NATIONAL ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION PROGRAM

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1017102
• Grant No.: 2018-39133-28690
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $1,272,357.00
• Proposal No.: 2018-05710
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2018
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2019
• Grant Year: 2018
• Program Code: [FF-I]- IBCE, Admin. Discretionary & Reim. Research

Recipient Organization
UNIV OF WISCONSIN
21 N PARK ST STE 6401
MADISON,WI 53715-1218

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
Scientists at State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) recognized the need for a national network to assess the magnitude, geographic extent, and temporal variations in the deposition of acidic substances and nutrients in precipitation. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) is the current version of this SAES initiated project (National Research Support Project-3). The NADP operates three precipitation chemistry networks (National Trends Network [NTN], Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network [AIRMoM], and Mercury Deposition Network [MDN]), two atmospheric concentration networks (Atmospheric Mercury Network [AMNet], Ammonia Monitoring Network [AMoN]), two analytical laboratories (Central Analytical Laboratory [CAL] and Mercury (Hg) Analytical Laboratory [HAL] ), and the Network Equipment Depot. Each network has its own objectives and corresponding analytes and sampling period.Sulfur and nitrogen oxides emitted from industrial and transportation sources, utilities, and metropolitan areas enter the atmosphere and are transformed into acidifying compounds. These pollutants are transported in the atmosphere and are removed, in part, as acidic wet and dry deposition. Ecological impacts from this deposition include changes to lake and stream chemistry, reduced forest growth, reduced soil fertility, and increased weathering and corrosion of exposed structures. Aerosols resulting from the emissions reduce visibility and alter the radiative balance of the climate system. Epidemiological studies link adverse human health with fine particles containing sulfate and nitrate. Deposition of atmospheric mercury has been identified as an important negative input to many ecosystems. The goal of the NADP is to monitor the nation's precipitation and atmosphere for a range of chemical constituents, to determine whether spatial and temporal trends in concentration and wet/dry deposition can be identified. The results from this monitoring allow data users, such as policy makers and scientist, to make informed policy decisions. NADP accomplishes this using five monitoring networks operated across North America. The site operations and networks are managed to ensure continuity across all sites and networks, resulting in a consistent, quality assured, data set. The program has grown to a monitoring system of over 300 different site locations. This project has four objectives: 1) coordination of the NTN, MDN, AIRMoN, AMoN, and AMNet sampling networks, and associated special projects; 2) chemical analysis, site support, and data validation for all network sites including those sites funded in this agreement; 3) quality assurance of all measurements to ensure that network operations are consistent with documented network quality assurance plans and standard operational procedures; and 4) maintain data availability, that is in an easily accessible format for all research scientists, policy professional, agricultural and industry leaders, and the general public, to support research of any and all types.The NADP operates as a cooperative program, with input from all stakeholders. Specifically, the NADP has a decision-making Executive Committee and several constituent subcommittees. Operationally, precipitation samples are collected using standard wet-dry precipitation collectors and standard field and analytical methods. The Programs results in measurements of free acidity (as pH), specific conductance, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfate, nitrate, chloride, ammonium, mercury, and gaseous ammonia and mercury on a regular basis. Most samples are collected on a weekly basis, specifically every Tuesday morning and shipped to NADP laboratories for analysis under strict quality assurance and quality controlled procedures. This data is freely available to all, and is used by researchers, policy professionals, and educators. The NADP programs expected outcomes include: freely available and quality assured data; implementation of two annual public meetings with reports to site operators, supervisors, and sponsors; and scientifically sound and audited site operation. The anticipated benefits from the program include monitoring the deposition of specific chemical constituents to the nation's natural and managed ecosystems, detection of trends in the deposition of these constituents, and disbursement of scientifically valid environmental data, made available for all research and policy endeavors.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

0%

Applied

100%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
141	0410	2000	100%

Knowledge Area
141 - Air Resource Protection and Management;

Subject Of Investigation
0410 - Air;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;

Keywords

national

atmospheric

deposition

program

(nadp)

