Sources of ozone and sulfate in northeastern United States. Final report

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6425195

Husain, L

Daily measurements of /sup 7/Be, /sup 32/P, /sup 33/P, O/sub 3/, SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ and certain trace elements were made at Whiteface Mountain, NY during summer 1977 and June 1978-December 1979. The results were used to delineate the sources of O/sub 3/. It is shown that when /sup 7/Be concentration is combined with /sup 7/Be//sup 32/P ratio they are reliable tracers of stratospheric O/sub 3/, whereas SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ is a promising tracer of transported anthropogenic O/sub 3/. On days of high /sup 7/Be concentrations, /sup 7/Be, O/sub 3/ and /sup 7/Be//sup 32/P ratios peaked together, whereas the sulfate concentrations were very low. A day later, the SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ concentration increased to unusually high level, while /sup 7/Be, /sup 7/Be//sup 32/P ratio and to a much lesser degree O/sub 3/ decreased. From these results it is inferred that the subsidence of stratospheric air enhances surface O/sub 3/ concentrations. Furthermore, the backside of the weather system responsible for this subsidence also favors the advection of polluted air containing anthropogenic O/sub 3/ to this site. Therefore, a stratospheric intrusion may intensify a surface photochemical O/sub 3/ episode. However, based on approx. 500 days of /sup 7/Be and O/sub 3/ data, the stratosphere does not appear to be directly responsible for the episodic high O/sub 3/ (approx. 100 ppbv). To study surface transport of pollutant, concentrations of SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ and trace elements were compared with backward surface air trajectories. This analysis showed that episodic high concentrations were associated with air transported from midwestern states.

• Research Organization: New York State Dept. of Health, Albany (USA). Div. of Labs. and Research (USA); Health Research, Inc., Albany, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AS02-77EV04501
• OSTI ID: 6425195
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/04501-T1; COO-4501-9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
BERYLLIUM
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMISTRY
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH ATLANTIC REGION
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OZONE
PHOSPHORUS 32
PHOSPHORUS 33
PHOSPHORUS ISOTOPES
POLLUTION
POLLUTION SOURCES
RADIOISOTOPES
STRATOSPHERE
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TROPOSPHERE
USA