Interannual and seasonal variability of biomass burning emissions constrained by satellite observations

Abstract

We present a methodology for estimating the seasonal and interannual variation of biomass burning designed for use in global chemical transport models. The average seasonal variation is estimated from 4 years of fire‐count data from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and 1–2 years of similar data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) World Fire Atlases. We use the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Aerosol Index (AI) data product as a surrogate to estimate interannual variability in biomass burning for six regions: Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia, Brazil, Central America and Mexico, Canada and Alaska, and Asiatic Russia. The AI data set is available from 1979 to the present with an interruption in satellite observations from mid‐1993 to mid‐1996; this data gap is filled where possible with estimates of area burned from the literature for different regions. Between August 1996 and July 2000, the ATSR fire‐counts are used to provide specific locations of emissions and a record of interannual variability throughout the world. We use our methodology to estimate mean seasonal and interannual variations for emissions of carbon monoxide from biomass burning, and we find that no trend is apparent in these emissions over the last two decades, but that there is significant interannual variability.

Multiple constraints on regional CO2 flux variations over land and oceans

“…Biomass burning is anticorrelated with precipitation, reinforcing the land NPP driven response to ENSO. Modeled global IAV in natural biomass burning agrees with Langenfelds et al [2002] and Duncan et al [2003] in predicting maxima and minima emissions in years 1994/1995 and 1995/1996, respectively. Extremely high emissions in 1997/1998, largely associated with fires in southeast Asia [van der Werf et al, 2003], are not captured by LPJ.…”

Absorbing Aerosols and Summer Monsoon Evolution over South Asia: An Observational Portrayal

“…The TOMS project has produced the longest available global record of aerosol observations in terms of AI, and a number of studies have demonstrated its feasibility and success (e.g., Torres et al 1998;Chiappello et al 1999;Hsu et al 1999;Cakmur et al 2001;Prospero et al 2002;Duncan et al 2003). Monthly data on a 1.25°ϫ 1°grid are available on the TOMS Web site (http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/aerosols/aerosols_v8.html).…”

An assessment of biofuel use and burning of agricultural waste in the developing world

“…Much of the biofuel is used for cooking which has no Charcoal only includes the amount of charcoal combusted, not amount of wood to make charcoal. YEVICH AND LOGAN: BIOFUEL AND WASTE BURNING seasonal pattern; trace gases from this burning are emitted throughout the year in contrast to other types of biomass burning which tend to follow seasonal patterns [Duncan et al, 2003].…”

“…For the Northern Hemisphere, these would be February through early May and end September through mid November, the actual timing depending on latitude, altitude, type of crop and year-specific meteorology. More information on seasonality of this and other types of biomass burning is given by Duncan et al [2003].…”