Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

About Me:

Scott Copeland received his BS in Applied Physics (1988), and MS in Civil Engineering from U.C. Davis (1994). His areas of interest include the science and regulation of visibility. He has worked at CIRA since 1994 in the National Park Service Group, primarily as a visibility data analyst, where he has become an expert in the IMPROVE data set, visibility in the regulatory arena and EPA’s Regional Haze Rule.  Scott is currently involved in reviewing most of the 52 State Regional Haze Rule State Implementation Plans (SIPs). SIPs are the states’ plans to reduce haze in visibility protected areas. These plans represent the culmination of decades of visibility research and are testimony to the value of the IMPROVE program and the scientists at CIRA who have contributed to IMPROVE’s success. Scott is also the Chair of the IMPROVE steering committee.

The composition of the 20% worst visibility days in the US for the 2005 calendar year. – Thursday, March 13, 2014

The composition of the 20% worst visibility days in the US for the 2005 calendar year. This map not only shows the mature state of the IMPROVE network, but highlights the pollution targeted by the Regional Haze Rule. Haze in the Eastern US is dominated sulfate aerosols, which are the focus of many states’ plans to make progress towards the Clean Air Act national visibility goal of no manmade impairment in many national parks and wilderness areas.