Air quality monitoring in Alberta

204 Pages·1994·15.2 MB·English

by  Alberta. Air Issues and Monitoring Branch

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Air Quality Monitoring
in Alberta
DATA REPORT
1995
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
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AIR QUALITY
MONITORING IN ALBERTA
1995 DATA REPORT
Prepared by:
R.H. My rick
Air Issues and Monitoring Branch
Chemicals Assessment and Management Division
Alberta Environmental Protection
November 1996
1494-A9611
ISBN: 0-7732-5084-0
This report is one in a series of air quality annual reports produced by Alberta Environmental Protection for
1995. The following air quality annual reports are available for 1995:
Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Summary Report;
Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Detailed Report, and
Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report.
For copies of these reports or for more information contact:
Air Issues and Monitoring Branch
Alberta Environmental Protection
6th Floor, Oxbridge Place
9820 - 106 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2J6
Phone (403) 427-5893
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Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv
INTRODUCTION 1
CONTINUOUS MONITORING DATA 3
Index of Air Quality 5
Wind 7
Ammonia (NH3) 17
Carbon Monoxide (CO) 19
Carbon Dioxide (C02) 33
Dust and Smoke 37
Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) 53
Nitrogen Dioxide (N02) 65
Nitric Oxide (NO) 75
Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) 85
Ozone (03) 95
Inhalable Particulates (PM10) 117
Sulphur Dioxide (S02) 121
Total Hydrocarbons (THC) 129
INTERMITTENT MONITORING DATA 139
Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) 141
Benzo (a) Pyrene (BaP) 145
Sulphate 149
Nitrate 153
STATIC MONITORING DATA 157
Total Dustfall 159
Calcium 161
Total Sulphation 163
Hydrogen Sulphide 169
Fluorides 175
PRECIPITATION QUALITY MONITORING DATA 177
REFERENCES 195
Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Monitoring Locations
EDMU - E dmonton central (downtown) monitoring unit
ERMU - E dmonton northwest (residential) monitoring unit
EIMU - E dmonton east (industrial) monitoring unit
CDMU
- C algary central (downtown) monitoring unit
CRMU
- C algary northwest (residential) monitoring unit
CIMU
- C algary east (industrial) monitoring unit
FTSK - F ort Saskatchewan monitoring unit
FMMU - F ort McMurray monitoring unit
FRMU - F ort MacKay monitoring unit
SPBK
- S pringbank monitoring unit (Springbank Airport)
RLPK
- R oyal Park monitoring unit (Vegreville)
Pollutant Parameters
IQUA - I ndex of the Quality of the Air
NH3 - ammonia
CO - carbon monoxide
co2
- carbon dioxide
h2s - h ydrogen sulphide
no2 - nitrogen dioxide
NO - nitric oxide
N0O3x -- ooxziodnees of nitrogen
PM]0 - i nhalable particulates
S02
- sulphur dioxide
THC - t otal hydrocarbons
TSP
- t otal suspended particulates
BaP - b enzo (a) pyrene
Units of Measurement
ppm - p arts per million by volume
ppb - p arts per billion by volume
- micrograms per cubic meter
Hp+gp / gk1/g0m/03h0 a m3 -- km iilcorgorgarmasm s p e rp e hre c 1t0a0r0e c(uhbyidcr o mgeetne r sio n equivalent)
kg/ha - k ilograms per hectare
mg/day/1002 - milligrams per day per 100 square centimeters
mg/1002/30 days - milligrams per 100 square centimeters per 30 days
pg/1002/30 days - micrograms per 100 square centimeters per 30 days
km/hr - k ilometres per hour
mm - millimetres
ml - millilitres
COH units
- c oefficient of haze units measured as the reduction of light transmission per
1 000 linear feet of air sample
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Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report
INTRODUCTION
This document is p repared as an appendix to the report entitled "Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995
Detailed Report". Data summaries are presented for continuous, intermittent, static and precipitation quality
monitoring networks operated by Alberta Environmental Protection.
Continuous Air Quality Monitoring
Air pollutants which are monitored on a c ontinuous basis include ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, dust and smoke (the coefficient of haze), hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, total oxides
of nitrogen, ozone, inhalable particulates, sulphur dioxide and total hydrocarbons. Concentrations of these
pollutants are reported once every hour, 24 hours a d ay, 365 days a y ear. In the continuous air quality data
section of this report, the Index of the Quality of the Air, wind direction and speed, and concentrations of
individual air pollutants are summarized. Individual air pollutants have been analyzed, on an annual, seasonal
and monthly basis, to resolve simple statistics which describe the data. Seasons are defined as winter (December,
January, February), spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August) and autumn (September, October,
November) (Trenberth 1983). The subsequent pages contain the following information for each continuously
monitored air pollutant: (1) percentiles (which indicate the percentage of observations above and below a specific
percentile; i.e., 75% means that 75% of the observations are below or equal to the value indicated and 25% of
the observations are above the value indicated); (2) simple statistics such as arithmetic and geometric means,
arithmetic standard deviations, range, and the number of observations; and (3) the percentage of time that ambient
parameter concentrations exceeded the guidelines. Wind direction frequency distributions are generated for times
when the guidelines were exceeded. Annual average pollutant concentrations of historical data are also included.
Statistical procedures used in this analysis are detailed in numerous statistics publications (refer to Zar (1974)
