Preliminary Study of the Microbiome at Whiteface Mountain

Whiteface Mountain (WFM) in northern NY State is the site of a historic mountaintop atmospheric observatory with an ongoing cloud water chemistry monitoring program that has been operating every summer (June through September) since 1994. This long-term measurement program was initially focused on tracking the impact of the National Clean Air Act amendments, which were enacted out of concerns about air quality and "acid rain", both of which have improved substantially as intended with these government interventions, mostly due to reductions in gas phase sulfur and nitrogen dioxide emissions, resulting in less sulfate and nitrate in aerosols, cloud water, and rainwater.

Although long-term chemical analysis has been studied, no analysis has been conducted on the microbiome of the clouds at WFM. Given that there has been an increasing trend in Total Organic Carbon as well as a change in the chemical regime, the microbes could be the missing piece to fully understand these trends. To study these trends, we have begun conducting DNA extraction and subsequent analysis using a select number of cloud water filters from 2024. This preliminary analysis can aid in future studies of how the microbiome is changing, how wildfire smoke affects microbes in clouds, as well as how clouds transport microbes considered pathogens to human health.

In this preliminary study, we will draw on research collected at other mountaintop observatories to develop methods for collection, processing, and analysis of the data. Overall, the preliminary work presented will begin the study of aerobiology at WFM, chemical-cloud interactions in general, as well as the connection between atmospheric chemistry and microbiology in clouds.