Air quality monitoring at Acadia National Park

Gawley, William; Pizer, Brendan; Van Gorder, Jake

From the abstract: "Acadia National Park (ANP) periodically experiences high concentrations of a variety of air pollutants, primarily as a result of long-range transport by prevailing winds. Located along the mid-coast of Maine, the park is downwind from large urban and industrial areas in states to the south and west. The National Park Service (NPS) has established a comprehensive Air Resource Management program at ANP, a Class I area under the Clean Air Act (CAA), to better assess air pollution impacts and protect air quality related resources. The air monitoring program at ANP, which began in the early 1980s, is conducted in cooperation with state and federal agencies. Core program elements include long-term monitoring for gaseous pollutants (such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides), volatile organic compounds (VOC's), fine particulates, visibility, mercury deposition, and acid precipitation. In addition, there is an ongoing effort to determine the ecological effects of selected air pollutants on park resources."