Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0061-0699
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2005-04-06T04:00Z

Analysis
of
Speciation
Data
in
Chattanooga,
TN
for
Flagged
Days
in
2003
and
2004
U.
S.
EPA
April
5,
2005
Dates
°
Fifteen
dates
in
2003
and
2004
identified
by
Chattanooga
for
possible
fire
impacts:

 
4/
15/
03;
6/
26/
03;
6/
29/
03;
8/
19/
03;
8/
22/
03;
8/
25/
03;

8/
28/
03;
6/
8/
04;
6/
11/
04;
7/
17/
04;
7/
20/
04;
8/
4/
04;

8/
10/
04;
8/
16/
04;
and
8/
19/
04.

°
Out
of
these
fifteen,
we
have
identified
8
days
as
being
more
possible
fire
days
than
the
other
7:

 
4/
15/
03;
6/
2903;
8/
19/
03;
8/
25/
03;
7/
20/
04;
8/
4/
04;

8/
10/
04;
and
8/
16/
04.
When
are
speciation
data
available?

°
At
the
Chattanooga
speciation
site
(
AIRS
ID:

470654002),
data
are
available
(
during
summers
of
2003
and
2004)
for
the
following
subset
of
days
that
were
identified
in
the
previous
slide
as
fire
days:

 
6/
26/
03;
8/
19/
03;
8/
25/
03;
6/
8/
04,
7/
20/
04,
and
8/
19/
04
 
Though
not
in
the
summer
of
2003,
speciation
data
is
also
available
on
4/
15/
03,
which
was
previously
identified
as
a
possible
fire
date
by
Chattanooga.

°
The
Chattanooga
speciation
site
monitors
on
a
1­
in­
6
day
schedule.
06/

02/

2003
06/

08/

2003
06/

14/

2003
06/

20/

2003
06/

26/

2003
07/

02/

2003
07/

08/

2003
07/

14/

2003
07/

20/

2003
07/

26/

2003
08/

01/

2003
08/

07/

2003
08/

13/

2003
08/

19/

2003
08/

25/

2003
08/

31/

2003
06/

02/

2004
06/

08/

2004
06/

14/

2004
06/

20/

2004
06/

26/

2004
07/

02/

2004
07/

08/

2004
07/

14/

2004
07/

20/

2004
07/

26/

2004
08/

01/

2004
08/

07/

2004
08/

13/

2004
08/

19/

2004
08/

25/

2004
08/

31/

2004
0
5
10
15
20
OCM,

Sulfate
(

ug/

m3)
0
10
20
30
40
50
PM2.5
Mass
FRM
mass
OrganicCarbonMass
Sulfate
Q3
2003
and
2004,
Chatanooga
Some
Summary
Stats
Q3
2003
and
2004
FRM
Mass
OCM
EC
Potassium
Sulfate
Fire
Days
(
n=
6)
32.75
8.71
0.73
0.08
12.00
Non
Fire
Days
(
n=
26)
15.08
3.90
0.51
0.06
5.82
Chattanooga
Summary
Max
on
nonFire
Days
23.70
9.21
0.82
0.22
13.10
Min
on
nonFire
Days
3
0.588
0.12
0.0207
0.47
Summary
of
Fire
Dates
FRM
Mass
OCM
EC
Potassium
Sulfate
06/
26/
2003
41.4
12.138
0.8
0.112
13.7
08/
19/
2003
36.1
8.974
0.69
0.0693
13.3
08/
25/
2003
37.2
9.226
0.97
0.0767
15.6
06/
08/
2004
27
9.058
0.67
0.102
9.59
07/
20/
2004
29.2
4.97
0.51
0.061
12.1
08/
19/
2004
25.6
7.882
0.74
0.0852
7.69
04/
15/
2003
31
14.8
1.58
0.173
7.81
Note:
Mass
shown
in
yellow
for
8/
19/
03
is
gravimetric
mass
not
FRM
mass.
Observations
°
1.
Comparison
of
Chattanooga
data
to
historical
fire
events
(
like
the
Quebec
fires)
indicates
the
impacts
are
rather
small
and
inconclusive.

°
2.
Analyses
of
past
fire
events
haven't
shown
high
values
for
sulfates.
For
the
days
analyzed
here,
we
do
see
high
sulfate
values.

°
3.
Potassium
is
slightly
higher
on
some
flagged
dates,
but
not
conclusively
so,
as
some
non­
flagged
dates
also
have
high
potassium
levels.
There
is
also
some
uncertainty
about
the
use
of
potassium
measurements
as
a
marker
for
fire.
Elevated
organic
carbon
levels
is
the
most
accepted
marker
of
fire
events.

°
4.
There
appears
to
be
enough
evidence
to
say
that
on
these
dates
the
elevated
PM2.5
seems
to
be
caused
by
the
combination
of
higher
sulfate
levels
driven
by
regional
emissions
and
high
temperatures,
and
by
increases
in
organic
carbon
levels
(
potentially
from
fire
events,
but
not
conclusively
from
such
events).

°
5.
Comparison
of
Chattanooga
speciation
data
to
nearby
Nashville
speciation
data
shows
similar
patterns
for
these
flagged
days
compared
to
non­
flagged
days
during
the
same
period
of
time.