Airborne and ground-based measurements of the trace gases and particles emitted by prescribed fires in the United States
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Abstract
Abstract. We measured the emission factors for 19 trace gas species and particulate matter (PM2.5) from 14 prescribed fires in chaparral and oak savanna in the southwestern US, as well as conifer forest understory in the southeastern US and Sierra Nevada mountains of California. These are likely the most extensive emission factor field measurements for temperate biomass burning to date and the only published emission factors for temperate oak savanna fuels. This study helps close the gap in emissions data available for temperate zone fires relative to tropical biomass burning. We present the first field measurements of the biomass burning emissions of glycolaldehyde, a possible precursor for aqueous phase secondary organic aerosol formation. We also measured the emissions of phenol, another aqueous phase secondary organic aerosol precursor. Our data confirm previous observations that urban deposition can impact the NOx emission factors and thus subsequent plume chemistry. For two fires, we measured both the emissions in the convective smoke plume from our airborne platform and the unlofted residual smoldering combustion emissions with our ground-based platform. The smoke from residual smoldering combustion was characterized by emission factors for hydrocarbon and oxygenated organic species that were up to ten times higher than in the lofted plume, including high 1,3-butadiene and isoprene concentrations which were not observed in the lofted plume. This should be considered in modeling the air quality impacts of smoke that disperses at ground level. We also show that the often ignored unlofted emissions can significantly impact estimates of total emissions. Preliminary evidence suggests large emissions of monoterpenes in the residual smoldering smoke. These data should lead to an improved capacity to model the impacts of biomass burning in similar temperate ecosystems.
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Field-based measurements of biomass burning in temperate forests are limited and sparse.
“Field-based measurements of biomass burning in temperate forests are limited and sparse (Burling et al., 2011;Urbanski, 2014), despite the increase in burning activity in the western USA (Zhuang et al., 2021).”
For the Sierra Nevada, only three field-based studies have estimated emission factors in this area.
“For the Sierra Nevada, only three field-based studies have estimated emission factors in this area, despite the increase in wildfire burns over the previous decade (Burling et al., 2011;Yates et al., 2016;Liu et al., 2017).”
Empirically quantified EFs in temperate conifer forests are limited in number, and many measurements in these regions are from prescribed burning for land management.
“Empirically quantified EFs in temperate conifer forests are limited in number, and many of the measurements in these regions are from prescribed burning for land management (Burling et al., 2011;Akagi et al., 2011;Urbanski, 2013).”
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Cites
The HITRAN2016 molecular spectroscopic database
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Self-citationEcological foundations for fire management in North American forest and shrubland ecosystems
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Frausto-Vicencio, I., Heerah, S., Meyer, A. G., Parker, H. A., Dubey, M., & Hopkins, F. M. (2023) · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics · doi:10.5194/acp-23-4521-2023 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Burling, I. R., Yokelson, R. J., Akagi, S. K., Urbanski, S. P., Wold, C. E., Griffith, D. W. T., Johnson, T. J., Reardon, J., & Weise, D. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Montana (US)
- Rocky Mountain Research Station (US)
- University of Wollongong (AU)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- US Forest Service (US)
- Venue
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
- Publisher
- Copernicus GmbH
- Published
- 2011-12-07
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 23
- Pages
- 12197-12216
- ISSN
- 1680-7316 (ISSN-L)
- 1680-7324
- OpenAlex
- W2134643957
- Cited by
- 169
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 7.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Atmospheric chemistry and physics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Online (University of Wollongong) (submittedVersion)
- The Mathematics Enthusiast (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0513055, 0936321)
- Joint Fire Science Program
- U.S. Forest Service
- Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes › Advanced Combustion Engine Technologies
- Keywords
- prescribed burning, biomass burning emissions, emission factors, trace gases, particulate matter, PM2.5, glycolaldehyde, phenols, secondary organic aerosol precursors, NOx, monoterpenes, isoprene, 1,3-butadiene, chaparral, oak savanna, Sierra Nevada, air quality modeling
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