Description: The Chesapeake Bay's airshed, or the area in which a pollutant can travel from and potentially impact the Bay, for nitrogen pollution is approximately 570,000 square miles; atmospheric nitrogen oxide (NOx) can travel a few yards to a few thousand miles before leaving the atmosphere in rain, snow, and other forms and then running off into the Bay's rivers and coastal waters. Since airsheds can be affected by atmospheric conditions the airshed boundary should not be considered a hard line that air pollution will not cross, but a guide when considering the possible affects of air pollution on the Chesapeake Bay nitrogen load.
Copyright Text: Original data accessed from EPA; published by CBF Staff (Feb 2022).