Goals / Objectives
Goals / ObjectivesThe National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) monitors the nation's precipitation and the atmosphere for a range of chemical constituents, to determine the rate or flux of atmospheric pollutants to the biosphere. Ultimately, with continued measurement, these networks will provide the data necessary to determine whether spatial and temporal trends in concentration and wet/dry deposition exist, understand the changes in direction and magnitude of chemical deposition, and understand the impacts on agricultural systems.This project provides management and coordination of NADP's five nationwide (with some international sites) networks: the National Trends Network (NTN), the Mercury Deposition Network (MDN), the Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network (AIRMoN), the Atmospheric Mercury Network (AMNet), and the Ammonia Monitoring Network (AMoN). It also provides site support, chemical analysis, and data validation for 152 NTN, 4 AIRMoN, 14 MDN, 16 AMoN, and 4 AMNet sites supported through this agreement. Quality assurance and quality control activities ensure consistent network operation and adherence to standard operational procedures.The NADP measures the concentration and deposition rates of the following constituents: pH, specific conductance, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, ortho-phosphate, chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and mercury in precipitation; and mercury gases and ammonia in the atmosphere (for dry deposition estimates).All measurements are reviewed to ensure data quality, and then made available to researchers and scientists, policy professionals, and the general public to support research projects by scientists, other professionals and students in a variety of research areas.The goals of the NADP are to:1. make the best measurements of atmospheric and precipitation chemical condition possible;2. use standard methods and procedures to ensure that the measurements are made with the utmost quality;3. make these measurement freely available to all users, with a particular emphasis on the research community and educators; and4. strive to advance environmental measurement science through discussion, testing of new methods, assisting others making similar measurements, general outreach, and data accessibility.By achieving these goals, the NADP will meet its National Research Support Project (NRSP-3) mission of providing data to support the research of others.The NADP operates with technical and administrative guidance from the NADP Executive Committee and from constituent subcommittees in a cooperative manner. All work described here is conducted in accordance with the NADP Quality Management Plan. All NADP data are available free of charge to all users.The NADP has four objectives, these are to provide:1) coordination of the NTN, MDN, AIRMoN, AMoN, and AMNet sampling networks, and associated special projects;2) chemical analysis, site support, and data validation for all network sites including those sites funded in this agreement;3) quality assurance of all measurements to ensure that network operations are consistent with documented network quality assurance plans and standard operational procedures; and4) data in an easily accessible format for all research scientists, policy professional, educators, industry, and the general public, to support research of any and all types.

Project Methods
MethodsThe NADP is a cooperative program between the groups that support sites for research, policy, and education, and the operational arms of the NADP (management, analytical laboratories). The NADP cooperative arrangement of governance and operation has led to the longevity of the program. Any entity that is interested in the attending NADP meetings, using the data, or supporting the operation is welcome to be part of NADP. NADP assess the merit of program changes at our meetings and operational issues are discussed in subcommittee to determine if there are scientific reasons for operational change. This process allows for organizational flexibility, while maintaining institutional knowledge. The NADP is governed by an Executive Committee, freely elected from our Technical Subcommittee (all NADP members). The operational part of NADP acts at the direction of this Executive Committee. Budgetary concerns are reviewed by an independent Budget Committee and presented to the Executive Committee for approval. A full explanation of NADP's governance can be found at http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/lib/brochures/nadpGovernanceHandbook.pdf.Operationally, the NADP uses straightforward, scientifically sound methods for sample collection and analysis. Rigorous quality assurance methods for both field and laboratory activities are employed. Standard operating procedures are consistent throughout each network, and are well documented. All samples are collected in the same manner and the NADP labs use basic wet chemistry methods to perform the major analyses, including: pH and conductance; flow injection analysis for ammonium, ammonia gas, and phosphate; ion chromatography for sulfate, nitrate, and chloride; inductively-coupled plasma spectroscopy for calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium; cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry for mercury; and Tekran instruments (also cold vapor atomic fluorescence) for AMNet ambient mercury observations. Our extensive data quality program is overseen by an independent QA manager, and our system is tested by outside auditors (USGS) regularly. The QA program follows our Quality Assurance Plan. All data are reviewed for field, laboratory and data qualtiy, with clearly reported data qualifiers. All documents and procedures are peer reviewed.As a National Research Support Project (NRSP-3), our principal effort is research support. Data is available freely from the NADP website. NAPD products are twofold: annual concentration and deposition maps, and the qualified dataset.Every year, a scientific symposium is held where presenters summarize the results of their studies using NADP data. Over the last five years, attendance at these meetings has averaged 140. The typical number of oral presentations is 40 and the number of poster presentations is 35.The NADP has continuous evaluation of the field methods, analytical methods, and data quality. However, evaluation of the overall success of the program is based on two metrics: 1) Continued growth of membership and site subscribers: members join NADP because of the quality data they receive for individual sites, which has demonstrated value to their agency or group. Continued membership confirms that the agencies/groups are receiving valuable information/services from their membership. 2) Continued use of NADP Data: Clear evidence of an effective project is shown by our continued high data download rate, and continued high data use in journal articles and scientific reports.

