ARL News
Third NOAA-EPA Scientist-To-Scientist Meeting Held In Annapolis
April 4, 2005
Thirty four key scientists and managers met in Annapolis on 30 and 31 March, to explore the subject of atmospheric deposition. This was the third meeting in the series of Scientist-to-scientist meetings conducted under the aupices of the NOAA/EPA Memorandum of Understanding on Air Quality Research. The first meeting addressed air quality issues alone. The second focused on the intersection of air quality with climate. This third meeting concentrated on the link between air quality and ecosystems – atmospheric deposition. There will be a fourth meeting, to follow shortly, to extend the subject to multi-media environmental pollution.
Representatives from the operational arms of the two agencies (EPA and NOAA) summarized their perspectives related to needs for accurate deposition data. Modelers then summarized the state of their art, and a number of experimentalists presented information on recent advances in measurement techniques.
Breakout sessions explored opportunities to collaborate, to address NOAA and EPA issues. Major attention was given to a number of outstanding concerns, mainly related to the need for improved understanding of deposition of nitrogen compounds, sulfur, and mercury to areas of ecological (and other) interest. A report on the conclusions will be prepared in the next month. At the same time, plans for the fourth workshop in the series are evolving. This fourth meeting is presently planned to be held at the Patuxent Wildlife Center, Maryland, on June 1-3, 2005.