Reconciling models and measurements to assess trends in atmospheric mercury deposition

Changes in atmospheric mercury deposition are used to evaluate the effectiveness of regulations controlling emissions. This analysis can be complicated by seemingly incongruent data from different model runs, model types, and field measurements. Here we present a case study example that describes ho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental pollution (1987) 2008-11, Vol.156 (2), p.526-535
Main Authors: Sunderland, Elsie M., Cohen, Mark D., Selin, Noelle E., Chmura, Gail L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Pollutants - analysis
air pollution
Air Pollution - legislation & jurisprudence
Analysis methods
Applied sciences
atmospheric deposition
Atmospheric pollution
Canada
case studies
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Environmental Monitoring - methods
estimation
Exact sciences and technology
Geologic Sediments - chemistry
Historical pollution
Mercury
Mercury - analysis
Models, Theoretical
Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution
Pollution
Pre-industrial
Sediment
sediment contamination
Time
trend analysis
United States
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Changes in atmospheric mercury deposition are used to evaluate the effectiveness of regulations controlling emissions. This analysis can be complicated by seemingly incongruent data from different model runs, model types, and field measurements. Here we present a case study example that describes how to identify trends in regional scale mercury deposition using best-available information from multiple data sources. To do this, we use data from three atmospheric chemistry models (CMAQ, GEOS-Chem, HYSPLIT) and multiple sediment archives (ombrotrophic bog, headwater lake, coastal salt marsh) from the Bay of Fundy region in Canada. Combined sediment and modeling data indicate that deposition attributable to US and Canadian emissions has declined in recent years, thereby increasing the relative significance of global sources. We estimate that anthropogenic emissions in the US and Canada account for 28–33% of contemporary atmospheric deposition in this region, with the rest from natural (14–32%) and global sources (41–53%). Mercury deposition trends are estimated from sediment data and atmospheric models.
ISSN:0269-7491
1873-6424
DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2008.01.021