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The NADP provides fundamental measurements that support informed decisions on environmental and agricultural issues related to precipitation and deposition chemistry, as well as atmospheric mercury and ammonia. NADP data are relevant to a wide audience and available to all. We have three general target audiences for our data: researchers, policy professionals; and educators and students. Data from our monitoring effort are used by a wide range of scientists for a number of research topic areas. Our data are used by policymakers to make informed decisions on agriculturally important topics. Our data are also used in many different educational areas including chemical, agricultural, and environmental sciences; are used at many different educational levels including elementary, secondary and post-secondary; and are used for many different theses and dissertations. All data are available free of charge via the NADP website (http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/) to be used by the program target audiences. Changes/Problems:Over the project period, the NADP transitioned to a new Program Office (PO), Central Analytical Laboratory (CAL) and Hg Analytical Laboratory (HAL). Beginning in late 2017 and completed in mid-2018, the PO and CAL moved from their longtime home at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, Illinois State Water Survey (UI ISWS) to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH). During the end of 2018 and through June 2019, the HAL was transitioned from Eurofins Frontier Global Sciences, Inc., in Bothell, Washington, to the WSLH. These transitions required complex coordination and cooperation from all parties involved. Ultimately, the transitions were successful and will lead to improved efficiencies, data quality, new partnerships and research opportunities, and added value for stakeholders. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The NADP hosted and organized four meetings in 2018 and 2019. The Fall Scientific meetings were held in Albany, NY and Boulder, CO in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Both meetings had attendance of over 150 participants and highlighted research that utilizes NADP resources and data. The NADP spring business and operational meetings (Technical Committee, subcommittees, Executive Committee) were held in Milwaukee, WI and Madison, WI in 2018 and 2019. The meetings had attendance of over 60 NADP participants including representatives from NIFA, EPA, USGS, Park Service, Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife, BLM, NOAA, states, and tribes. The meetings are attended by a diverse group of participants from these agencies, in addition, meetings include representatives from industry, research institutions, educators, and international data users and researchers. The NADP has expanded technical offerings to include workshops and workgroup meetings. In the 2018 and 2019 project period, NADP offered a TDEP workshop 'Connecting Stakeholder and Science Perspectives to Better Understand the Linkages Between Agriculture and Reactive Nitrogen Deposition' which was attend by over 100 participants, and a Mercury in the Environment and Links to Deposition (MELD) meeting to bring new stakeholder to guide NADP's efforts in Hg monitoring and reporting. NADP had representation at numerous national and global conferences. The NADP has prioritized outreach that supports bring in new stakeholders to NADP, these include giving talks and trainings with university researchers (e.g. Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc., National Ecological Observatory Network, Water@UW-Madison), tribal organizations (e.g. Tribal Forum on Air Quality, EPA Region 5 Tribal Environmental Management), and international groups (e.g. International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated via the methods discussed previously, briefly NADP facilitates data access and availability for scientists, policymakers, educators, students, and others, which are encouraged to access data at no charge from the NADP website (nadp.slh.wisc.edu). Internet disbursement of precipitation chemistry and atmospheric data is the primary route of dissemination for the NADP project. In addition, the NADP annual map series of atmospheric concentrations, wet deposition fluxes, and precipitation concentrations is developed each fall, including 2018 and 2019. The NADP produces a series of 23 national maps of wet deposition concentration and flux maps for all of our analytes, and summary figures for each of the gaseous networks. These maps are used widely and are one of the major network products. Individual maps are filed by network, year, and constituent, and can be downloaded in several formats (http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/data/annualmaps.aspx). Individual maps are compiled into Annual Map Summary reports, and the summaries are available for download (nadp.slh.wisc.edu/lib/dataReports.aspx). NADP prints 2000 copies of the Annual Summary, and distribution occurs throughout the year, including disbursement to site operators and supporters, at scientific meetings and conferences, and for education and outreach activities. NADP data is utilized in over 200 articles each year, a comprehensive bibliography is listed on the NADP Web site (http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/lib/bibliography.aspx) Finally, the Fall NADP Scientific symposium, in addition to other