The Swanquarter Wilderness Area is located at the eastern coast facing in the Pamlico Sound in North Carolina's inner banks region. The Hatteras barrier islands shelter the area from the Atlantic Ocean. The wilderness is approximately 40 miles northeast of the city of New Bern and 52 east of Greenville, NC. The wilderness is part of the 16,411 acre Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife refuge consists of approximately 80 percent brackish marshes and 20 percent forested wetlands. The IMPROVE site is located in a marsh approximately 1 miler from the Mattamuskeet NWR entrance to the north of Swanquarter NWR. The aerosol monitor is approximately 4 miles to the north of the Swanquarter wilderness boundary and 1000 feet from Lake Mattamuskeet. The nearest road is highway 94, 1000 feet miles to the west. The IMPROVE site is located at an elevation of -3.7 m MSL.