Sample records for biomass burning emission
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Working group report: methane emissions from biomass burning
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Delmas, R.A.; Ahuja, D.
1993-01-01
Biomass burning is a significant source of atmospheric methane. Like most other sources of methane, it has both natural and anthropogenic causes, although anthropogenic causes now predominate. Most of the estimates of methane emissions from biomass burning in the past have relied on a uniform emission factor for all types of burning. This results in the share of trace gas emissions for different types of burning being the same as the amounts of biomass burned in those types. The Working Group endorsed the extension of an approach followed for Africa by Delmas et al. (1991) to use different emission factors for different types of biomass burning to estimate national emissions of methane. This is really critical as emission factors present important variations. While the focus of discussions of the Working Group was on methane emissions from biomass burning, the Group endorsed the IPCC-OECD methodology of estimating all greenhouse related trace gases from biomass burning. Neither the IPCC-OECD nor the methodology suggested here applies to estimation of trace gas emissions from the processing of biomass to upgraded fuels. They must be estimated separately. The Group also discussed technical options for controlling methane emissions from biomass. 12 refs
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Biomass burning: Combustion emissions, satellite imagery, and biogenic emissions
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Levine, J.S.; Cofer, W.R III; Rhinehart, R.P.; Cahoon, D.R. J.; Winstead, E.L.; Sebacher, S.; Sebacher, D.I.; Stocks, B.J.
1991-01-01
This chapter deals with two different, but related, aspects of biomass burning. The first part of the chapter deals with a technique to estimate the instantaneous emissions of trace gases produced by biomass burning using satellite imagery. The second part of the chapter concerns the recent discovery that burning results in significantly enhanced biogenic emissions of N 2 O, NO, and CH 4 . Hence, biomass burning has both an immediate and long-term impact on the production of trace gases to the atmosphere. The objective of this research is to better assess and quantify the role of this research is to better assess and quantify the role and impact of biomass as a driver for global change. It will be demonstrated that satellite imagery of fires may be used to estimate combustion emissions and may in the future be used to estimate the long-term postburn biogenic emissions of trace gases to the atmosphere
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Biomass burning - Combustion emissions, satellite imagery, and biogenic emissions
Levine, Joel S.; Cofer, Wesley R., III; Winstead, Edward L.; Rhinehart, Robert P.; Cahoon, Donald R., Jr.; Sebacher, Daniel I.; Sebacher, Shirley; Stocks, Brian J.
1991-01-01
After detailing a technique for the estimation of the instantaneous emission of trace gases produced by biomass burning, using satellite imagery, attention is given to the recent discovery that burning results in significant enhancement of biogenic emissions of N2O, NO, and CH4. Biomass burning accordingly has an immediate and long-term impact on the production of atmospheric trace gases. It is presently demonstrated that satellite imagery of fires may be used to estimate combustion emissions, and could be used to estimate long-term postburn biogenic emission of trace gases to the atmosphere.
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Methyl halide emission estimates from domestic biomass burning in Africa
Mead, M. I.; Khan, M. A. H.; White, I. R.; Nickless, G.; Shallcross, D. E.
Inventories of methyl halide emissions from domestic burning of biomass in Africa, from 1950 to the present day and projected to 2030, have been constructed. By combining emission factors from Andreae and Merlet [2001. Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 15, 955-966], the biomass burning estimates from Yevich and Logan [2003. An assessment of biofuel use and burning of agricultural waste in the developing world. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17(4), 1095, doi:10.1029/2002GB001952] and the population data from the UN population division, the emission of methyl halides from domestic biomass usage in Africa has been estimated. Data from this study suggest that methyl halide emissions from domestic biomass burning have increased by a factor of 4-5 from 1950 to 2005 and based on the expected population growth could double over the next 25 years. This estimated change has a non-negligible impact on the atmospheric budgets of methyl halides.
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Biomass Burning Emissions from Fire Remote Sensing
Ichoku, Charles
2010-01-01
Knowledge of the emission source strengths of different (particulate and gaseous) atmospheric constituents is one of the principal ingredients upon which the modeling and forecasting of their distribution and impacts depend. Biomass burning emissions are complex and difficult to quantify. However, satellite remote sensing is providing us tremendous opportunities to measure the fire radiative energy (FRE) release rate or power (FRP), which has a direct relationship with the rates of biomass consumption and emissions of major smoke constituents. In this presentation, we will show how the satellite measurement of FRP is facilitating the quantitative characterization of biomass burning and smoke emission rates, and the implications of this unique capability for improving our understanding of smoke impacts on air quality, weather, and climate. We will also discuss some of the challenges and uncertainties associated with satellite measurement of FRP and how they are being addressed.
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Photochemistry of the African troposphere: Influence of biomass-burning emissions
Marufu, L.; Dentener, F.; Lelieveld, J.; Andreae, M. O.; Helas, G.
2000-06-01
The relative importance of biomass-burning (pyrogenic) emissions from savannas, deforestation, agricultural waste burning, and biofuel consumption to tropospheric ozone abundance over Africa has been estimated for the year 1993, on the basis of global model calculations. We also calculated the importance of this emission source to tropospheric ozone in other regions of the world and compared it to different sources on the African regional and global scales. The estimated annual average total tropospheric ozone abundance over Africa for the reference year is 26 Tg. Pyrogenic, industrial, biogenic, and lightning emissions account for 16, 19, 12, and 27%, respectively, while stratospheric ozone input accounts for 26%. In the planetary boundary layer over Africa, the contribution by biomass burning is ˜24%. A large fraction of the African biomass-burning-related ozone is transported away from the continent. On a global scale, biomass burning contributes ˜9% to tropospheric ozone. Our model calculations suggest that Africa is the single most important region for biomass-burning-related tropospheric ozone, accounting for ˜35% of the global annual pyrogenic ozone enhancement of 29 Tg in 1993.
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Emission factors from residential combustion appliances burning Portuguese biomass fuels.
Fernandes, A P; Alves, C A; Gonçalves, C; Tarelho, L; Pio, C; Schimdl, C; Bauer, H
2011-11-01
Smoke from residential wood burning has been identified as a major contributor to air pollution, motivating detailed emission measurements under controlled conditions. A series of experiments were performed to compare the emission levels from two types of wood-stoves to those of fireplaces. Eight types of biomass were burned in the laboratory: wood from seven species of trees grown in the Portuguese forest (Pinus pinaster, Eucalyptus globulus, Quercus suber, Acacia longifolia, Quercus faginea, Olea europaea and Quercus ilex rotundifolia) and briquettes produced from forest biomass waste. Average emission factors were in the ranges 27.5-99.2 g CO kg(-1), 552-1660 g CO(2) kg(-1), 0.66-1.34 g NO kg(-1), and 0.82-4.94 g hydrocarbons kg(-1) of biomass burned (dry basis). Average particle emission factors varied between 1.12 and 20.06 g kg(-1) biomass burned (dry basis), with higher burn rates producing significantly less particle mass per kg wood burned than the low burn rates. Particle mass emission factors from wood-stoves were lower than those from the fireplace. The average emission factors for organic and elemental carbon were in the intervals 0.24-10.1 and 0.18-0.68 g kg(-1) biomass burned (dry basis), respectively. The elemental carbon content of particles emitted from the energy-efficient "chimney type" logwood stove was substantially higher than in the conventional cast iron stove and fireplace, whereas the opposite was observed for the organic carbon fraction. Pinus pinaster, the only softwood species among all, was the biofuel with the lowest emissions of particles, CO, NO and hydrocarbons.
