Nitrate and Sulfate Atmospheric Deposition and Visitation in United States National Parks
Date
2022-04-29
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Abstract
The National Atmospheric Deposition Program oversees the sampling and analysis of atmospheric deposition, including of chemicals associated with automobile emissions, such as NOx and sulfur oxides. Visitation to National Park Services sites has increased 16% in the decade prior to 2018, to 318 million visitors total in 2018. The goal of this analysis was to determine whether rising visitor populations within the United States National Parks lead to increased nitrate and sulfate deposition, which would have a negative effect on the lands parks are intended to protect. Parks were only considered for analysis if they were within the continental United States, accessible by vehicle, and in remote locations. Using average visitors from 2000-2015, parks were classified as high or low visitation. Five parks from each category were randomly chosen as representatives of the subset. Using ArcGIS Pro, average deposition values were obtained in each park boundary for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Two regression analyses were performed for both emission types using visitation data from each of the four years and the mean deposition within the park boundaries. Results show that there is a significant effect of visitation on both nitrate (p=0.005) and sulfate (p=0.002) atmospheric deposition within National Park boundaries. This indicates an increased effect of vehicle emissions within parks of higher visitation, suggesting that the increased visitor use of public lands may negatively affect soil and water health in that area.
Description
Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Alfred University Honors Program.
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Honors thesis, Environmental Studies, Travel, Land Management