conferences, fosters the dissemination of NADP data to key stakeholders. In 2018 and 2019, the meetings included a total of 85 oral presentations and 78 poster presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The NRSP3 provides a framework for cooperation among SAES, the USDA-NIFA, and cooperating governmental and non-governmental organizations that support the NADP. The NADP provides quality-assured data and information on deposition to managed/natural ecosystems and cultural resources of acids, nutrients, base cations, and Hg. NADP provides ambient concentration results for ammonia and Hg species to support dry deposition modeling. NADP data supports informed decisions on air quality and ecosystem impacts related to precipitation chemistry and deposition. Specifically, researchers use NADP data to investigate the impacts on the productivity of managed and natural ecosystems; the chemistry of estuarine, surface, and ground waters; and the biodiversity accross North America. These activities address the mission of the NRSPs to focus on the development of enabling technologies, support activities (e.g., collect, assemble, store, and distribute materials, resources and information), or the sharing of facilities needed to accomplish high priority research. Researchers also use NADP Hg networks to examine the effect of atmospheric deposition on the Hg content of fish and the linkage between environmental, dietary mercury, and human health and food safety. At the end of September 2019, NADP supported sample collection in all of the US States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Canada, and conducted scientific outreach and monitoring support in Mexico, and countries in Southeast Asia. Operational support included 262 NTN, 98 MDN, 5 AirMoN (Discontinued in October 2019), 18 AMNet, and 104 AMoN locations across North America. Samples are collected to support continued research of atmospheric transport, ecosystem impacts, documentation of spatial and temporal trends, assessment of air pollution mitigation success, development of computer simulations, and for community and educational outreach. The goals of the NADP and actions taken by the program to address these goals are listed below: 1. make the best measurements of atmospheric and precipitation chemical condition possible; The NADPs principal output is the collection and chemical analysis of precipitation chemistry and atmospheric chemistry samples obtained from network operations. In 2018 and 2019, total reported analytical values consisted of approximately 135,250 NTN analytes, over 5,050 MDN analytes, 8,300 AIRMoN analytes, 2,600 AMoN analytes, and 68,000 AMNet measurements. All analytical results undergo an extensive QA/QC procedure prior to release to the public via the NADP website. The NADP primary focus is ensuring QA/QC for the analytical results, the methods and procuredes to do this are are outlined in theNADP Quality Management Plan. NADPs laboratories and the PO are typically reviewed annually in rotation to identify problems, improve performance, and provide external checks to the program. The audit team members are a mix of external and NADP member scientists. The CAL and PO were audited July 16-18, 2018 as part of the NADP transition. The finding are summarized in the "National Atmospheric Deposition PO and CAL DRAFT 2018 Readiness Review Report" by the Quality Assurance Advisory Group (QAAG) on August 27, 2018. During the project period, in conjunction with the transition, all NADP SOPs and operation manuals are in review and subject to revision. This is an ongoing process, finalized documents will be upload to the NADP website upon completion (http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/lib/manualsSOPs.aspx). The NADP PO, CAL, and HAL are continuing to update and improve all SOPs and programmatic plans under the guidnace of the QAAG, Network Operations Subcommittee (NOS), and Executive Committee (EC). 2. use standard methods and procedures to ensure that the measurements are made with the utmost quality; The NADP has established detailed sampling, handling, and analytical methods over the 40 years of program existence. These methods can be found at http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/siteops/ and as part of the WSLH overall laboratory program certification and compliance procedures. The NADP continually evaluates and updates the standard methods and procedures through guidance of the NOS which provides a forum for discussion and evaluation of issues pertaining to station siting, equipment, and procedures for sampling and analysis in all NADP networks. 3. make these measurement freely available to all users, with a particular emphasis on the research community and educators; and NADP facilitates data access and availability for scientists, policymakers, educators, students, and others which are encouraged to access data at no charge from the NADP website (nadp.slh.wisc.edu). This website offers online retrieval of individual data points, seasonal and annual averages, trend plots, concentration and deposition maps, reports, manuals, and other data and information about the program. Internet disbursement of precipitation chemistry and atmospheric data is the primary route of dissemination for the NADP project. During the 2018 and 2019, NADP estimated annual downloads of 23,000 comma-delineated data, including 14,000 from the NTN database. In addition, approximately 57,000 PDF map images and 100,000 map data sets were downloaded. In addition, the NADPs annual map series of atmospheric concentrations, wet deposition fluxes, and ambient data summaries is developed each fall, including the for the project yeas of 2018 and 2019. For each summary and calendar year, the NADP produces a series of 23 national maps of wet deposition concentration and flux maps for all of our analytes, and summary figures for each of the gaseous networks. These maps are used widely and are one of the major network products. Individual maps are filed by network, year, and constituent, and can be downloaded in several formats (http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/data/annualmaps.aspx); Annual Map Summaries are available for free from the program website (nadp.slh.wisc.edu/lib/dataReports.aspx). 