The Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study of 2002 - Final Report

The National Park Service (NPS) and Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) conducted a number of analyses to understand the physical and optical properties of haze and the contributions of source regions to Big Bend's sulfate and haze.  The source apportionment studies incorporated airmass history analyses, receptor modeling and Eulerian source oriented modeling.  All source apportionment techniques and models were evaluated and validated against measured data, perfluorocarbon tracer data, and synthetic data generated from models.  In addition, an extensive reconciliation of source attribution results was conducted.  The reconciliation involved identifying biases in all techniques and developing a hybrid source attribution technique merging air quality data and modeling results to minimize these biases.  NPS and CIRA believe these are the best available source attribution results and accurately reflect the contributions of different source regions in the United States and Mexico to Big Bend's particulate sulfate and haze during the BRAVO study period.  The implications of these results are also discussed in the report.

1. Colorado State University, Department of Atmospheric Science
2. Colorado State University, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
3.National Park Service (NPS)

 Click on the title below to view PDF files of these documents:

Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study Final BRAVO Report (14 mb) -  The entire report without the appendices

Below is a list of the publications that are in the final report's appendices.

Carrico, C.M., S.M. Kreidenweis, W.C. Malm, D.E. Day, T. Lee, J. Carrillo, G.R. McMeeking, and J.L. Collett Jr., Hygroscopic growth behavior of a carbon-dominated aerosol in Yosemite National Park, Atmos. Environ., 39, 1393-1404, 2005.

Engling, G., P. Herckes, S.M. Kreidenweis, W.C. Malm, and J.L. Collett Jr., Composition of the fine organic aerosol in Yosemite National Park during the 2002 Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study, Atmos. Environ, in press, 2005.

Hand, J.L., W.C. Malm, D. Day, T. Lee, C. Carrico, J. Carrillo, J.L. Collett Jr., A. Laskin, C. Wang, J.P. Cowin, and M.J. Iedema, Optical, physical and chemical properties of tar balls observed during the Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study, J. Geophys. Res., 110, doi:10.1029/204JD005728, 2005.

Malm, W.C., D.E. Day, C.M. Carrico, S.M. Kreidenweis, J. J.L. Collett Jr., G. McMeeking, T. Lee, J. Carrillo, and B.A. Schichtel, Inter-comparison and closure calculations using measurements of aerosol species and optical properties during the Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study, J. Geophys. Res., 110, doi:10.1029/2004JD005494, 2005a.

Malm, W.C., D.E. Day, S.M. Kreidenweis, J.L. Collett Jr., C.M. Carrico, G. McMeeking, and T. Lee, Hygroscopic growth properties of an organic-laden aerosol, Atmos. Environ., 39, 4969-4982, 2005b.

McMeeking, G.R., S.M. Kreidenweis, C.M. Carrico, T. Lee, J.L. Collett Jr., and W.C. Malm, Observations of smoke influenced aerosol during the Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study: Size distributions and chemical composition, J. Geophys. Res., 110, doi:10.1029/2004JD005389, 2005a.

McMeeking, G.R., S.M. Kreidenweis, C.M. Carrico, J.L. Collett Jr., D.E. Day, and W.C. Malm, Observations of smoke influenced aerosol during the Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study: 2. Aerosol scattering and absorbing properties, J. Geophys. Res., 110, doi:10.1029/2004JD005624, 2005b.