Uses of National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network data, May 1998 to June 1999

Abstract

A fundamental objective of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) is to provide scientific investigators worldwide with timely access to a long-term, highquality data base of atmospheric deposition information for research support in such areas as air quality, water quality, effects of deposition on agriculture, forest productivity, effects of deposition on materials, ecosystem studies, watershed studies, and human health. In support of this objective, all data and selected other network products and summaries are made available on the Internet. The purpose of this report is to provide insight to NADP program participants as to the quantity and range of uses for the data collected and to provide information to help them develop better products and services to meet customer needs. For the 13 months included in this report (May 13, 1998, to June 9, 1999, 15,372 data sets were downloaded by 2,835 individual data users, reflecting about a 1,400-percent increase compared to a 13-month period beginning November 27, 1995, and ending February 10, 1997. Federal and State agencies accounted for nearly 30 percent of the data users, whereas educational users (K-12 and higher education) accounted for 55 percent of the total. The private sector, research groups, and others accounted for the remainder of the data-base retrievals. The greatest number of retrievals was for 2,270 data sets retrieved from sites in New York; this reflects the State's strong interest in acid rain, its large population base, and its greater than average number of NADP stations. The second greatest number of retrievals was for data from sites in North Carolina, which also has an above-average number of NADP sites and where data use reflects a significant and growing research interest in nitrogen deposition and its effects. The commitment the Federal, State, and local governments have made in recent years to improving service to their many customers is borne out to some extent by the depth and breadth of response to the availability of this single data base. The cooperative nature of the NADP bears further witness to a customer-focused effort to ensure that the science information needs of everyone, from environmental consultants to grade school teachers, are being met.

Atmospheric Deposition Program of the U.S. Geological Survey

“…In the latest interagency report to Congress, the USGS reported that Phase I of the CAAA-90, Title IV, has reduced acidic deposition by 10 2 to 25 percent in the Eastern United States (National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, 1998). A more recent analysis (Nilles and Conley, 2000) reinforces these findings ( fig. 3).…”

“…In 1999, investigators downloaded 16,000 datasets in support of research and education. Major data applications include gaging the effectiveness of ongoing emission-control measures, determining nitrogen inputs from atmospheric sources to sensitive ecosystems, and providing regional estimates of mercury deposition in the United States and Canada (Conley and Nilles, 2000). Some recent applications for the data by external customers include: National Park Service: Determining the effect of rainfall pH on efforts to reintroduce the leopard frog to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.…”

“…Ammonium deposition is increasing at some of the NADP monitoring sites and may be coincident with growth in confined animal agriculture facilities in these regions. Although stricter controls of sulfur dioxide emissions have reduced sulfate deposition, emissions of nitrogen oxides and subsequent nitrate deposition have not decreased in the United States (Nilles and Conley, 2000). Increased nitrogen mobilization and distribution from ammonia compounds and nitrates can result in changes in nutrient runoff, precipitation acidity, and watershed nutrient status.…”