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Global combustion: the connection between fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions (1997-2010).
Balch, Jennifer K; Nagy, R Chelsea; Archibald, Sally; Bowman, David M J S; Moritz, Max A; Roos, Christopher I; Scott, Andrew C; Williamson, Grant J
2016-06-05
Humans use combustion for heating and cooking, managing lands, and, more recently, for fuelling the industrial economy. As a shift to fossil-fuel-based energy occurs, we expect that anthropogenic biomass burning in open landscapes will decline as it becomes less fundamental to energy acquisition and livelihoods. Using global data on both fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions, we tested this relationship over a 14 year period (1997-2010). The global average annual carbon emissions from biomass burning during this time were 2.2 Pg C per year (±0.3 s.d.), approximately one-third of fossil fuel emissions over the same period (7.3 Pg C, ±0.8 s.d.). There was a significant inverse relationship between average annual fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions. Fossil fuel emissions explained 8% of the variation in biomass burning emissions at a global scale, but this varied substantially by land cover. For example, fossil fuel burning explained 31% of the variation in biomass burning in woody savannas, but was a non-significant predictor for evergreen needleleaf forests. In the land covers most dominated by human use, croplands and urban areas, fossil fuel emissions were more than 30- and 500-fold greater than biomass burning emissions. This relationship suggests that combustion practices may be shifting from open landscape burning to contained combustion for industrial purposes, and highlights the need to take into account how humans appropriate combustion in global modelling of contemporary fire. Industrialized combustion is not only an important driver of atmospheric change, but also an important driver of landscape change through companion declines in human-started fires.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'. © 2016 The Author(s).
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Brown carbon in fresh and aged biomass burning emissions
Saleh, R.; Robinson, E.; Tkacik, D. S.; Ahern, A.; Liu, S.; Aiken, A. C.; Sullivan, R. C.; Presto, A. A.; Dubey, M.; Donahue, N. M.; Robinson, A. L.
2013-12-01
To date, most climate forcing calculations treat black carbon (BC) and dust as the only particulate light absorbers. Numerous studies have shown that some organic aerosols (OA), referred to as brown carbon (BrC), also absorb light. BrC has been identified in biomass burning emissions; however, its light absorption properties are poorly constrained. Literature values of the imaginary part of the refractive indices of biomass burning OA (kOA) span two orders of magnitude. This variability, attributed to differences in fuel type and burning conditions, complicates the representation of biomass burning BrC in climate models. Proper accounting for BrC absorption in climate forcing calculations is of great importance. It can enhance the models' performance, bringing estimates of climate sensitivity to better agreement with observations. Here, we investigate the source of variability in absorptivity of biomass-burning OA observed in this study. We show that absorptivity is closely linked to OA volatility. Specifically, low-volatility organic compounds (LVOCs) are responsible for most of the light absorption, with effective kOA 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than the semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). The effective kOA of biomass-burning emissions thus depends on the extent to which SVOCs partition to the condensed phase, which is sensitive to OA loading. kOA increases by a factor of 3-4 when the emissions are diluted from source concentrations (1-10 mg/m3) to atmospheric-like concentrations (1-10 μg/m3), as the partitioning of SVOCs shifts towards the gas phase. More importantly, we demonstrate that the effective kOA depends largely on burn conditions, and not fuel type. Burns which produce high levels of BC emit OA that is more absorptive than burns which produce low levels of BC. The dependence of kOA on OA loading and burn conditions can be parameterized as a function of a single property of the emissions, namely the BC-to-OA ratio. Specifically, kOA at
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Emissions of fine particulate nitrated phenols from the burning of five common types of biomass
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wang, Xinfeng; Gu, Rongrong; Wang, Liwei; Xu, Wenxue; Zhang, Yating; Chen, Bing; Li, Weijun; Xue, Likun; Chen, Jianmin; Wang, Wenxing
2017-01-01
Nitrated phenols are among the major constituents of brown carbon and affect both climates and ecosystems. However, emissions from biomass burning, which comprise one of the most important primary sources of atmospheric nitrated phenols, are not well understood. In this study, the concentrations and proportions of 10 nitrated phenols, including nitrophenols, nitrocatechols, nitrosalicylic acids, and dinitrophenol, in fine particles from biomass smoke were determined under three different burning conditions (flaming, weakly flaming, and smoldering) with five common types of biomass (leaves, branches, corncob, corn stalk, and wheat straw). The total abundances of fine nitrated phenols produced by biomass burning ranged from 2.0 to 99.5 μg m −3 . The compositions of nitrated phenols varied with biomass types and burning conditions. 4-nitrocatechol and methyl nitrocatechols were generally most abundant, accounting for up to 88–95% of total nitrated phenols in flaming burning condition. The emission ratios of nitrated phenols to PM 2.5 increased with the completeness of combustion and ranged from 7 to 45 ppmm and from 239 to 1081 ppmm for smoldering and flaming burning, respectively. The ratios of fine nitrated phenols to organic matter in biomass burning aerosols were comparable to or lower than those in ambient aerosols affected by biomass burning, indicating that secondary formation contributed to ambient levels of fine nitrated phenols. The emission factors of fine nitrated phenols from flaming biomass burning were estimated based on the measured mass fractions and the PM 2.5 emission factors from literature and were approximately 0.75–11.1 mg kg −1 . According to calculations based on corn and wheat production in 31 Chinese provinces in 2013, the total estimated emission of fine nitrated phenols from the burning of corncobs, corn stalks, and wheat straw was 670 t. This work highlights the apparent emission of methyl nitrocatechols from biomass burning
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Global combustion: the connection between fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions (1997–2010)
Balch, Jennifer K.; Nagy, R. Chelsea; Archibald, Sally; Moritz, Max A.; Williamson, Grant J.
2016-01-01
Humans use combustion for heating and cooking, managing lands, and, more recently, for fuelling the industrial economy. As a shift to fossil-fuel-based energy occurs, we expect that anthropogenic biomass burning in open landscapes will decline as it becomes less fundamental to energy acquisition and livelihoods. Using global data on both fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions, we tested this relationship over a 14 year period (1997–2010). The global average annual carbon emissions from biomass burning during this time were 2.2 Pg C per year (±0.3 s.d.), approximately one-third of fossil fuel emissions over the same period (7.3 Pg C, ±0.8 s.d.). There was a significant inverse relationship between average annual fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions. Fossil fuel emissions explained 8% of the variation in biomass burning emissions at a global scale, but this varied substantially by land cover. For example, fossil fuel burning explained 31% of the variation in biomass burning in woody savannas, but was a non-significant predictor for evergreen needleleaf forests. In the land covers most dominated by human use, croplands and urban areas, fossil fuel emissions were more than 30- and 500-fold greater than biomass burning emissions. This relationship suggests that combustion practices may be shifting from open landscape burning to contained combustion for industrial purposes, and highlights the need to take into account how humans appropriate combustion in global modelling of contemporary fire. Industrialized combustion is not only an important driver of atmospheric change, but also an important driver of landscape change through companion declines in human-started fires. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’. PMID:27216509
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Air toxic emissions from burning of biomass globally-preliminary results
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ward, D.E.; Hao, W.M.
