Assessment of cruise-ship emissions in Southeast Alaska National Parks and Wilderness Areas

Southeastern Alaska is a popular destination for cruise ships with nearly 1 million cruise visitors annually. As part of common itineraries to southeastern Alaska, cruise ships visit a number of pristine wilderness areas including Glacier Bay National Park, one of the largest Marine Protected Areas in the northern hemisphere and the largest marine national park in the United States. To better understand the magnitude of impacts of contaminants into Glacier Bay National Park and other Wilderness areas, an activity-based emission model was developed to determine emissions from cruise-ships in Southeast Alaska waters. The model calculates emissions for the different operation modes for every cruise-ship based on voyage data (ship-position, cruise speed, operation mode) and individual ship characteristics (engine power specifications, fuel type used). The resulting emission inventory serves as input for a WRF/Chem simulations. Impacts on visibility will be discussed as well.