Interactions of fire emissions and urban pollution over California: Ozone formation and air quality simulations

Singh, H. B.; Cai, Chenxia; Kaduwela, A. P.; Weinheimer, A. J.; Wisthaler, Armin

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.03.046

Cited by 98 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Chemistry between increased NOx from the ORV and local MA sources in the presence of VOC-laden smoke led to abundant ozone production in the MA, which was supported by co-located smoke tracers and CMAQ model to observation differences. This further emphasizes the complexity and importance of urban interactions with transported smoke within a regime of lower regional O 3 precursor levels and tighter O 3 standards, particularly because wildfires do not generally produce high concentrations of O 3 unless mixed with urban emissions (Singh et al, 2010;Singh et al, 2012). This case shows that the drastic NOx reduction across the ORV may not be enough in future wildfire events and that future events may have significant policy and compliance implications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Singh et al (2012) showed that O 3 production rates from wildfires in California were dependent upon available NOx (NOx = sum of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 )) and that NOx from the fires themselves was relatively low. While some NOx may have originated at the fire source, regional anthropogenic NOx emissions undoubtedly played some role in generating high O 3 concentrations as urban pollution mixed with the smoke.…”

Section: Nitrogen Oxidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Singh et al (2012) outlined some of the current shortcomings in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model associated with wildfire smoke. Others have noted the uncertainties in the influence of wildfire emissions on O 3 production (e.g., Hu et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observations and impacts of transported Canadian wildfire smoke on ozone and aerosol air quality in the Maryland region on June 9–12, 2015

Dreessen¹,

Sullivan

Delgado

2016

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Canadian wildfire smoke impacted air quality across the northern Mid-Atlantic (MA) of the United States during June 9-12, 2015. A multiday exceedance of the new 2015 70-ppb National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone (O 3 ) followed, resulting in Maryland being incompliant with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) revised 2015 O 3 NAAQS. Surface in situ, balloon-borne, and remote sensing observations monitored the impact of the wildfire smoke at Maryland air quality monitoring sites. At peak smoke concentrations in Maryland, wildfire-attributable volatile organic compounds (VOCs) more than doubled, while non-NOx oxides of nitrogen (NOz) tripled, suggesting long range transport of NOx within the smoke plume. Peak daily average PM 2.5 was 32.5 µg m −3 with large fractions coming from black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), with a synonymous increase in carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations. Measurements indicate that smoke tracers at the surface were spatially and temporally correlated with maximum 8-hr O 3 concentrations in the MA, all which peaked on June 11. Despite initial smoke arrival late on June 9, 2015, O 3 production was inhibited due to ultraviolet (UV) light attenuation, lower temperatures, and nonoptimal surface layer composition. Comparison of Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model surface O 3 forecasts to observations suggests 14 ppb additional O 3 due to smoke influences in northern Maryland. Despite polluted conditions, observations of a nocturnal low-level jet (NLLJ) and Chesapeake Bay Breeze (BB) were associated with decreases in O 3 in this case. While infrequent in the MA, wildfire smoke may be an increasing fractional contribution to high-O 3 days, particularly in light of increased wildfire frequency in a changing climate, lower regional emissions, and tighter air quality standards.Implications: The presented event demonstrates how a single wildfire event associated with an ozone exceedance of the NAAQS can prevent the Baltimore region from complying with lower ozone standards. This relatively new problem in Maryland is due to regional reductions in NOx emissions that led to record low numbers of ozone NAAQS violations in the last 3 years. This case demonstrates the need for adequate means to quantify and justify ozone impacts from wildfires, which can only be done through the use of observationally based models. The data presented may also improve future air quality forecast models.PAPER HISTORY

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Nitrogen Oxidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observations and impacts of transported Canadian wildfire smoke on ozone and aerosol air quality in the Maryland region on June 9–12, 2015

Dreessen¹,

Sullivan

Delgado

2016

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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“…However, several studies have shown impacts from fires on air quality in California. For example, Singh et al 25 observed the highest ozone concentrations during an aircraft observational study over California in urban plumes that had been mixed with wildfire emissions. Cisneros et al 26 report exceedences in the coarse PM standard in the San Joaquin Valley during a large fire event in 2002.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100