1992-01-01
Emissions of trace gases, particles, and air toxic substances in the smoke plumes from biomass fires are of importance to global climate change. The potential impact of the air toxic emissions on the human population of specific regions globally is another major concern. The toxic materials are produced in high concentrations in areas of heavy biomass burning, e.g., Amazon Basin and Central/southern Africa. We provide new estimates of air toxics based on the combustion efficiency (percent of total carbon released as CO 2 ) for fires burning in different ecosystems on a global basis. Estimates of total biomass consumed on a global basis range from 2 to 10 Pg (1 petagram = 10 15 g) per year. We apply emission factors for various air toxics (g of emission released per kg of fuel consumed) to the estimate of global biomass consumption of 6.4 Pg per year. The principal air toxics analyzed in this paper include: Total particulate matter, CO, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, toluene, o-xylene, m, p-xylene, benzo[a]pyrene, and polycyclic organic material. The total emissions calculated for these materials on a yearly global basis are: 75, 362, 4.9, 1.5, 1.5, 2.1, 2.1, 0.3, 0.6, 0.001, 0.026, Tg (1 teragram = 10 12 g) per year, respectively. Biomass burning in the United States contributes less than 3% to the total global emissions
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Evaluation of the FEERv1.0 Global Top-Down Biomass Burning Emissions Inventory over Africa
Ellison, L.; Ichoku, C. M.
2014-12-01
With the advent of the Fire Energetics and Emissions Research (FEER) global top-down biomass burning emissions product from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a subsequent effort is going on to analyze and evaluate some of the main (particulate and gaseous) constituents of this emissions inventory against other inventories of biomass burning emissions over the African continent. There is consistent and continual burning during the dry season in NSSA of many small slash-and-burn fires that, though may be relatively small fires individually, collectively contribute 20-25% of the global total carbon emissions from biomass burning. As a top-down method of estimating biomass-burning emissions, FEERv1.0 is able to yield higher and more realistic emissions than previously obtainable using bottom-up methods. Results of such comparisons performed in detail over Africa will be discussed in this presentation. This effort is carried out in conjunction with a NASA-funded interdisciplinary research project investigating the effects of biomass burning on the regional climate system in Northern Sub-Saharan Africa (NSSA). Essentially, that project aims to determine how fires may have affected the severe droughts that plagued the NSSA region in recent history. Therefore, it is imperative that the biomass burning emissions input data over Africa be as accurate as possible in order to obtain a confident understanding of their interactions and feedbacks with the hydrological cycle in NSSA.
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Emission ratio and isotopic signatures of molecular hydrogen emissions from tropical biomass burning
Haumann, F. A.; Batenburg, A. M.; Pieterse, G.; Gerbig, C.; Krol, M. C.; Röckmann, T.
2013-09-01
In this study, we identify a biomass-burning signal in molecular hydrogen (H2) over the Amazonian tropical rainforest. To quantify this signal, we measure the mixing ratios of H2 and several other species as well as the H2 isotopic composition in air samples that were collected in the BARCA (Balanço Atmosférico Regional de Carbono na Amazônia) aircraft campaign during the dry season. We derive a relative H2 emission ratio with respect to carbon monoxide (CO) of 0.31 ± 0.04 ppb ppb-1 and an isotopic source signature of -280 ± 41‰ in the air masses influenced by tropical biomass burning. In order to retrieve a clear source signal that is not influenced by the soil uptake of H2, we exclude samples from the atmospheric boundary layer. This procedure is supported by data from a global chemistry transport model. The ΔH2 / ΔCO emission ratio is significantly lower than some earlier estimates for the tropical rainforest. In addition, our results confirm the lower values of the previously conflicting estimates of the H2 isotopic source signature from biomass burning. These values for the emission ratio and isotopic source signatures of H2 from tropical biomass burning can be used in future bottom-up and top-down approaches aiming to constrain the strength of the biomass-burning source for H2. Hitherto, these two quantities relied only on combustion experiments or on statistical relations, since no direct signal had been obtained from in-situ observations.
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Emissions from biomass burning in the Yucatan
R. J. Yokelson; J. D. Crounse; P. F. DeCarlo; T. Karl; S. Urbanski; E. Atlas; T. Campos; Y. Shinozuka; V. Kapustin; A. D. Clarke; A. Weinheimer; D. J. Knapp; D. D. Montzka; J. Holloway; P. Weibring; F. Flocke; W. Zheng; D. Toohey; P. O. Wennberg; C. Wiedinmyer; L. Mauldin; A. Fried; D. Richter; J. Walega; J. L. Jimenez; K. Adachi; P. R. Buseck; S. R. Hall; R. Shetter
2009-01-01
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...
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Global Burned Area and Biomass Burning Emissions from Small Fires
Randerson, J. T.; Chen, Y.; vanderWerf, G. R.; Rogers, B. M.; Morton, D. C.
2012-01-01
In several biomes, including croplands, wooded savannas, and tropical forests, many small fires occur each year that are well below the detection limit of the current generation of global burned area products derived from moderate resolution surface reflectance imagery. Although these fires often generate thermal anomalies that can be detected by satellites, their contributions to burned area and carbon fluxes have not been systematically quantified across different regions and continents. Here we developed a preliminary method for combining 1-km thermal anomalies (active fires) and 500 m burned area observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to estimate the influence of these fires. In our approach, we calculated the number of active fires inside and outside of 500 m burn scars derived from reflectance data. We estimated small fire burned area by computing the difference normalized burn ratio (dNBR) for these two sets of active fires and then combining these observations with other information. In a final step, we used the Global Fire Emissions Database version 3 (GFED3) biogeochemical model to estimate the impact of these fires on biomass burning emissions. We found that the spatial distribution of active fires and 500 m burned areas were in close agreement in ecosystems that experience large fires, including savannas across southern Africa and Australia and boreal forests in North America and Eurasia. In other areas, however, we observed many active fires outside of burned area perimeters. Fire radiative power was lower for this class of active fires. Small fires substantially increased burned area in several continental-scale regions, including Equatorial Asia (157%), Central America (143%), and Southeast Asia (90%) during 2001-2010. Globally, accounting for small fires increased total burned area by approximately by 35%, from 345 Mha/yr to 464 Mha/yr. A formal quantification of uncertainties was not possible, but sensitivity
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Emissions of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur from biomass burning in Nigeria
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Akeredolu, F.; Isichei, A.O.
