Why Crater Lake?
Crater Lake is an excellent site to observe transport across the northern Pacific. It sits atop the Cascade crest with an unobstructed fetch to the Pacific, experiences consistent westerly winds, and the local area is heavily forested, reducing the likelihood of any persistent local dust source. Furthermore, there are few urban or industrial emission sources in the lowlands separating it from the Pacific. Sitting at an elevation of 3078 meters, Crater Lake is well above the persistent surface inversion over the eastern Pacific, and is in the heart of the mid-troposphere “transport layer” in which aerosols are easily carried very long distances. Asian dust has been detected at Crater Lake, most notably in the great “Yellow Sand” event of April 1998, and statistical analysis of the entire IMPROVE record there suggests that Asian transport to Crater Lake is common from February to November. In order to set-up a 3-DRUM at Crater Lake, we would like an outlet for power and some place to set-up the sampler. The ITCT experiment is slated to start on April 15, 2002 (through May 31, 2002) so we would greatly appreciate any help to get set up as soon as possible. Notification of participation and funding delays have prevented earlier request for the Crater Lake site inclusion for this study.
Findings and Status: A 3-DRUM sampler (http://delta.ucdavis.edu/technology) was installed at Crater Lake co-located with the existing IMPROVE site. Air sampling commenced April 15, 2003 though May 28, 2002. While analysis of the resultant data is ongoing, preliminary results indicate a ubiquitous source of Asian derived atmospheric aerosol (dust and anthropogenic pollution) in the Western US. While it has long been known that transport of Asian aerosol to the US, including Crater Lake, occurs each spring, it has been assumed that these are special events. Our findings indicate that the Asian source accounts for most of the background aerosol observed during the Spring and possibly year round in the Western united States. Continued seasonal sampling and analysis is planned through at least 2005 to better quantify and understand these findings. The global climate implications of such aerosol chemistry are significant and future work aims to quantify climactic impacts.
For this study, were one or more specimens collected and removed from the park but not destroyed during analyses? No
Funding provided this reporting year by NPS: 0
Funding provided this reporting year by other sources: 95000
Full name of college or university: n/a
Annual funding provided by NPS to university or college this reporting year: 0
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