and Gilbert (1987)).
Data below the limit of detection (LOD) are estimated by the method described in Gilliom and Helsel
(1986). It is assumed that the air quality data above the LOD follows a l ognormal distribution. The data below
the LOD are fitted to this lognormal distribution by the method of least squares. Initially, normal scores are
calculated for all data points above the LOD by the following equations:
z = F(y)',(r/n +1); and
F(y) = r/(n+ 1);
where F(y) is the cumulative frequency function for the standardized normal distribution, n i s the number of
observations, r i s the order of the observation from the LOD to n and z i s the normal score. A l east squares
regression of concentration on normal scores is then applied. The data below the LOD may then be estimated
by the linear regression equation. Percentiles and statistics are calculated from this modified distribution.
Intermittent Air Quality Monitoring
Intermittent air quality monitoring refers to air pollutants which are monitored as a 2 4-hour accumulated
loading, once every sixth day, according to the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) system. Suspended
particulates, benzo (a) pyrene, sulphates and nitrates are monitored according to this system. Minimums,
geometric means and maximum values are summarized by month for intermittent monitoring parameters. Annual
average values of historical data are also provided.
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Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report
Introduction
Static Air Quality Monitoring
In 1995, static air quality monitoring was conducted from January to June, inclusive, at 31 networks
throughout the province. Each network consisted of at least one monitoring station. Static monitoring is the
measurement of total accumulated loadings of pollutants on a one- and three-month schedule. Parameters
monitored on a s tatic basis included total sulphation, hydrogen sulphide, dustfall, calcium and fluorides. Static
monitoring data are presented as monthly or tri-monthly average loadings for each location. The number of
stations at each location is also indicated.
Precipitation Quality Monitoring
Rain and snow samples were collected on a weekly basis at 12 precipitation quality monitoring stations
in 1995. Samples were also collected on a d aily and monthly basis at the Vegreville (Royal Park) station and on
a d aily basis at the High Prairie station. Chemical analysis was conducted on these samples to obtain pH as well
as other compounds contained in p recipitation. Anion and cation wet deposition rates, and the calculated effective
acidity deposition rates are presented for monthly and weekly precipitation samples. Annual pH values were
calculated using volume weighted average hydrogen ion concentrations from weekly and monthly samples.
Annual anion, cation and effective acidity deposition rates were also calculated simply as the sum of the monthly
and weekly values. Anion and cation deposition rates were calculated using the following equation:
wet deposition(kg/ha) = concentrationfmg/D x p recipitation depth(mm)
100
where precipitation depth was calculated using the volume of precipitation in the collector.
Effective acidity (EA) is an approach which has been developed to estimate the degree of acidification
which soil would experience as a result of atmospheric inputs. This approach takes into account: (1) direct
deposition of acids onto the soil; and (2) the chemical, biological and physical processes which take place within
the soil as a r esult of acid deposition. Effective acidity is described by the equation:
EA = [ H+] + 1 .15x[NH4+] - 0 .7x[NO3 ]
where [H+], [NH4+] and [NO/] are concentrations of hydrogen ions, ammonia ions and nitrate ions, respectively,
expressed as molar equivalents (Coote et al, 1981). Effective acidity is p resented as deposition in kilomoles of
hydrogen ion equivalents per hectare.
Potential acid input (PA) is an approach that takes into account all sulphur and inorganic nitrogen that
is deposited by wet and dry deposition processes (Lovblad et al., 1992; Bull, 1992 ). The non-marine base cation
deposition is subtracted from the equation to get the net acid input into the ecosystem. In precipitation, potential
acid input is calculated using the following equation:
PA = [ S042 ] + [ N03 ] + [ NH4+] - [ Ca2*] - [ Mg2*] - [ K+]
where wet deposition of sulphate, nitrate, ammonium, calcium, magnesium and potassium are calculated in
kilomoles of hydrogen ions equivalents per hectare.
Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report 2
Continuous Air Quality Monitoring
LOCATION OF CONTINUOUS AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS
continuous monitoring station
Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report 3
Continuous Air Quality Monitoring
Location of continuous monitoring stations.
Station Name Station Location
Edmonton Central (Downtown) Monitoring Unit (EDMU) 10255 - 104 St.
Edmonton Northwest (Residential) Monitoring Unit (ERMU) 13335 - 127 St.
Edmonton East (Industrial) Monitoring Unit (EIMU) 105 Ave. and 17 St.
Calgary Central (Downtown) Monitoring Unit (CDMU) 611 -4 St. S.W.
Calgary Northwest (Residential) Monitoring Unit (CRMU) 39 St. and 29 Ave. N.W.
Calgary East (Industrial) Monitoring Unit (CIMU) 49 Ave. and 15 St. S.E.
Fort Saskatchewan Monitoring Unit (FTSK) 9209A - 9 6 Ave.
Fort McMurray Monitoring Unit (FMMU) Franklin Ave. at old waterpump
house site
Fort MacKay Monitoring Unit (FRMU) 1 00 m west of the Fort MacKay
Band Council Administration
Office
Springbank (SPBK) 20 km north-northwest of
Calgary at the Springbank
Airport
Royal Park (RLPK) 10 km northwest of Vegreville
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Air Quality Monitoring in Alberta: 1995 Data Report