Natural Haze Levels 

Application of the New IM

Algorithm to Natural Sp

Concentrations Estima

Final Report by the 

Natural Haze Levels II Committ

RPO Monitoring/Data Analysis W
Note: This presentation contains substantial additional info

section of PowerPoint that can be seen in the bottom paview mode, and can be printed by selecting “Notes Pagewhat” selection of the “Print” menu (go to “Files” on the t“Print”). You can also use “Preview” for the “Notes Pagethe notes on your computer monitor.

These notes were prepared 1. to aid those hearing the presentation by relieving them o

as many notes; 

2. to allow those who haven’t heard the presentation to und

the additional information that is spoken during presenta

3. to provide a more complete documentation of the natura

approach for anyone who may want to understand it

For additional information contact Marc Pitchford at Marc.Pi
Overall Goal

• Estimate 20% best and 20% worst na

levels for visibility-protected class I athe new IMPROVE algorithm for estiextinction from aerosol species conce

– Needed for Regional Haze Rule (RHR) r

glide slopes where the new IMPROVE aused to characterize current haze levels

– Should minimize the technical problems 

the RHR default natural haze levels that developed using the original IMPROVE 
Default Natural Haze Levels 

• Typical haze level estimates for East 

– Typical light extinction by applying the 

IMPROVE algorithm to Trijonis natural concentration estimates for East and We

– Convert to haze index (deciview units)

• 20% best and 20% worst haze estima

and West

– Best = typical – 1.28(standard deviation– Worst = typical + 1.28(standard deviatio– Standard deviation is 3dv for the East an

West (corresponds to the 10th and 90th pe
Criticism of the Default A

• Limitations of the original IMPROVE 

– Biased light extinction estimates at the e– Uses an outdated organic compound ma

mass ratio

– No sea salt (important at a few sites)– Rayleigh scattering of 10Mm-1 used for 

• Flawed assumptions used to estimate 

and worst conditions

– Haze index for natural conditions are no

normally distributed due to inclusion of scattering 

– 10th and 90th percentiles don’t correspon

and worst conditions if the distribution w
Natural Haze Levels II A

• Adjust each of the measured major spec

concentrations to the Trijonis natural coestimates 

– Multiply each species concentration at a sit

specific ratio of the (Trijonis natural estima(annual mean concentration) for the speciebaseline period

– If the annual mean concentration for a spec

the Trijonis natural estimate, make no adju

– Current sea salt levels are taken to be natur

• Apply the new IMPROVE algorithm to 

adjusted species concentrations at each 

a distribution of natural light extinction 

• Convert to deciview and calculate the m

best and 20% worst haze levels
Trijonis-Adjusted Specie Frequency 

• Sip• Eac

masfreqscamas

• If cu

less the sca

• Geo

speunc

Current 2000-2004

Natural Estimate

HangiSolid - Dashe
Current and Natural Haze Frequency 

• Sipsey Alabama• Natural scenario joint distribution shape is derived fr

aerosol species mass concentrations to natural con

• Allows estimation of best and worst 20% dv or aeros

extinction
Natural Haze Level
Default Natural Haze L
Natural Haze Levels 

10-Year Rate of Progress G
Default Natural Haze Le

10-Year Rate of Progress Gl
Status and Next Ste

• This presentation is the final report of 

Haze Levels II Committee of the RPO Monitoring/Data Analysis Workgroup

• Review comments received by Augus

will be considered in preparation of thMonitoring/Data Analysis Workgroup approach

• Workgroup approved approach is forw

RPOs for their consideration by Augu

• This presentation, including the natur

estimates and any modifications will available on VIEWS 
Appendix

• Tables of Natural Haze Level II 

for all IMPROVE Sites by RPO 
Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10-ye

Glide 

Slope (

CACR1 Caney Creek Arkansas 3 11.7 26.4 2.4 UPBU1 Upper Buffalo Wilderness Arkansas 5 11.7 26.3 2.4 BRET1 Breton* Louisiana 4 12.3 0.0 0.0 BOWA1 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Minnesota 2 11.6 20.0 1.4 VOYA2 Voyageurs NP #2 Minnesota 5 12.2 19.3 1.2 HEGL1 Hercules-Glades Missouri 3 11.4 26.7 2.6 MING1 Mingo Missouri 1 12.5 29.5 2.8 WIMO1 Wichita Mountains Oklahoma 3 7.6 23.8 2.7 BIBE1 Big Bend NP Texas 4 7.2 17.3 1.7 GUMO1 Guadalupe Mountains NP Texas 5 6.8 17.2 1.7 