1991-01-01
The atmospheric implications of the effects of burning of vegetation in Nigeria are discussed. The following topics are explored: the extent of biomass burning by geographical area; estimates of emission rates of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur; and the impact on biogeochemical cycling of elements. The results suggest that biomass burning generates a measurable impact on the cycling of carbon and nitrogen
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Zhou, Ying; Xing, Xiaofan; Lang, Jianlei; Chen, Dongsheng; Cheng, Shuiyuan; Wei, Lin; Wei, Xiao; Liu, Chao
2017-02-01
Biomass burning injects many different gases and aerosols into the atmosphere that could have a harmful effect on air quality, climate, and human health. In this study, a comprehensive biomass burning emission inventory including domestic and in-field straw burning, firewood burning, livestock excrement burning, and forest and grassland fires is presented, which was developed for mainland China in 2012 based on county-level activity data, satellite data, and updated source-specific emission factors (EFs). The emission inventory within a 1 × 1 km2 grid was generated using geographical information system (GIS) technology according to source-based spatial surrogates. A range of key information related to emission estimation (e.g. province-specific proportion of domestic and in-field straw burning, detailed firewood burning quantities, uneven temporal distribution coefficient) was obtained from field investigation, systematic combing of the latest research, and regression analysis of statistical data. The established emission inventory includes the major precursors of complex pollution, greenhouse gases, and heavy metal released from biomass burning. The results show that the emissions of SO2, NOx, PM10, PM2.5, NMVOC, NH3, CO, EC, OC, CO2, CH4, and Hg in 2012 are 336.8 Gg, 990.7 Gg, 3728.3 Gg, 3526.7 Gg, 3474.2 Gg, 401.2 Gg, 34 380.4 Gg, 369.7 Gg, 1189.5 Gg, 675 299.0 Gg, 2092.4 Gg, and 4.12 Mg, respectively. Domestic straw burning, in-field straw burning, and firewood burning are identified as the dominant biomass burning sources. The largest contributing source is different for various pollutants. Domestic straw burning is the largest source of biomass burning emissions for all the pollutants considered, except for NH3, EC (firewood), and NOx (in-field straw). Corn, rice, and wheat represent the major crop straws. The combined emission of these three straw types accounts for 80 % of the total straw-burned emissions for each specific pollutant mentioned in this study
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High-resolution mapping of biomass burning emissions in tropical regions across three continents
Shi, Yusheng; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Saito, Makoto
2015-04-01
Biomass burning emissions from open vegetation fires (forest fires, savanna fires, agricultural waste burning), human waste and biofuel combustion contain large amounts of trace gases (e.g., CO2, CH4, and N2O) and aerosols (BC and OC), which significantly impact ecosystem productivity, global atmospheric chemistry, and climate . With the help of recently released satellite products, biomass density based on satellite and ground-based observation data, and spatial variable combustion factors, this study developed a new high-resolution emissions inventory for biomass burning in tropical regions across three continents in 2010. Emissions of trace gases and aerosols from open vegetation burning are estimated from burned areas, fuel loads, combustion factors, and emission factors. Burned areas were derived from MODIS MCD64A1 burned area product, fuel loads were mapped from biomass density data sets for herbaceous and tree-covered land based on satellite and ground-based observation data. To account for spatial heterogeneity in combustion factors, global fractional tree cover (MOD44B) and vegetation cover maps (MCD12Q1) were introduced to estimate the combustion factors in different regions by using their relationship with tree cover under less than 40%, between 40-60% and above 60% conditions. For emission factors, the average values for each fuel type from field measurements are used. In addition to biomass burning from open vegetation fires, the emissions from human waste (residential and dump) burning and biofuel burning in 2010 were also estimated for 76 countries in tropical regions across the three continents and then allocated into each pixel with 1 km grid based on the population density (Gridded Population of the World v3). Our total estimates for the tropical regions across the three continents in 2010 were 17744.5 Tg CO2, 730.3 Tg CO, 32.0 Tg CH4, 31.6 Tg NOx, 119.2 Tg NMOC, 6.3 Tg SO2, 9.8 NH3 Tg, 81.8 Tg PM2.5, 48.0 Tg OC, and 5.7 Tg BC, respectively. Open
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Enhanced biogenic emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide following surface biomass burning
Anderson, Iris C.; Levine, Joel S.; Poth, Mark A.; Riggan, Philip J.
1988-01-01
Recent measurements indicate significantly enhanced biogenic soil emissions of both nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) following surface burning. These enhanced fluxes persisted for at least six months following the burn. Simultaneous measurements indicate enhanced levels of exchangeable ammonium in the soil following the burn. Biomass burning is known to be an instantaneous source of NO and N2O resulting from high-temperature combustion. Now it is found that biomass burning also results in significantly enhanced biogenic emissions of these gases, which persist for months following the burn.
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What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates?
Werf, van der G.R.; Peters, W.; Leeuwen, van T.T.; Giglio, L.
2013-01-01
Recent studies based on trace gas mixing ratios in ice cores and charcoal data indicate that biomass burning emissions over the past millennium exceeded contemporary emissions by up to a factor of 4 for certain time periods. This is surprising because various sources of biomass burning are linked
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What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates?
van der Werf, G. R.; Peters, W.; van Leeuwen, T. T.; Giglio, L.
2012-01-01
Recent studies based on trace gas mixing ratios in ice cores and charcoal data indicate that biomass burning emissions over the past millennium exceeded contemporary emissions by up to a factor of 4 for certain time periods. This is surprising because various sources of biomass burning are linked
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Emissions of fine particulate nitrated phenols from the burning of five common types of biomass.
Wang, Xinfeng; Gu, Rongrong; Wang, Liwei; Xu, Wenxue; Zhang, Yating; Chen, Bing; Li, Weijun; Xue, Likun; Chen, Jianmin; Wang, Wenxing
2017-11-01
Nitrated phenols are among the major constituents of brown carbon and affect both climates and ecosystems. However, emissions from biomass burning, which comprise one of the most important primary sources of atmospheric nitrated phenols, are not well understood. In this study, the concentrations and proportions of 10 nitrated phenols, including nitrophenols, nitrocatechols, nitrosalicylic acids, and dinitrophenol, in fine particles from biomass smoke were determined under three different burning conditions (flaming, weakly flaming, and smoldering) with five common types of biomass (leaves, branches, corncob, corn stalk, and wheat straw). The total abundances of fine nitrated phenols produced by biomass burning ranged from 2.0 to 99.5 μg m -3 . The compositions of nitrated phenols varied with biomass types and burning conditions. 4-nitrocatechol and methyl nitrocatechols were generally most abundant, accounting for up to 88-95% of total nitrated phenols in flaming burning condition. The emission ratios of nitrated phenols to PM 2.5 increased with the completeness of combustion and ranged from 7 to 45 ppmm and from 239 to 1081 ppmm for smoldering and flaming burning, respectively. The ratios of fine nitrated phenols to organic matter in biomass burning aerosols were comparable to or lower than those in ambient aerosols affected by biomass burning, indicating that secondary formation contributed to ambient levels of fine nitrated phenols. The emission factors of fine nitrated phenols from flaming biomass burning were estimated based on the measured mass fractions and the PM 2.5 emission factors from literature and were approximately 0.75-11.1 mg kg -1 . According to calculations based on corn and wheat production in 31 Chinese provinces in 2013, the total estimated emission of fine nitrated phenols from the burning of corncobs, corn stalks, and wheat straw was 670 t. This work highlights the apparent emission of methyl nitrocatechols from biomass burning and
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Biomass burning in Africa: As assessment of annually burned biomass
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Delmas, R.A.; Loudjani, P.; Podaire, A.; Menaut, J.C.
1991-01-01
It is now established that biomass burning is the dominant phenomenon that controls the atmospheric chemistry in the tropics. Africa is certainly the continent where biomass burning under various aspects and processes is the greatest. Three different types of burnings have to be considered-bush fires in savanna zones which mainly affect herbaceous flora, forest fires due to forestation for shifting agriculture or colonization of new lands, and the use of wood as fuel. The net release of carbon resulting from deforestation is assumed to be responsible for about 20% of the CO 2 increase in the atmosphere because the burning of forests corresponds to a destorage of carbon from the biospheric reservoir. The amount of reactive of greenhouse gases emitted by biomass burning is directly proportional, through individual emission factors, to the biomass actually burned. This chapter evaluates the biomass annually burned on the African continent as a result of the three main burning processes previously mentioned
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Emissions from biomass burning in the Yucatan [Discussions
R. Yokelson; J. D. Crounse; P. F. DeCarlo; T. Karl; S. Urbanski; E. Atlas; T. Campos; Y. Shinozuka; V. Kapustin; A. D. Clarke; A. Weinheimer; D. J. Knapp; D. D. Montzka; J. Holloway; P. Weibring; F. Flocke; W. Zheng; D. Toohey; P. O. Wennberg; C. Wiedinmyer; L. Mauldin; A. Fried; D. Richter; J. Walega; J. L. Jimenez; K. Adachi; P. R. Buseck; S. R. Hall; R. Shetter
2009-01-01
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...
