: 1982, Summer Research Project at Whiteface Mountain Field Station, Final Report, Grant No. NA82RAC00074, pp. 205.
Fay, J. A.: 1983, Long Range Transport of Acid Rain Precursors, Energy Laboratory Report No. MIT-EL 83-005, Cambridge, MA, 13 pp.
Galvin, P., Mohnen, V., Kadlecek, J., Wilson, J., and Kelly, T.: 1983, Cloud Chemistry Studies at the Whiteface Mountain Field Station, ASRC-SUNYA Publication No. 973, pp. 136.
Heffter, J. L.: 1980, Air Resources Laboratories Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Model, NOAA Tech. Mem. ERL-81, pp. 17.
Johnson, R.: 1973,Elementary Statistics, Duxbury Press, North Scituate, MA, pp. 480.
Kadlecek, J., McLaren, S., Camarota, N., Mohnen, V., and Wilson, J.: 1983, Cloud Water Chemistry at Whiteface Mountain, Precipitation Scavenging, Dry Deposition and Resuspension, Elsevier, pp. 103.
Lusis, M.: 1983, personal communication.
Samson, P. J., Moody, J. L. , Kahl, J., and Keeler, J.: 1983, Uncertainties in Quantifying Source-Receptor Relationships for Atmospheric Acids, in press.
Winters, W., Hogan, A., Mohnen, V., and Barnard, S.: 1979, ASRC Airborne Cloud Water Collection System, ASRC-SUNYA Publication No. 728, pp. 25.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Castillo, R.A., Kadlecek, J. & McLaren, S. Selected Whiteface Mountain cloud water concentrations summers 1981 and 1982. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 24, 323–328 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00161791
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00161791