Nitrogen and Sulfur Deposition at selected Federal Class I areas and Sensitive Class II areas
Krish Vijayaraghavan1, John Grant2, Zhen Liu3, Tejas Shah4, Jaegun Jung5 and Ralph Morris6
The atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur is an important consideration for the preservation of Air Quality Related Values in Federal Class I areas and sensitive Class II areas such as wilderness areas, national monuments and wildlife refuges and other lands managed by the BLM, NPS, USFS and USFWS. In this paper, we investigate the deposition of nitrogen and sulfur compounds to selected Class I and sensitive Class II areas and tribal areas in New Mexico using the advanced photochemical grid model, CAMx. The model treats the atmospheric chemistry, dispersion and wet and dry deposition of nitrogen and sulfur emissions from diverse anthropogenic sources including oil and gas projects, mining, electrical generating units, other industrial sources, mobile sources, agricultural and other area sources, and wildfires and biogenic emissions. Current and estimated future deposition rates are studied following changes in emissions of atmospheric precursors and compared with critical loads for nitrogen and sulfur deposition to assess the impact on these sensitive ecosystems.
1Ramboll Environ, kvijay@ramboll.com 2Ramboll Environ, jgrant@ramboll.com 3Ramboll Environ, zliu@ramboll.com 4Ramboll Environ, tshah@ramboll.com 5Ramboll Environ, jjung@ramboll.com 6Ramboll Environ, rmorris@ramboll.com