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Michael R Giordano; Joey Chong; David R Weise; Akua A Asa-Awuku
2016-01-01
Chronic nitrogen deposition has measureable impacts on soil and plant health.We investigate burning emissions from biomass grown in areas of high and low NOx deposition. Gas and aerosolphase emissions were measured as a function of photochemical aging in an environmental chamber at UC-Riverside. Though aerosol chemical speciation was not...
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What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
G. R. van der Werf
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Recent studies based on trace gas mixing ratios in ice cores and charcoal data indicate that biomass burning emissions over the past millennium exceeded contemporary emissions by up to a factor of 4 for certain time periods. This is surprising because various sources of biomass burning are linked with population density, which has increased over the past centuries. We have analysed how emissions from several landscape biomass burning sources could have fluctuated to yield emissions that are in correspondence with recent results based on ice core mixing ratios of carbon monoxide (CO and its isotopic signature measured at South Pole station (SPO. Based on estimates of contemporary landscape fire emissions and the TM5 chemical transport model driven by present-day atmospheric transport and OH concentrations, we found that CO mixing ratios at SPO are more sensitive to emissions from South America and Australia than from Africa, and are relatively insensitive to emissions from the Northern Hemisphere. We then explored how various landscape biomass burning sources may have varied over the past centuries and what the resulting emissions and corresponding CO mixing ratio at SPO would be, using population density variations to reconstruct sources driven by humans (e.g., fuelwood burning and a new model to relate savanna emissions to changes in fire return times. We found that to match the observed ice core CO data, all savannas in the Southern Hemisphere had to burn annually, or bi-annually in combination with deforestation and slash and burn agriculture exceeding current levels, despite much lower population densities and lack of machinery to aid the deforestation process. While possible, these scenarios are unlikely and in conflict with current literature. However, we do show the large potential for increased emissions from savannas in a pre-industrial world. This is mainly because in the past, fuel beds were probably less fragmented compared to the
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Moisture effects on carbon and nitrogen emission from burning of wildland biomass
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
L.-W. A. Chen
2010-07-01
Full Text Available Carbon (C and nitrogen (N released from biomass burning have multiple effects on the Earth's biogeochemical cycle, climate change, and ecosystem. These effects depend on the relative abundances of C and N species emitted, which vary with fuel type and combustion conditions. This study systematically investigates the emission characteristics of biomass burning under different fuel moisture contents, through controlled burning experiments with biomass and soil samples collected from a typical alpine forest in North America. Fuel moisture in general lowers combustion efficiency, shortens flaming phase, and introduces prolonged smoldering before ignition. It increases emission factors of incompletely oxidized C and N species, such as carbon monoxide (CO and ammonia (NH3. Substantial particulate carbon and nitrogen (up to 4 times C in CO and 75% of N in NH3 were also generated from high-moisture fuels, maily associated with the pre-flame smoldering. This smoldering process emits particles that are larger and contain lower elemental carbon fractions than soot agglomerates commonly observed in flaming smoke. Hydrogen (H/C ratio and optical properties of particulate matter from the high-moisture fuels show their resemblance to plant cellulous and brown carbon, respectively. These findings have implications for modeling biomass burning emissions and impacts.
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Near-real-time global biomass burning emissions product from geostationary satellite constellation
Zhang, Xiaoyang; Kondragunta, Shobha; Ram, Jessica; Schmidt, Christopher; Huang, Ho-Chun
2012-07-01
Near-real-time estimates of biomass burning emissions are crucial for air quality monitoring and forecasting. We present here the first near-real-time global biomass burning emission product from geostationary satellites (GBBEP-Geo) produced from satellite-derived fire radiative power (FRP) for individual fire pixels. Specifically, the FRP is retrieved using WF_ABBA V65 (wildfire automated biomass burning algorithm) from a network of multiple geostationary satellites. The network consists of two Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) which are operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Meteosat second-generation satellites (Meteosat-09) operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and the Multifunctional Transport Satellite (MTSAT) operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. These satellites observe wildfires at an interval of 15-30 min. Because of the impacts from sensor saturation, cloud cover, and background surface, the FRP values are generally not continuously observed. The missing observations are simulated by combining the available instantaneous FRP observations within a day and a set of representative climatological diurnal patterns of FRP for various ecosystems. Finally, the simulated diurnal variation in FRP is applied to quantify biomass combustion and emissions in individual fire pixels with a latency of 1 day. By analyzing global patterns in hourly biomass burning emissions in 2010, we find that peak fire season varied greatly and that annual wildfires burned 1.33 × 1012 kg dry mass, released 1.27 × 1010 kg of PM2.5 (particulate mass for particles with diameter forest and savanna fires in Africa, South America, and North America. Evaluation of emission result reveals that the GBBEP-Geo estimates are comparable with other FRP-derived estimates in Africa, while the results are generally smaller than most of the other global products that were derived from burned
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Pereira, Gabriel; Siqueira, Ricardo; Rosário, Nilton E.; Longo, Karla L.; Freitas, Saulo R.; Cardozo, Francielle S.; Kaiser, Johannes W.; Wooster, Martin J.