4. strive to advance environmental measurement science through discussion, testing of new methods, assisting others making similar measurements, general outreach, and data accessibility. The NADP hosted and organized four meetings in 2018 and 2019, two Fall Scientific meetings and two program operation meetings in the spring. The meetings are attended by a diverse group of participants from NIFA, EPA, USGS, Park Service, Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife, BLM, NOAA, states, and tribes. In addition, meetings include representatives from industry, research institutions, educators, and international data users and researchers. In order to advance the outreach to these groups, the NADP has expanded technical outreach and training to include workshops and work group meetings. In 2018 and 2019, NADP offered a TDEP workshop 'Connecting Stakeholder and Science Perspectives to Better Understand the Linkages Between Agriculture and Reactive Nitrogen Deposition' which was attended by over 100 participants and held Mercury in the Environment and Links to Deposition (MELD) meetings to bring in new stakeholders to guide NADP's efforts in Hg monitoring and reporting. NADP established a strategic planning group which will draft a programmatic strategic plan, this will be available in early 2020. NADP representatives have presented and exhibited at numerous national and global conferences during the project period. Finally, in 2019, NADP established a new Education and Outreach Subcommittee (EOS) with a mission to coordinate outreach and education activities among the networks and scientific subcommittees; EOS will provide guidance for outreach efforts and educational materials to the PO and EC. Specific program outcomes which address each of NADPs goals and objectives are highlighted in the NADP Annual Summaries that can be found at http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/lib/dataReports.aspx.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: CHANG, Y. et al. Assessing contributions of agricultural and nonagricultural emissions to atmospheric ammonia in a Chinese megacity. Environmental science & technology, v. 53, n. 4, p. 1822-1833, 2019. ISSN 0013-936X.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: FEDKIN, N. M. et al. Linking improvements in sulfur dioxide emissions to decreasing sulfate wet deposition by combining satellite and surface observations with trajectory analysis. Atmospheric Environment, v. 199, p. 210-223, Feb 2019. ISSN 1352-2310. Available at: < ://WOS:000456639900019 >.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: FENN, M. E. et al. On-road emissions of ammonia: An underappreciated source of atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Science of the Total Environment, v. 625, p. 909-919, Jun 2018. ISSN 0048-9697. Available at: < ://WOS:000426356600093 >.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: JEONG, H.; PITTELKOW, C. M.; BHATTARAI, R. Simulated responses of tile-drained agricultural systems to recent changes in ambient atmospheric gradients. Agricultural systems, v. 168, p. 48-55, 2019. ISSN 0308-521X.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: KHAN, M. S.; KOIZUMI, N.; OLDS, J. L. Biofixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the context of world staple crop production: Policy perspectives. Science of The Total Environment, p. 134945, 2019a. ISSN 0048-9697.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: KOSKELO, A. I. et al. Biogeochemical storm response in agricultural watersheds of the Choptank River Basin, Delmarva Peninsula, USA. Biogeochemistry, v. 139, n. 3, p. 215-239, 2018. ISSN 0168-2563.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: LUDWIKOWSKI, J. J.; PETERSON, E. W. Transport and fate of chloride from road salt within a mixed urban and agricultural watershed in Illinois (USA): assessing the influence of chloride application rates. Hydrogeology Journal, v. 26, n. 4, p. 1123-1135, 2018. ISSN 1431-2174.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: SOSA ECHEVERRIA, R. et al. Sulfur and nitrogen compounds in wet atmospheric deposition on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from 2003 to 2015. Science of The Total Environment, v. 700, p. 134419, 2020/01/15/ 2020. ISSN 0048-9697. Available at: < http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719344109 >.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: TRENTMAN, M. T. The impact of long-term regional air mass patterns on nutrient precipitation chemistry and nutrient deposition within a United States grassland ecosystem. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, v. 75, n. 4, p. 399-410, Dec 2018. ISSN 0167-7764. Available at: < ://WOS:000454526600005 >.