The NADP provides free access to all of its data, including seasonal and annual averages, trend plots, deposition maps, reports, manuals, and educational brochures.
The initial goal was to provide regional data for the deposition of acids, nutrients, and base cations (including temporal trends/amounts and geographic distributions).
The research, monitoring, and assessment efforts of NAPAP, and other groups in the 1980s, culminated in Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), also known as the Acid Deposition Control Program.
The Program was able to describe and document strong reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, as well as the resulting atmospheric deposition from 1980 to 2010 as various elements of the CAAA were implemented.
This framework allows any individual or institution to participate in any segment of NADP, whether it be the monitoring or the research aspect of atmospheric deposition.
The first being Program Management, which is largely a volunteer group made up of site sponsors and supervisors, policy experts from several agencies (at the federal, state, and local levels), scientists and research specialists, and anyone with an interest in atmospheric deposition.
The second group is Program Operations, which is managed by a professional staff housed at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
With approval and recommendation from the Executive Committee, EOS will provide guidance for outreach efforts and educational materials to the Program Office.
The NOS focuses on equipment, research, sampling methods, collection sites, and the evaluation of the issues that arise from these components.
The role of the BAC is to advise the EC with suggestions pertaining to the budget, and to outline financial planning for current and future years.
The QAAG is in charge of ensuring quality management in all aspects of NADP, including the Program Office, networks, and laboratories.
The goal of the CLAD is to provide a forum, across all levels of government and industry, that encourages the use and discussion of technical information and critical load science.
TDep seeks to evaluate pressing issues of atmospheric deposition via a collaboration between a wide range of groups.
The samples are sent to the NADP Analytical Laboratory (NAL) at the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene for analysis and are then used to determine geographic distribution and annual trends.
The sample collection and handling methods follow strict clean-handling procedures in order to ensure accurate results.
The analytes monitored are: Free acidity (H+ as pH), conductance, calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3−), chloride (Cl−), and ammonium (NH4+).
The goal is to deliver accurate information that allows researchers to evaluate the linkage between mercury and health, which is strengthened by its large spatial and temporal footprint.
[18] The AIRMoN sites were primarily used to assess the impacts of emission changes such as potential effects from new sources, federal Clean Air Act controls, and source-receptor relationships in atmospheric models.
The network measured the same contaminants as the NTN, but sampling occurred daily during precipitation to provide greater temporal resolution.