2016-06-01
Fires associated with land use and land cover changes release large amounts of aerosols and trace gases into the atmosphere. Although several inventories of biomass burning emissions cover Brazil, there are still considerable uncertainties and differences among them. While most fire emission inventories utilize the parameters of burned area, vegetation fuel load, emission factors, and other parameters to estimate the biomass burned and its associated emissions, several more recent inventories apply an alternative method based on fire radiative power (FRP) observations to estimate the amount of biomass burned and the corresponding emissions of trace gases and aerosols. The Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model (3BEM) and the Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) are examples of the first, while the Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model with FRP assimilation (3BEM_FRP) and the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) are examples of the latter. These four biomass burning emission inventories were used during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field campaign. This paper analyzes and inter-compared them, focusing on eight regions in Brazil and the time period of 1 September-31 October 2012. Aerosol optical thickness (AOT550 nm) derived from measurements made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) operating on board the Terra and Aqua satellites is also applied to assess the inventories' consistency. The daily area-averaged pyrogenic carbon monoxide (CO) emission estimates exhibit significant linear correlations (r, p > 0.05 level, Student t test) between 3BEM and FINN and between 3BEM_ FRP and GFAS, with values of 0.86 and 0.85, respectively. These results indicate that emission estimates in this region derived via similar methods tend to agree with one other. However, they differ more from the estimates derived via the alternative approach. The evaluation of MODIS AOT550 nm indicates that model simulation driven by 3BEM and FINN
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Jain, Atul K.; Tao, Zhining; Yang, Xiaojuan; Gillespie, Conor
2006-03-01
Open fire biomass burning and domestic biofuel burning (e.g., cooking, heating, and charcoal making) algorithms have been incorporated into a terrestrial ecosystem model to estimate CO2 and key reactive GHGs (CO, NOx, and NMHCs) emissions for the year 2000. The emissions are calculated over the globe at a 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution using tree density imagery, and two separate sets of data each for global area burned and land clearing for croplands, along with biofuel consumption rate data. The estimated global and annual total dry matter (DM) burned due to open fire biomass burning ranges between 5221 and 7346 Tg DM/yr, whereas the resultant emissions ranges are 6564-9093 Tg CO2/yr, 438-568 Tg CO/yr, 11-16 Tg NOx/yr (as NO), and 29-40 Tg NMHCs/yr. The results indicate that land use changes for cropland is one of the major sources of biomass burning, which amounts to 25-27% (CO2), 25 -28% (CO), 20-23% (NO), and 28-30% (NMHCs) of the total open fire biomass burning emissions of these gases. Estimated DM burned associated with domestic biofuel burning is 3,114 Tg DM/yr, and resultant emissions are 4825 Tg CO2/yr, 243 Tg CO/yr, 3 Tg NOx/yr, and 23 Tg NMHCs/yr. Total emissions from biomass burning are highest in tropical regions (Asia, America, and Africa), where we identify important contributions from primary forest cutting for croplands and domestic biofuel burning.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
G. Pereira
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Fires associated with land use and land cover changes release large amounts of aerosols and trace gases into the atmosphere. Although several inventories of biomass burning emissions cover Brazil, there are still considerable uncertainties and differences among them. While most fire emission inventories utilize the parameters of burned area, vegetation fuel load, emission factors, and other parameters to estimate the biomass burned and its associated emissions, several more recent inventories apply an alternative method based on fire radiative power (FRP observations to estimate the amount of biomass burned and the corresponding emissions of trace gases and aerosols. The Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model (3BEM and the Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN are examples of the first, while the Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model with FRP assimilation (3BEM_FRP and the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS are examples of the latter. These four biomass burning emission inventories were used during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA field campaign. This paper analyzes and inter-compared them, focusing on eight regions in Brazil and the time period of 1 September–31 October 2012. Aerosol optical thickness (AOT550 nm derived from measurements made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS operating on board the Terra and Aqua satellites is also applied to assess the inventories' consistency. The daily area-averaged pyrogenic carbon monoxide (CO emission estimates exhibit significant linear correlations (r, p > 0.05 level, Student t test between 3BEM and FINN and between 3BEM_ FRP and GFAS, with values of 0.86 and 0.85, respectively. These results indicate that emission estimates in this region derived via similar methods tend to agree with one other. However, they differ more from the estimates derived via the alternative approach. The evaluation of MODIS AOT550 nm indicates that model
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. D. Mallet
2017-11-01
Full Text Available The SAFIRED (Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season campaign took place from 29 May until 30 June 2014 at the Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research Station (ATARS in the Northern Territory, Australia. The purpose of this campaign was to investigate emissions from fires in the early dry season in northern Australia. Measurements were made of biomass burning aerosols, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic carbons, greenhouse gases, radon, speciated atmospheric mercury and trace metals. Aspects of the biomass burning aerosol emissions investigated included; emission factors of various species, physical and chemical aerosol properties, aerosol aging, micronutrient supply to the ocean, nucleation, and aerosol water uptake. Over the course of the month-long campaign, biomass burning signals were prevalent and emissions from several large single burning events were observed at ATARS.Biomass burning emissions dominated the gas and aerosol concentrations in this region. Dry season fires are extremely frequent and widespread across the northern region of Australia, which suggests that the measured aerosol and gaseous emissions at ATARS are likely representative of signals across the entire region of north Australia. Air mass forward trajectories show that these biomass burning emissions are carried north-west over the Timor Sea and could influence the atmosphere over Indonesia and the tropical atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Here we present characteristics of the biomass burning observed at the sampling site and provide an overview of the more specific outcomes of the SAFIRED campaign.
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Mallet, Marc D.; Desservettaz, Maximilien J.; Miljevic, Branka; Milic, Andelija; Ristovski, Zoran D.; Alroe, Joel; Cravigan, Luke T.; Rohan Jayaratne, E.; Paton-Walsh, Clare; Griffith, David W. T.; Wilson, Stephen R.; Kettlewell, Graham; van der Schoot, Marcel V.; Selleck, Paul; Reisen, Fabienne; Lawson, Sarah J.; Ward, Jason; Harnwell, James; Cheng, Min; Gillett, Rob W.; Molloy, Suzie B.; Howard, Dean; Nelson, Peter F.; Morrison, Anthony L.; Edwards, Grant C.; Williams, Alastair G.; Chambers, Scott D.; Werczynski, Sylvester; Williams, Leah R.; Winton, V. Holly L.; Atkinson, Brad; Wang, Xianyu; Keywood, Melita D.
2017-11-01
The SAFIRED (Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season) campaign took place from 29 May until 30 June 2014 at the Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research Station (ATARS) in the Northern Territory, Australia. The purpose of this campaign was to investigate emissions from fires in the early dry season in northern Australia. Measurements were made of biomass burning aerosols, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic carbons, greenhouse gases, radon, speciated atmospheric mercury and trace metals. Aspects of the biomass burning aerosol emissions investigated included; emission factors of various species, physical and chemical aerosol properties, aerosol aging, micronutrient supply to the ocean, nucleation, and aerosol water uptake. Over the course of the month-long campaign, biomass burning signals were prevalent and emissions from several large single burning events were observed at ATARS.Biomass burning emissions dominated the gas and aerosol concentrations in this region. Dry season fires are extremely frequent and widespread across the northern region of Australia, which suggests that the measured aerosol and gaseous emissions at ATARS are likely representative of signals across the entire region of north Australia. Air mass forward trajectories show that these biomass burning emissions are carried north-west over the Timor Sea and could influence the atmosphere over Indonesia and the tropical atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Here we present characteristics of the biomass burning observed at the sampling site and provide an overview of the more specific outcomes of the SAFIRED campaign.
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Estimates of biomass burning emissions in tropical Asia based on satellite-derived data
D. Chang; Y. Song
2009-01-01
Biomass burning in tropical Asia emits large amounts of trace gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere, which has significant implications for atmospheric chemistry and climatic change. In this study, emissions from open biomass burning over tropical Asia were evaluated during seven fire years from 2000 to 2006 (1 March 2000–31 February 2007). The size of the burned areas was estimated from newly published 1-km L3JRC and 500-m MODIS burned area products (MCD45A1). Available fuel loads...
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Fong, B.; Adviento-Borbe, A.; Reba, M. L.; Runkle, B.; Suvocarev, K.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning or field burning is a crop management practice that removes rice straw, reduces tillage, controls pests and releases nutrients for the next cropping season. Current field burning emissions are not included in agricultural field annual emissions largely because of the lack of studies, especially on the field scale. Field burning measurements are important for greenhouse gas emission inventories and quantifying the annual carbon footprint of rice. Paired eddy covariance systems were used to measure energy balance, CO2 fluxes, and H2O fluxes in mid-South US rice fields (total area of 25 ha) before, during and after biomass burning for 20 days after harvest. During the biomass burning, air temperatures increased 29°C, while ambient CO2 concentration increased from 402 to 16,567 ppm and H2O concentrations increased from 18.73 to 25.62 ppt. For the burning period, 67-86 kg CO2 ha-1 period-1 was emitted calculated by integrating fluxes over the biomass burning event. However, the estimated emission using aboveground biomass and combustion factors was calculated as 11,733 kg CO2 ha-1 period-1. Part of the difference could be attributed to sensor sensitivity decreasing 80% during burning for two minutes due to smoke. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) increased by a factor of two, 1.14 before burning to 2.44 μmol m-2 s-1 possibly due to greater reduction of plant material and photosynthesis following burning. This study highlights the contribution of rice straw burning to total CO2 emissions from rice production.
