Complex effects arising in smoke plume simulations due to inclusion of direct emissions of oxygenated organic species from biomass combustion

Mason, Sherri A.; Field, Richard J.; Yokelson, R. J.; Kochivar, Michael A.; Tinsley, Mark R.; Ward, Darold E.; Hao, Wei Min

doi:10.1029/2001jd900003

Cited by 92 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…However, CO concentrations are also diminished and consistently below 100 ppb, relative to an average of 200 ppb for aged plumes, while OA concentrations are comparable to levels in higher altitude, flaming-type plumes (∼ 20 µg m −3 ). These trends, which diverge from the expected characteristics for emissions of this origin, are further compounded by high O 3 / CO (> 0.2), indicative of an elevated level of oxygenation and photochemical activity (Mason et al, 2001;Parrington et al, 2013). Formation of SOA from biogenic precursors has previously been observed in the forests of Ontario (Slowik et al, 2010).…”

Section: Aging As a Driver For Plume Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Properties and evolution of biomass burning organic aerosol from Canadian boreal forest fires

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Airborne measurements of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) from boreal forest fires reveal highly contrasting properties for plumes of different ages. These measurements, performed using an Aerodyne Research Inc. compact time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (C-ToF-AMS) during the BORTAS (quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites) experiment in the summer of 2011, have been used to derive normalised excess organic aerosol (OA) mass concentrations ( OA / CO), with higher average ratios observed closer to source (0.190 ± 0.010) than in the far-field (0.097 ± 0.002). The difference in OA / CO between fresh and aged plumes is influenced by a change in dominant combustion conditions throughout the campaign. Measurements at source comprised 3 plume interceptions during a single research flight and sampled largely smouldering fires. Twentythree interceptions were made across four flights in the farfield, with plumes originating from fires occurring earlier in the campaign when fire activity had been more intense, creating an underlying contrast in emissions prior to any transformations associated with aging. Changing combustion conditions also affect the vertical distribution of biomass burning emissions, as aged plumes from more flaming-dominated fires are injected to higher altitudes of up to 6000 m. Proportional contributions of the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) 60 and 44 peaks in the AMS mass spectra to the total OA mass (denoted f 60 and f 44 ) are used as tracers for primary and oxidised BBOA, respectively. f 44 is lower on average in near-field plumes than those sampled in the far-field, in accordance with longer aging times as plumes are transported a greater distance from source. However, high levels of O 3 / CO and −log(NO x / NO y ) close to source indicate that emissions can be subject to very rapid oxidation over short timescales. Conversely, the lofting of plumes into the upper troposphere can lead to the retention of source profiles after transportation over extensive temporal and spatial scales, with f 60 also higher on average in aged plumes. Evolution of OA composition with aging is comparable to observations of BB tracers in previous studies, revealing a consistent progression from f 60 to f 44 . The elevated levels of oxygenation in aged plumes, and their association with lower average OA / CO, are consistent with OA loss through evaporation during aging due to a combination of dilution and chemical processing, while differences in combustion conditions throughout the campaign also have a significant influence on BBOA production and composition.

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Section: Aging As a Driver For Plume Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Properties and evolution of biomass burning organic aerosol from Canadian boreal forest fires

et al. 2015

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“…The atmospheric impact of fire emissions of these species was discussed by Bertschi et al (2003) and Mason et al (2001). In addition, phenol is of interest as a precursor for aqueous phase SOA.…”

Section: Emissions From Understory Fires In Temperate Coniferous Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airborne and ground-based measurements of the trace gases and particles emitted by prescribed fires in the United States

et al. 2011

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Abstract. We have measured emission factors for 19 trace gas species and particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) 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 to 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 NO x 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 groundbased 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 Correspondence to: R. J. Yokelson (bob.yokelson@umontana.edu) quality impacts for 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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“…Thus, the OVOC/NMHC ratio in the initial gas-phase emissions was about 3.3 -or OVOC accounted for 77% of measured, emitted NMOC on a molar basis. The dominance of NMOC by OVOC in BB plumes causes significant photochemistry differences compared to fossil fuel burning plumes, where NMOC are dominated by NMHC (Singh et al 1995;Mason et al, 2001). …”

Section: Fire Initial Emissions Measured On the C-130mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The UH PSAP allowed a rough measurement of black carbon (BC) based on light absorption. Martins et al (1998) compared BC measurements by light absorption to those made by thermal evolution techniques. They found significant variation in the MAE with mixing state, size distribution etc, and obtained an average MAE for fresh-aged Brazilian BB smoke of 12±4 m 2 /g.…”

Section: Fire Initial Emissions Measured On the C-130mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The total 550 nm scattering was converted to STP scattering and then PM 2.5 (µg/sm 3 ) using a dry mass scattering efficiency (MSE) of 4.8±1.0 obtained for a USFS TSI model 3563 during the gravimetric calibration carried out for the Twin Otter nephelometer. The absorption was used directly with the scattering to calculate single scattering albedo (SSA) or converted to an estimated black carbon in µg/sm 3 using a mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of 12±4 (Martins et al, 1998). The NCAR Scanning Actinic Flux Spectroradiometers measured 25 J values at 10 s resolution (Shetter and Müller, 1999).…”

Section: Continuous Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emissions from biomass burning in the Yucatan

et al. 2009

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Abstract. In March 2006 two instrumented aircraft made the first detailed field measurements of biomass burning (BB) emissions in the Northern Hemisphere tropics as part of the MILAGRO project. The aircraft were the National Center for Atmospheric Research C-130 and a University of Montana/US Forest Service Twin Otter. The initial emissions of up to 49 trace gas or particle species were measured from 20 deforestation and crop residue fires on the Yucatan peninsula. This included two trace gases useful as indicators of BB (HCN and acetonitrile) and several rarely, or never before, measured species: OH, peroxyacetic acid, propanoic acid, hydrogen peroxide, methane sulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid. Crop residue fires emitted more organic acids and ammonia than deforestation fires, but the emissions from the main fire types were otherwise fairly similar. The Yucatan firesCorrespondence to: R. J. Yokelson (bob.yokelson@umontana.edu) emitted unusually high amounts of SO 2 and particle chloride, likely due to a strong marine influence on this peninsula. As smoke from one fire aged, the ratio O 3 / CO increased to ∼15% in <∼1 h similar to the fast net production of O 3 in BB plumes observed earlier in Africa. The rapid change in O 3 occurs at a finer spatial scale than is employed in global models and is also faster than predicted by microscale models. Fast increases in PAN, H 2 O 2 , and two organic acids were also observed. The amount of secondary organic acid is larger than the amount of known precursors. Rapid secondary formation of organic and inorganic aerosol was observed with the ratio PM 2.5 / CO more than doubling in ∼1.4±0.7 h. The OH measurements revealed high initial levels (>1×10 7 molecules/cm 3 ) that were likely caused in part by high initial HONO (∼10% of NO y ). Thus, more research is needed to understand critical post emission processes for the second-largest trace gas source on Earth. It is estimated that ∼44 Tg of biomass burned in the Yucatan in the spring Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.

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Complex effects arising in smoke plume simulations due to inclusion of direct emissions of oxygenated organic species from biomass combustion

Cited by 92 publications

References 44 publications

Properties and evolution of biomass burning organic aerosol from Canadian boreal forest fires

Properties and evolution of biomass burning organic aerosol from Canadian boreal forest fires

Airborne and ground-based measurements of the trace gases and particles emitted by prescribed fires in the United States

Emissions from biomass burning in the Yucatan

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