A 40 Site Network for Passive Ammonia Measurements along northern Utah's Wasatch Front: Winter and Summer 2019
Randy Martin1, Kerry Kelly2, Jaron Hansen3, Nancy Daher4 and Christopher Pennell5
From previous measurements, including an AMON site (97), ambient levels of ammonia (NH3) along northern Utah’s Wasatch Front are known to consistently be among the highest in the nation. The overarching concern with NH3 in the region is the formation of wintertime PM2.5, which is locally-dominated by ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). The Wasatch Front is considered a series non-attainment area for PM2.5. Several studies, most recently the 2017 Utah Winter Fine Particulate Study (UWFPS), have pointed out that although the local airsheds appear to be slightly ammonia-rich in regards to NH4NO3 formation. There are times, especially during extended persistent cold-pool, capping events (inversions) in which the atmosphere switches to a more ammonia-limited regime. As such it is critical to understand NH3 abundance and availability. Regional emission inventories are unable to account for previously observed ambient concentrations. Modeling attempts by local regulatory agencies have had to artificially enhance NH3 emissions by factors as high as 4x to simulate the observed values. Additionally, very little information is known about the location or contributions of the potential NH3 source emissions. Limited studies, 10 total sites, in 2016 and 2017 found ammonia wintertime concentrations ranging from 5-30 ppb with varying spatial distributions. A study was initiated for the winter and summer of 2019 in which a dense network (40 sites) of Ogawa passive NH3 samplers were deployed from Brigham City to Mona, UT, approximately 140 miles, which include the population centers of Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo. The winter study took place from mid-January to mid-February and the summer study extended from mid-July to mid-August. At present the data are still being analyzed and will be presented. However, preliminary analysis show the average winter NH3 concentrations (≈5-10 ppb) were lower than the average summer values (20-30 ppb), with notable difference between the Salt Lake and Utah county airshed. During both seasons, locations near suspected “hotspots” were significantly (≈5x) higher than most of the other locations.
1Utah State University, randy.martin@usu.edu
2University of Utah, kerry.kelly@utah.edu
3Brigham Young Univeristy, jhansen@chem.byu.edu
4Utah Division of Air Quality, ndaher@utah.gov
5Utah Division of Air Quality, cpennell@utah.gov