National Park Service Visibility Monitoring Network

IMPROVE Meeting October 24, 2017 Ely, Minnesota

Joe Adlhoch, Mark Tigges, Scott Cismoski Air Resource Specialists

Nephelometer & Web Camera Locations

Neph Data Collection Statistics (Oct ’16 – Sep ‘17)

Site Percent Data Collected

Acadia 96.2

Big Bend 98.4

Glacier 99.6

Great Basin 99.4

Great Smoky Mountains 99.3

Grand Teton 99.6

Hance 99.3

Mammoth Cave 95.4*

Mount Rainier 98.6

Rocky Mountain 98.6

Shennandoah 98.5

* Nephelometer down for approximately 2 weeks during installation of new AQ shelter in October 2016

Neph Network Enhancements • Communications at all sites have moved to cell or satellite modem

• New AQ shelters at Mammoth Cave (Oct 2016) and Acadia (Sep 2017)

• Arizona DEQ is expected to donate more nephelometers and datalogging systems to NPS – Several “complete” systems anticipated – Funding in this year’s contract to build up 2 systems – Anticipate 6 or 7 sites to be operating with upgraded logging systems by next year

New Acadia shelter

Webcam Network

http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/index.cfm

Updated Web Site Launched October 2015

> Network began in 1998 at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

19 years and running!

Web site integration into NPS CMS Fall 2017

https://www.nps.gov/nature/webcams.htm

> Web site logs more than 8 million visits annually – more than 40% are from

mobile devices

Top 5 camera sites: • Great Smoky Mtns NP - Look Rock • Great Smoky Mtns NP - Purchase Knob • Grand Canyon NP • Shenandoah NP • Point Reyes NS

Webcam Archive Site

Standard resolution images added shortly following image capture. High resolution images added twice annually.

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AirWebCams/

• New Data Timeline Plot Page – selectable time periods, scales, parameters – mobile friendly – being developed as part of redesign of Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring Network Current Ozone web site, scheduled for release early 2018 • Incremental Camera Upgrades and Additions

– Olympus E420 (many operating since 2010) to Canon T5i – Joshua Tree and Acadia complete – 2-3 additional upgrades per year – Great Smoky Mts Clingman’s Dome (seasonal) scheduled for Spring 2018

• Visual Air Quality Metric – Investigating how to use near real time images to estimate the visual air quality – Site and month/season specific

Webcam Network and Web Site Enhancements Currently in Development

https://www.air-resource.net/NPSnephdata/

Raw Nephelometer Data Web Site • Near real time assessment of air quality during smoke events • Visual Range • Estimated PM2.5 concentration • Seasonal operation

https://www.air-resource.net/winhazeweb/

WinHaze Web Site • Replaces standalone PC WinHaze software developed by John Molenar • Enter concentrations manually, use aerosol species , or use regional haze metrics • Mobile friendly • Funding this contract year to enhance new image upload functionality

The Great American Eclipse – August 21, 2017

Photo credit – Jessica Ward (ARS)

24 Hours of 1-minute Data Collected at Great Smoky Mtns. – Look Rock, Aug 21, 2017

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Solar Radiation (W/m2)

20

22

24

26

28

30

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Temperature ( C )

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Relative Humidity (%)

170

180

190

200

210

220

230

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Neph Counts

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50

100

150

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250

300

350

400

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Wind Speed (m/s) [left axis] and Wind Direction [right axis]

0

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600

800

1000

1200

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Solar Radiation (W/m2)

20

22

24

26

28

30

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Temperature ( C )

20

30

40

50

60

70

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Ozone (ppb)

50 Mm-1 25 Mm-1