Field Methods: The following instruments provided by Handix Scientific will be installed at the Look Rock Site in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Open-Path Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer (OPCRDS), Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift PM Extinction Monitor (CAPS). These instruments will run autonomously and sample ambient air at the site. Data from these instruments will be compared with publicly available data from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) program.

Field Methods: We propose to make measurements of fine particle composition using FTIR, XRF, and AMS techniques as part of the SOAS campaign. The instruments are housed in a 20’x8’ trailer with 3 m isokinetic inlet. The Russell group will collect fine particle mass on Teflon filters for quantification of organic functional group concentrations by FTIR spectroscopy and elemental concentrations by X-ray fluorescence (XRF). These techniques allowed not only for quantitative characterization of the organic composition of fine aerosol, but also identification of source categories and quantitative source contributions through the use of elemental tracers and positive matrix factorization (PMF). The sample collection will be conducted alongside simultaneous aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measurements, allowing for comparison of total organic mass and providing complementary information on organic composition (mass spectral fragments as opposed to chemical functional groups). Fine particle mass will be collected on Teflon filters for with both PM1 (4-6 hr) and PM2.5 (24 hr) cyclones. All filters will be analyzed by FTIR to quantify organic functional group concentrations, and selected filters will be analyzed by XRF to compare and validate ongoing IMPROVE sampling protocols. We will also collect samples for scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) for selected periods. While limited in sample number, the unique single-particle organic functional group and morphology measurements provided by STXM-NEXAFS provides one-of-a-kind insight into the composition and structure of individual aerosol particles. We will collect approximately 10 samples for this analysis at the Look Rock site and archive an additional 40 samples for analysis if resources permit at a later date. The Ziemann group will also use spectrophotometric methods to analyze functional groups in a subset of aerosol filter samples (due to higher method detection limits and the need for larger samples) collected by the Russell group at Centerville, AL, and Look Rock, TN. In addition, we plan to exchange samples with the Surratt group (also located at Look Rock, TN) to augment inter-comparison of their tracer-compound methods with our functional group based methods, for both atmospheric and chamber sampling. The Russell group will also measure aerosol size-resolved chemical composition with high time resolution using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and black carbon components of the aerosol using a single particle soot photometer (SP2), which provide distinctive characteristics to quantify the contributions of biogenic and anthropogenic sources. Measurements of inorganic and organic fine particle composition and size distributions (near 100% transmissions for 60-600 nm, and partial transmission extending to ~30 nm and ~1.5 µm) will be conducted using an Aerodyne High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS). This operation scheme will provide high time resolution measurements of inorganic and organic composition (5 min), mass fragments (5 min), elemental composition (10 min), single particles (2 hr), and mass fragment size distributions (1-4 hr).

The data is from a multi-year study of the impact of an unidentified defoliator. Collected data include: diameter, height, crown class, percent live crown ratio, percent crown density, percent foliage transparency, percent dieback, percent defoliation, number of fruit clusters, a vigor rating, visible damage type(s) and new growth measurement (Shoot_Length). Crown ratings follow USDA Forest Service Forest Health rating system.

The data is from a multi-year study of the impact of an unidentified defoliator. Collected data include: diameter, height, crown class, percent live crown ratio, percent crown density, percent foliage transparency, percent dieback, percent defoliation, number of fruit clusters, a vigor rating, visible damage type(s) and new growth measurement (Shoot_Length). Crown ratings follow USDA Forest Service Forest Health rating system.

an inventory and archive of the historical (1890-2011) temperature and precipitation data for Great Smoky Mountains National Park

an inventory and archive of the historical (1890-2011) temperature and precipitation data for Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Nighttime roadside spotlight counts of white-tailed deer in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Nighttime roadside spotlight counts of white-tailed deer in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park High Peaks showing height of Mountains and Knobs measured with Lidar or Survey-grade GPS.

Field Methods: In 2003-2004, 180 locations within Great Smoky Mountains National Park were visited to inventory overstory composition, fuels, and ericaceous shrub cover (Waldrop et al., 2007). Overstory composition and ericaceous shrub cover were determined using fixed-area plots (0.02 ha). Within these fixed-area plots, fuels were observed using Brown’s Planar Intercept Method (Brown, 1974) as modified by Stottlemyer (2004). Using this technique, down-and-dead woody debris 0 – 1/4 in., 1/4 – 1 in., 1 – 3 in., and greater than 3 in. in diameter was tallied as 1-, 10-, 100-hr., and 1000-hr. timelag size classes, respectively, along three 50 ft. transects established at a 45o angle. Timelag refers to how each individual fuel-size class responds to changes in relative humidity (Brown, 1974). Using this method, 1-hr. and 10-hr. fuels were tallied within the first 6 ft. of each transect, 100-hr. fuels were tallied within the first 12 ft., and 1000-hr. fuels were tallied along the entire 50 ft. transect. A quality rating (sound or rotten) was additionally recorded for 1000-hr. fuels. Estimates of fuel loading in tons per acre were derived for each fuel-size class based upon these tallies (Brown, 1974; Stottlemyer, 2004). Litter depth, duff depth, and fuel bed height (defined as the distance from the top of the litter layer to the top of any coarse woody debris crossing the transect) were measured at three locations along each 50-ft. transect: 12-13 ft., 24-25 ft., and 40-41 ft. Thus, plot averages for each variable were based upon nine individual measurements. In summer 2019, we will revisit 50 of the 180 locations to obtain similar measurements of overstory composition, fuels, and ericaceous shrub cover. These locations contained a high proportion of T. canadensis in the overstory and/or a substantial accumulation of ericaceous shrubs when measured in 2003-2004.