CENRAP

MANE-VU & Midwest RPO

Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10-ye

Glid

Slope 

ACAD1 Acadia NP Maine 5 12.5 22.9 1.7 MOOS1 Moosehorn NWR Maine 5 12.1 21.7 1.6 GRGU1 Great Gulf Wilderness

New Hampshire 4 12.1 22.8 1.8

BRIG1 Brigantine NWR New Jersey 5 12.3 29.0 2.8 LYBR1 Lye Brook Wilderness Vermont 5 11.9 24.4 2.1 ISLE1 Isle Royale NP Michigan 5 12.5 20.7 1.4 SENE1 Seney Michigan 5 12.8 24.2 1.9 
Site Name State

Complet 

e Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10-

Glide 

(d

SIPS1 Sipsy Wilderness Alabama 4 11.1 29.0 3CHAS1 Chassahowitzka NWR Florida 3 11.3 26.1 2EVER1 Everglades NP Florida 4 12.3 22.3 1SAMA1 St. Marks Florida 2 11.6 26.0 2COHU1 Cohutta Georgia 2 11.2 30.3 3OKEF1 Okefenokee NWR Georgia 5 11.5 27.1 2MACA1 Mammoth Cave NP Kentucky 5 11.2 31.4 3LIGO1 Linville Gorge

North Carolina 4 11.3 28.8 2

SHRO1 Shining Rock Wilderness

North Carolina 2 11.6 27.9 2

SWAN1 Swanquarter

North Carolina 2 12.0 25.5 2

ROMA1 Cape Romain NWR

South Carolina 5 12.2 26.5 2

GRSM1 Great Smoky Mountains NP Tennessee 5 11.3 30.3 3JARI1 James River Face Wilderness Virginia 4 11.2 29.1 3SHEN1 Shenandoah NP Virginia 5 11.4 29.3 3DOSO1 Dolly Sods Wilderness West Virginia 5 10.4 29.0 3VIIS1 Virgin Islands NP Virgin Islands 4 10.8 17.0 1

VISTAS + VI
Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

S

DENA1 Denali NP Alaska 5 7.4 9.9 SIME1 Simeonof Alaska 3 15.7 18.6 TUXE1 Tuxedni Alaska 3 11.5 14.1 BALD1 Mount Baldy Arizona 2 6.6 11.5 CHIR1 Chiricahua NM Arizona 5 7.3 13.4 GRCA2 Hance Camp at Grand Canyon NP Arizona 4 7.2 11.7 IKBA1 Ike's Backbone Arizona 4 6.7 13.3 PEFO1 Petrified Forest NP Arizona 5 6.6 13.2 SAGU1 Saguaro NM Arizona 3 6.5 14.8 SIAN1 Sierra Ancha Arizona 4 6.7 13.7 SYCA1 Sycamore Canyon Arizona 4 6.8 15.3 TONT1 Tonto NM Arizona 3 6.7 13.9 

WRAP
Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10

G

Slo

AGTI1 Agua Tibia California 4 7.7 23.5 BLIS1 Bliss SP (TRPA) California 4 6.2 12.6 DOME1 Dome Lands Wilderness California 4 7.5 19.4 HOOV1 Hoover California 3 8.0 12.9 JOSH1 Joshua Tree NP California 4 7.3 19.6 KAIS1 Kaiser California 2 7.3 14.8 LABE1 Lava Beds NM California 4 7.9 15.1 LAVO1 Lassen Volcanic NP California 5 7.4 14.1 PINN1 Pinnacles NM California 4 8.1 18.5 PORE1 Point Reyes National Seashore California 3 15.9 22.8 RAFA1 San Rafael California 2 7.8 18.9 REDW1 Redwood NP California 5 14.0 18.5 SAGA1 San Gabriel California 3 7.1 19.9 SAGO1 San Gorgonio Wilderness California 4 7.4 22.2 SEQU1 Sequoia NP California 3 7.6 24.6 TRIN1 Trinity California 3 8.3 16.3 YOSE1 Yosemite NP California 5 7.7 17.6 

