Lessons on Atmospheric Physics in the Great Smoky Mountains

The wonders of nature are exemplified in the Great Smoky Mountains. I am fortunate to experience them occasionally through my children. My daughter played volleyball tournaments in Sevierville, Tennessee, and this past weekend, my family attended my son’s basketball tournament in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. On our way back to Georgia, we stopped at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and took the breathtaking picture above. While I was moved by its beauty, my 16-year-old son was less enthusiastic and just wanted to get home to his video games. Someday, he will appreciate the grandeur of nature over the allure of technology. As a scientist and professor, I also took note of some atmospheric physics lessons in the Smokies.

The Great Smoky Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains and stretch across the North Carolina-Tennessee border. For adventurous travelers seeking scenic views, the park serves as a shortcut route for Georgians returning home from the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area. The stunning views during the drive explain why Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in the US. The mountains are millions of years old and were formed before the Rocky Mountains. Congress created the park in 1926, and President Calvin Coolidge signed the bill. According to the Tennessee State Museum website, the Cherokee people named the mountains “Shaconage” (shah-con-ah-jey), translating to “place of the blue smoke.”

The mountains appear “smoky” and blue due to a phenomenon called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and Rayleigh scattering. VOCs emitted by plants in the forest combine with humidity and cool air to create low-bearing clouds that keep the plants damp. The process releases oxygen and VOCs which possess a blue tint in the Smokies. VOCs are common organic compounds that are harmless in isolation despite their ominous name. Rayleigh scattering occurs when smaller scattering particles, such as VOCs, scatter light of shorter wavelengths, such as blue light, that our eyes perceive as blue. This process also explains why the sky appears blue. Dutch biologist Frits Warmolt Went studied the blue haze over forested regions in his seminal 1960 publication in Nature entitled “Blue Hazes in the Atmosphere.” He noted that the blue haze at the bottom of the mountains and the grayish haze on top is due to particle size and scattering mechanisms. For instance, larger particles undergo Mie scattering, which produces a whitish-grayish haze.

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