Smoke measurements during Gestosa-2002 experimental field fires

Abstract

Abstract. Currently, there is a growing awareness that smoke produced during forest fires can expose individuals and populations to hazardous concentrations of air pollutants. Aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the air pollution phenomenon associated with forest fires, this paper presents and analyses the atmospheric emissions and air quality concentration measurements performed in the 2002 fire experiments at Gestosa, Central Portugal. Two vehicles were equipped with a meteorological station and air quality analysers that were turned on continuously to acquire concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Nitrogen and sulfur dioxides were measured using a grid of fixed passive samplers. Also, firefighters and research-team members used passive samplers during the experiments in order to estimate the human exposure to these pollutants. Measurements of volatile organic compound emissions, using Tedlar bags, were carried out. Results were analysed taking into account not only the concentration values but also the variables involved, such as the combustion phase and the meteorology, and identifying possible relationships between them. Despite the small size of the burning plots when compared to wildfires, the measured levels of pollutants were however considerable, indicating the effect of these experiments on the local air quality and stressing the serious levels of air pollution that can be expected during wildfires.Additional keywords: air quality; forest fire emissions.

The impact of spatial resolution on area burned and fire occurrence projections in Portugal under climate change

“…From an ecological perspective fire is a beneficial and essential process; however, too much fire could irreversibly damage and change the ecosystem. Emissions from forest fires are also an important factor to consider (see Amiro et al 2001a, b;Andreae and Merlet 2001;Crutzen and Andreae 1990;Miranda et al 1994Miranda et al , 2005 as these emissions can affect ecosystem and human health (Heil and Goldammer 2001;Riebau and Fox 2001;Sitch et al 2007). These emissions also contribute to global warming, and may therefore result in a positive feedback where global warming results in more fires, which results in more global warming and so on.…”

Local boundary-layer development over burnt and unburnt tropical savanna: an observational study

“…The ability of fire to influence climate directly through the emission of smoke and trace gases from the combustion of fuels is well documented (Wotawa and Trainer 2000;Honrath et al 2004;Miranda et al 2005). However, fire also has the ability to alter the atmosphere through indirect effects such as changing land surface properties and the surface energy budget, and initiating feedbacks to the atmosphere at local and regional scales (Beringer et al 2003).…”

Near-source grid-based measurement of CO and PM2.5 concentration during a full-scale fire experiment in southern European shrubland

“…The fire experiments were performed on May 6, 2010, on two research blocks in the mountain range of Lousã, Central Portugal (40 15 0 N, 8 10 0 W), at an elevation of approximately 1000 m. This area, known as 'Gestosa', has been an important field laboratory for over 20 years on the study of fire and its impacts, including smoke emissions, air quality and human exposure (Miranda et al, 2005(Miranda et al, , 2010(Miranda et al, , 2012Viegas et al, 2002Viegas et al, , 2006. Average physical characteristics of the burn blocks and vegetation are given in Table 1.…”

“…The composition of smoke itself depends on several other factors, such as the characteristics of the vegetation consumed, the efficiency of combustion, the fuel moisture content, fire temperature, and the weather conditions (e.g., Crutzen and Andreae, 1990;Levine, 1999;Ottmar et al, 2009). Despite the smoke exposure research studies carried out in the United States of America Ottmar, 2000, 2004), Australia (McMahon and Bush, 1992;Materna et al, 1993;De Vos et al, 2009;Reisen and Brown, 2009;Reisen et al, 2011), Canada (Austin, 2008) and Portugal (Miranda et al, 2005(Miranda et al, , 2010(Miranda et al, , 2012, the current state of knowledge in this field is still limited. The inherent difficulty of monitoring smoke and personal exposure levels during a fire has contributed to this scientific gap.…”