WRAP
Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10-yea

Glide 

Slope (d

GRSA1 Great Sand Dunes NM Colorado 5 6.7 12.8 1.0 MEVE1 Mesa Verde NP Colorado 5 6.9 13.0 1.0 MOZI1 Mount Zirkel Wilderness Colorado 4 6.6 10.5 0.7 ROMO1 Rocky Mountain NP Colorado 5 7.3 13.8 1.1 WEMI1 Weminuche Wilderness Colorado 4 6.3 10.3 0.7WHRI1 White River NF Colorado 4 6.7 9.6 0.5HALE1 Haleakala NP Hawaii 4 7.5 13.3 1.0 HAVO1 Hawaii Volcanoes NP Hawaii 4 7.2 18.9 1.9 CRMO1 Craters of the Moon NM Idaho 4 7.6 14.0 1.1 SAWT1 Sawtooth NF Idaho 4 6.5 13.8 1.2 CABI1 Cabinet Mountains Montana 4 7.6 14.1 1.1 GAMO1 Gates of the Mountains Montana 4 6.5 11.3 0.8 GLAC1 Glacier NP Montana 3 9.1 20.5 1.9 MELA1 Medicine Lake Montana 5 8.0 17.7 1.6 MONT1 Monture Montana 4 7.8 14.5 1.1SULA1 Sula Peak Montana 4 7.5 13.4 1.0 ULBE1 UL Bend Montana 4 8.2 15.1 1.1 

WRAP
Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst 

Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst 

Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10-year 

Glide 

Slope (dv

JARB1 Jarbidge Wilderness Nevada 4 8.0 12.1 0.7 BAND1 Bandelier NM

New Mexico 5 6.3 12.2 1.0 

BOAP1 Bosque del Apache

New Mexico 3 6.8 13.8 1.2 

GICL1 Gila Wilderness

New Mexico 4 6.8 13.1 1.1 

SACR1 Salt Creek

New Mexico 4 6.9 18.0 1.9 

SAPE1 San Pedro Parks

New Mexico 4 6.2 10.2 0.7 

WHIT1 White Mountain

New Mexico 3 6.9 13.7 1.1 

WHPE1 Wheeler Peak

New Mexico 3 6.6 10.4 0.6 

LOST1 Lostwood

North Dakota 5 8.1 19.6 1.9 

THRO1 Theodore Roosevelt

North Dakota 4 7.9 17.7 1.6 

CRLA1 Crater Lake NP Oregon 3 8.0 13.7 1.0HECA1 Hells Canyon Oregon 3 8.4 18.6 1.7 KALM1 Kalmiopsis Oregon 4 9.5 15.5 1.0 MOHO1 Mount Hood Oregon 4 8.5 14.9 1.1 STAR1 Starkey Oregon 4 9.0 18.6 1.6 THSI1 Three Sisters Wilderness Oregon 5 8.9 15.3 1.1

WRAP
Site Name State

Complete 

Years

Worst Haze 

Natural II 

(dv)

Worst Haze 

Baseline 

(dv)

10-y

Gl

Slope 

BADL1 Badlands NP

South Dakota 5 8.1 17.1 1

WICA1 Wind Cave

South Dakota 5 7.8 15.8 1

BRCA1 Bryce Canyon NP Utah 5 7.0 11.6 0CANY1 Canyonlands NP Utah 5 6.5 11.2 0CAPI1 Capitol Reef NP Utah 2 5.7 10.0 0ZION1 Zion Utah 3 7.1 13.2 1MORA1 Mount Rainier NP Washington 4 8.6 18.2 1NOCA1 North Cascades Washington 2 8.1 14.0 1OLYM1 Olympic Washington 3 8.5 16.7 1PASA1 Pasayten Washington 4 8.4 15.2 1SNPA1 Snoqualmie Pass Washington 4 8.5 17.8 1WHPA1 White Pass Washington 4 8.5 12.8 0BRID1 Bridger Wilderness Wyoming 5 6.7 11.1 0NOAB1 North Absaroka Wyoming 3 6.9 11.5 0YELL2 Yellowstone NP 2 Wyoming 5 6.6 11.8 0

WRAP