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How important is biomass burning in Canada to mercury contamination?
Fraser, Annemarie; Dastoor, Ashu; Ryjkov, Andrei
2018-05-01
Wildfire frequency has increased in past four decades in Canada and is expected to increase in future as a result of climate change (Wotton et al., 2010). Mercury (Hg) emissions from biomass burning are known to be significant; however, the impact of biomass burning on air concentration and deposition fluxes in Canada has not been previously quantified. We use estimates of burned biomass from FINN (Fire INventory from NCAR) and vegetation-specific emission factors (EFs) of mercury to investigate the spatiotemporal variability of Hg emissions in Canada. We use Environment and Climate Change Canada's GEM-MACH-Hg (Global Environmental Multi-scale, Modelling Air quality and Chemistry model, mercury version) to quantify the impact of biomass burning in Canada on spatiotemporal variability of air concentrations and deposition fluxes of mercury in Canada. We use North American gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) observations (2010-2015), GEM-MACH-Hg, and an inversion technique to optimize the EFs for GEM for five vegetation types represented in North American fires to constrain the biomass burning impacts of mercury. The inversion results suggest that EFs representing more vegetation types - specifically peatland - are required. This is currently limited by the sparseness of measurements of Hg from biomass burning plumes. More measurements of Hg concentration in the air, specifically downwind of fires, would improve the inversions. We use three biomass burning Hg emissions scenarios in Canada to conduct three sets of model simulations for 2010-2015: two scenarios where Hg is emitted only as GEM using literature or optimized EFs and a third scenario where Hg is emitted as GEM using literature EFs and particle bound mercury (PBM) emitted using the average GEM/PBM ratio from lab measurements. The three biomass burning emission scenarios represent a range of possible values for the impacts of Hg emissions from biomass burning in Canada on Hg concentration and deposition. We find
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Tawfiq, Mohammed F; Aroua, Mohamed Kheireddine; Sulaiman, Nik Meriam Nik
2015-07-01
Atmospheric pollution and global warming issues are increasingly becoming major environmental concerns. Fire is one of the significant sources of pollutant gases released into the atmosphere; and tropical biomass fires, which are of particular interest in this study, contribute greatly to the global budget of CO and CO2. This pioneer research simulates the natural biomass burning strategy in Malaysia using an experimental burning facility. The investigation was conducted on the emissions (CO2, CO, and Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes (BTEX)) from ten tropical biomass species. The selected species represent the major tropical forests that are frequently subjected to dry forest fire incidents. An experimental burning facility equipped with an on-line gas analyzer was employed to determine the burning emissions. The major emission factors were found to vary among the species, and the specific results were as follows. The moisture content of a particular biomass greatly influenced its emission pattern. The smoke analysis results revealed the existence of BTEX, which were sampled from a combustion chamber by enrichment traps aided with a universal gas sampler. The BTEX were determined by organic solvent extraction followed by GC/MS quantification, the results of which suggested that the biomass burning emission factor contributed significant amounts of benzene, toluene, and m,p-xylene. The modified combustion efficiency (MCE) changed in response to changes in the sample moisture content. Therefore, this study concluded that the emission of some pollutants mainly depends on the burning phase and sample moisture content of the biomass. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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Laboratory Studies of Carbon Emission from Biomass Burning for use in Remote Sensing
Wald, Andrew E.; Kaufman, Yoram J.
1998-01-01
Biomass burning is a significant source of many trace gases in the atmosphere. Up to 25% of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere annually is from biomass burning. However, this gaseous emission from fires is not directly detectable from satellite. Infrared radiance from the fires is. In order to see if infrared radiance can be used as a tracer for these emitted gases, we made laboratory measurements to determine the correlation of emitted carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and total burned biomass with emitted infrared radiance. If the measured correlations among these quantities hold in the field, then satellite-observed infrared radiance can be used to estimate gaseous emission and total burned biomass on a global, daily basis. To this end, several types of biomass fuels were burned under controlled conditions in a large-scale combustion laboratory. Simultaneous measurements of emitted spectral infrared radiance, emitted carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and total mass loss were made. In addition measurements of fuel moisture content and fuel elemental abundance were made. We found that for a given fire, the quantity of carbon burned can be estimated from 11 (micro)m radiance measurements only within a factor of five. This variation arises from three sources, 1) errors in our measurements, 2) the subpixel nature of the fires, and 3) inherent differences in combustion of different fuel types. Despite this large range, these measurements can still be used for large-scale satellite estimates of biomass burned. This is because of the very large possible spread of fire sizes that will be subpixel as seen by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Due to this large spread, even relatively low-precision correlations can still be useful for large-scale estimates of emitted carbon. Furthermore, such estimates using the MODIS 3.9 (micro)m channel should be even more accurate than our estimates based on 11 (micro)m radiance.
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Chemical characterisation of fine particles from biomass burning
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Saarnio, K.
2013-10-15
Biomass burning has lately started to attract attention because there is a need to decrease the carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. Biomass is considered as CO{sub 2} neutral fuel. However, the burning of biomass is one of the major sources of fine particles both at the local and global scale. In addition to the use of biomass as a fuel for heat energy production, biomass burning emissions can be caused, e.g. by slash-and-burn agriculture and wild open-land fires. Indeed, the emissions from biomass burning are crucially important for the assessment of the potential impacts on global climate and local air quality and hence on human health. The chemical composition of fine particles has a notable influence on these impacts. The overall object of this thesis was to gain knowledge on the chemistry of fine particles that originate from biomass burning as well as on the contribution of biomass burning emissions to the ambient fine particle concentrations. For this purpose novel analytical methods were developed and tested in this thesis. Moreover, the thesis is based on ambient aerosol measurements that were carried out in six European countries at 12 measurement sites during 2002-2011. Additionally, wood combustion experiments were conducted in a laboratory. The measurements included a wide range of techniques: filter and impactor samplings, offline chemical analyses (chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques, thermal-optical method), and online measurements of particles' physical properties and chemical composition (incl. particle number and mass concentrations and size distributions, concentrations of carbonaceous components, water-soluble ions, and tracer compounds). This thesis presents main results of different studies aimed towards chemical characterisation of fine particle emissions from biomass burning. It was found that wood combustion had a significant influence on atmospheric fine particle concentrations in
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SAFARI 2000 1-Degree Estimates of Burned Biomass, Area, and Emissions, 2000
National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A new method is used to generate spatial estimates of monthly averaged biomass burned area and spatial and temporal estimates of trace gas and aerosol emissions from...
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Tian, Di; Hu, Yongtao; Wang, Yuhang; Boylan, James W; Zheng, Mei; Russell, Armistead G
2009-01-15
Biomass burning is a major and growing contributor to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5). Such impacts (especially individual impacts from each burning source) are quantified using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model, a chemical transport model (CTM). Given the sensitivity of CTM results to uncertain emission inputs, simulations were conducted using three biomass burning inventories. Shortcomings in the burning emissions were also evaluated by comparing simulations with observations and results from a receptor model. Model performance improved significantly with the updated emissions and speciation profiles based on recent measurements for biomass burning: mean fractional bias is reduced from 22% to 4% for elemental carbon and from 18% to 12% for organic matter; mean fractional error is reduced from 59% to 50% for elemental carbon and from 55% to 49% for organic matter. Quantified impacts of biomass burning on PM2.5 during January, March, May, and July 2002 are 3.0, 5.1, 0.8, and 0.3 microg m(-3) domainwide on average, with more than 80% of such impacts being from primary emissions. Impacts of prescribed burning dominate biomass burning impacts, contributing about 55% and 80% of PM2.5 in January and March, respectively, followed by land clearing and agriculture field burning. Significant impacts of wildfires in May and residential wood combustion in fireplaces and woodstoves in January are also found.
