The Nature and Sources of Haze in the Shenandoah Valley/Blue Ridge Mountains Area

Abstract

In order to investigate the nature and sources of regional haze, the General Motors mobile Atmospheric Research Laboratory was used in the summer of 1980 to monitor ambient air quality in the Shenandoah Valley of northern Virginia. On the average, 92% of the total light extinction was due to scattering by particles; the remainder was due to scattering by gases and absorption by gases and particles. Sulfate aerosols were the most Important visibility-reducing species. Averaging 55% of the fine participate mass, sulfates (and associated water) accounted for 78% of the total light extinction. The second most abundant fine particulate, accounting for 29% of the fine mass, was carbon—most of which was organic. Most of the remaining particulate mass and extinction were due to crustal materials. It is estimated that 78–86% of the total light extinction was caused by anthropogenic aerosol, most of which originated in major source areas of the midwest.