Hurteau¹,

Westerling²,

Wiedinmyer³

et al. 2014

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Changing climatic conditions are influencing large wildfire frequency, a globally widespread disturbance that affects both human and natural systems. Understanding how climate change, population growth, and development patterns will affect the area burned by and emissions from wildfires and how populations will in turn be exposed to emissions is critical for climate change adaptation and mitigation planning. We quantified the effects of a range of population growth and development patterns in California on emission projections from large wildfires under six future climate scenarios. Here we show that end-of-century wildfire emissions are projected to increase by 19−101% (median increase 56%) above the baseline period (1961−1990) in California for a medium-high temperature scenario, with the largest emissions increases concentrated in northern California. In contrast to other measures of wildfire impacts previously studied (e.g., structural loss), projected population growth and development patterns are unlikely to substantially influence the amount of projected statewide wildfire emissions. However, increases in wildfire emissions due to climate change may have detrimental impacts on air quality and, combined with a growing population, may result in increased population exposure to unhealthy air pollutants. ■ INTRODUCTIONFire is a disturbance that affects many terrestrial ecosystems around the globe. Through emissions from biomass combustion and alteration of land surface properties, fire results in feedbacks that influence the climate system. 1,2 Additionally, climatic changes in the form of increasing temperature and altered precipitation regimes affect fire frequency. 3,4 In some regions, climate feedbacks to fire frequency and extent have the potential to substantially reduce the fire rotation (i.e, time required to burn an area equal to the area of interest), resulting in novel vegetation assemblages. 5 Humans have been deliberately using fire to alter natural systems for millennia. 1 More recently, human actions related to ignition and suppression have been exerting bottom-up controls on fire by altering the amount of biomass available to fuel fire. Top-down climatic controls also have the potential to alter size, severity, and frequency of fire and can function independently of or interact with bottom-up controls. 6,7 In the presence of these climatic and anthropogenic controls, annual global fire emissions were estimated to range from 1.5−2.8 Pg C year −1 from 1997 to 2009,8 equivalent to approximately 17− 32% of 2008 global emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production [U.S. Department of Energy, http://cdiac. ornl.gov/trends/emis/glo.html]. The relative contribution of both anthropogenic and climatic controls on fire activity has varied with time, and future projections suggest that the primary driver of global fire activity will shift from human activities to temperature during the 21st century.9 At regional scales, increases in the size and frequency of large fires have been ...

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“…In one case in June 2008, up to a 60 ppbv increase in Reno, Nevada, resulted from fires in California. Similarly, Singh et al [39] examined the summer of 2008 and found that the highest ozone mixing ratios in Los Angeles (170 ppbv) were measured in a case where biomass burning influences were strong. Observational analysis by Wigder et al [40] from a ground station in Oregon found significant positive ΔΟ 3 /ΔCO ratios in plumes originating from wildfires in the Western USA and Canada, especially in cases where the plumes where confined to the boundary layer.…”

Section: Gasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire Influences on Atmospheric Composition, Air Quality and Climate

Voulgarakis

Field

2015

Curr Pollution Rep

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Fires impact atmospheric composition through their emissions, which range from long-lived gases to shortlived gases and aerosols. Effects are typically larger in the tropics and boreal regions but can also be substantial in highly populated areas in the northern mid-latitudes. In all regions, fire can impact air quality and health. Similarly, its effect on large-scale atmospheric processes, including regional and global atmospheric chemistry and climate forcing, can be substantial, but this remains largely unexplored. The impacts are primarily realised in the boundary layer and lower free troposphere but can also be noticeable in upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) region, for the most intense fires. In this review, we summarise the recent literature on findings related to fire impact on atmospheric composition, air quality and climate. We explore both observational and modelling approaches and present information on key regions and on the globe as a whole. We also discuss the current and future directions in this area of research, focusing on the major advances in emission estimates, the emerging efforts to include fire as a component in Earth system modelling and the use of modelling to assess health impacts of fire emissions.

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Interactions of fire emissions and urban pollution over California: Ozone formation and air quality simulations

Cited by 98 publications

References 31 publications

Observations and impacts of transported Canadian wildfire smoke on ozone and aerosol air quality in the Maryland region on June 9–12, 2015

Observations and impacts of transported Canadian wildfire smoke on ozone and aerosol air quality in the Maryland region on June 9–12, 2015

Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100

Fire Influences on Atmospheric Composition, Air Quality and Climate

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