<< Back 8/28/02 Study focuses on vehicle tailpipe emissions in park SMN During a two-week project in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that began Aug. 27, vehicle emission data will be collected from passing vehicles at several locations throughout the park using sophisticated roadside monitoring equipment. The study is a collaborative effort, funded by the American Lung Association and in cooperation with the National Park Service, National Parks Conservation Association and M. J. Bradley & Associates, Inc. “We are pleased to participate in this air quality study,” said Mike Tollefson, park superintendent. “Over the many years, extensive monitoring and research has been done on air quality issues in the park and this will be the first of its kind for focusing on direct impacts of vehicle emissions inside the park. Automobile emissions contribute greatly to nitrogen oxide pollution, a primary source of ozone and a contributor to acid rain and particulate matter. This study will provide a snapshot view of the impacts of park visitors’ vehicle emissions on the park’s air quality.” Remote sensing devices (RSD) equipment will be used to sample several thousand vehicles in the Cades Cove and Clingmans Dome areas, Cherokee and Gatlinburg entrances and the Gatlinburg Bypass. Pollutant concentrations in vehicle tailpipe exhaust will be measured while the vehicle is moving by a laser beam (infrared and ultraviolet light) projected across the road. Operation of the equipment will include a van and RSD detectors which will be parked off road at a single location per day and will not interfere or alter the movement of the vehicles. The detectors will capture readings of individual moving automobiles in less than one second. The exhaust pollutants that will be characterized are nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, precursors to ozone pollution, and carbon monoxide. In addition to establishing emissions from vehicles, ambient air quality monitors will be placed along side the RSD equipment and at remote locations to measure pollution levels of nearly 50 other toxic pollutants. “The equipment that will be used is relatively compact, easy to set up, and will not require disruptions in service on the park roadways,” said Paul Moynihan with M. J. Bradley & Associates, Inc., the company coordinating the project and managing the data collection and analysis. “In addition to establishing emissions of vehicles that pass by the RSD equipment, we will try to establish a relationship between average roadway speed and emissions. This will allow us to develop a mathematical representation of emissions based on average speed. All this information will be presented in a comprehensive report expected to be finalized for release in October.” Superintendent Tollefson added that “This study may be a good source of useful information in understanding and documenting the role automobiles have inside the park on contributing to poor air quality in the Smokies. This information can also be used to re-emphasize the need for continued improvements in vehicle emission controls and vehicle emission technology.”