Noel Hilliard came to us as a junior from Mount Saint mary's University in
Emmitsburg, Maryland. Her major there is Chemistry which helped pique her
interest in the wet deposition of nitrogen in Rocky Mountain National Park and
how it gets there. Her advisor at CMMAP was Jeff Collett and graduate student
mentor was Katie Benedict.
Upslope wind events along the Front Range of Colorado are able to transport
nitrogen from sources on the Colorado plains and urban centers into the high
elevations of Rocky Mountain National Park where low levels of nitrogen in the
soil are the norm. Wet deposition involves the scavenging of aerosol
particles by water droplets which can occur during precipitation events.
Noel's research objectives were to determine when precipitation, deposition,
and upslope wind events were most likely to occur together and to
understand how NH4+ and NO3- were transported into the park by using the
HYSPLIT model.
She also sought to compare the HYSPLIT model with vector wind maps and surface
maps for consistency.
Noel's research produced a number of conclusions available on her poster,
Upslope Wind Events and Wet
Deposition of Nitrogen in Rocky Mountain National Park. These include
the findings that precipitation, nitrogen deposition and upslope winds, more
prevalent in summer than winter, are all interrelated and that often more
precipitation results in greater deposition.
Noel is from Windsor Mill, MD. She enjoys reading, watching TV, shopping,
listening to music, weather watching, going to the movies and riding roller
coasters. Her research interests include atmospheric chemistry, cloud
chemistry and severe weather.
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