To better understand NO and NOy trends in the atmosphere, data from Mammoth Cave National Park are analyzed.  NO and NOy are pollutants produced from automobiles and may also be generated by nitrate photolysis.  The natural processes that produce these can be easier to isolate in more remote locations, hence Mammoth Cave National Park was chosen because of its status as a National Park in a relatively remote location and because of its existing data infrastructure. The mechanisms for NO and NOy production in the lower atmosphere are not fully understood. We correlate NO  levels to factors such as solar irradiance and precipitation.  Data collected at the Mammoth Cave National Park Air-Quality Monitoring Station are downloaded and analyzed to identify potential correlations. Correlation between NO and solar irradiance are strong; there appears to be no correlation between NO and wind direction  or speed, meaning the wind is not carrying in NO from other areas.  This means that the changes we see are dominated by natural sources elsewhere, but that some evidence of anthropogenic point sources in some cases.  The levels over the course of a year are being analyzed to determine typical behavior. This will also ultimately allow for the analysis of the impact snow and rain on natural sources of NO and NOy.

Analysis of NO and NO<sub>y</sub> levels at Mammoth Cave National Park

246th National Meeting (2013)

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Analysis of NO and NOy levels at Mammoth Cave National Park

Analysis of NO and NO_y levels at Mammoth Cave National Park