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Tang, Xi-Bin; Huang, Cheng; Lou, Sheng-Rong; Qiao, Li-Ping; Wang, Hong-Li; Zhou, Min; Chen, Ming-hua; Chen, Chang-Hong; Wang, Qian; Li, Gui-Ling; Li, Li; Huang, Hai-Ying; Zhang, Gang-Feng
2014-05-01
The emission characteristics of five typical crops, including wheat straw, rice straw, oil rape straw, soybean straw and fuel wood, were investigated to explore the gas and particulates emission of typical biomass burning in Yangzi-River-Delta area. The straws were tested both by burning in stove and by burning in the farm with a self-developed measurement system as open burning sources. Both gas and fine particle pollutants were measured in this study as well as the chemical composition of fine particles. The results showed that the average emission factors of CO, NO, and PM2,5 in open farm burning were 28.7 g.kg -1, 1.2 g.kg-1 and 2.65 g kg-1 , respectively. Due to insufficient burning in the low oxygen level environment, the emission factors of stove burning were higher than those of open farm burning, which were 81.9 g kg-1, 2. 1 g.kg -1 and 8.5 gkg -1 , respectively. Oil rape straw had the highest emission factors in all tested straws samples. Carbonaceous matter, including organic carbon(OC) and element carbon(EC) , was the foremost component of PM2, 5from biomass burning. The average mass fractions of OC and EC were (38.92 +/- 13.93)% and (5.66 +/-1.54)% by open farm burning and (26.37 +/- 10. 14)% and (18.97 +/- 10.76)% by stove burning. Water soluble ions such as Cl-and K+ had a large contribution. The average mass fractions of CI- and K+ were (13.27 +/-6. 82)% and (12.41 +/- 3.02)% by open farm burning, and were (16.25 +/- 9.34)% and (13.62 +/- 7.91)% by stove burning. The K +/OC values of particles from wheat straw, rice straw, oil rape straw and soybean straw by open farm burning were 0. 30, 0. 52, 0. 49 and 0. 15, respectively, which can be used to evaluate the influence on the regional air quality in YRD area from biomass burning and provide direct evidence for source apportionment.
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The effect of South American biomass burning aerosol emissions on the regional climate
Thornhill, Gillian D.; Ryder, Claire L.; Highwood, Eleanor J.; Shaffrey, Len C.; Johnson, Ben T.
2018-04-01
The impact of biomass burning aerosol (BBA) on the regional climate in South America is assessed using 30-year simulations with a global atmosphere-only configuration of the Met Office Unified Model. We compare two simulations of high and low emissions of biomass burning aerosol based on realistic interannual variability. The aerosol scheme in the model has hygroscopic growth and optical properties for BBA informed by recent observations, including those from the recent South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) intensive aircraft observations made during September 2012. We find that the difference in the September (peak biomass emissions month) BBA optical depth between a simulation with high emissions and a simulation with low emissions corresponds well to the difference in the BBA emissions between the two simulations, with a 71.6 % reduction from high to low emissions for both the BBA emissions and the BB AOD in the region with maximum emissions (defined by a box of extent 5-25° S, 40-70° W, used for calculating mean values given below). The cloud cover at all altitudes in the region of greatest BBA difference is reduced as a result of the semi-direct effect, by heating of the atmosphere by the BBA and changes in the atmospheric stability and surface fluxes. Within the BBA layer the cloud is reduced by burn-off, while the higher cloud changes appear to be responding to stability changes. The boundary layer is reduced in height and stabilized by increased BBA, resulting in reduced deep convection and reduced cloud cover at heights of 9-14 km, above the layer of BBA. Despite the decrease in cloud fraction, September downwelling clear-sky and all-sky shortwave radiation at the surface is reduced for higher emissions by 13.77 ± 0.39 W m-2 (clear-sky) and 7.37 ± 2.29 W m-2 (all-sky), whilst the upwelling shortwave radiation at the top of atmosphere is increased in clear sky by 3.32 ± 0.09 W m-2, but decreased by -1.36±1.67 W m-2 when cloud changes are
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Xu, Y.; Fan, M.; Huang, Z.; Zheng, J.; Chen, L.
2017-12-01
Open biomass burning which has adverse effects on air quality and human health is an important source of gas and particulate matter (PM) in China. Current emission estimations of open biomass burning are generally based on single source (alternative to statistical data and satellite-derived data) and thus contain large uncertainty due to the limitation of data. In this study, to quantify the 2015-based amount of open biomass burning, we established a new estimation method for open biomass burning activity levels by combining the bottom-up statistical data and top-down MODIS observations. And three sub-category sources which used different activity data were considered. For open crop residue burning, the "best estimate" of activity data was obtained by averaging the statistical data from China statistical yearbooks and satellite observations from MODIS burned area product MCD64A1 weighted by their uncertainties. For the forest and grassland fires, their activity levels were represented by the combination of statistical data and MODIS active fire product MCD14ML. Using the fire radiative power (FRP) which is considered as a better indicator of active fire level as the spatial allocation surrogate, coarse gridded emissions were reallocated into 3km ×3km grids to get a high-resolution emission inventory. Our results showed that emissions of CO, NOx, SO2, NH3, VOCs, PM2.5, PM10, BC and OC in mainland China were 6607, 427, 84, 79, 1262, 1198, 1222, 159 and 686 Gg/yr, respectively. Among all provinces of China, Henan, Shandong and Heilongjiang were the top three contributors to the total emissions. In this study, the developed open biomass burning emission inventory with a high-resolution could support air quality modeling and policy-making for pollution control.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shi, Yusheng; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Saito, Makoto; Yamaguchi, Yasushi; Chen, Xuehong
2015-01-01
This study compared five widely used globally gridded biomass burning emissions inventories for the 2002–2011 period (Global Fire Emissions Database 3 (GFED3), Global Fire Emissions Database 4 (GFED4), Global Fire Assimilation System 1.0 (GFAS1.0), Fire INventory from NCAR 1.0 (FINN1.0) and Global Inventory for Chemistry-Climate studies-GFED4 (G-G)). Average annual CO_2 emissions range from 6521.3 to 9661.5 Tg year"−"1 for five inventories, with extensive amounts in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Coefficient of Variation for Southern America, Northern and Southern Africa are 30%, 39% and 48%. Globally, the majority of CO_2 emissions are released from savanna burnings, followed by forest and cropland burnings. The largest differences among the five inventories are mainly attributable to the overestimation of CO_2 emissions by FINN1.0 in Southeast Asia savanna and cropland burning, and underestimation in Southern Africa savanna and Amazon forest burning. The overestimation in Africa by G-G also contributes to the differences. - Highlights: • Five widely used global biomass burning emissions inventories were compared. • Global CO_2 emissions compared well while regional differences are large. • The largest differences were found in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. • Savanna burning emission was the largest contributor to the global emissions. • Variations in savanna burning emission led to the differences among inventories. - Differences of the five biomass burning CO_2 emissions inventories were found in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa due to the variations in savanna burning emissions estimation.
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Emissions from Biomass Burning in the Yucatan
Yokelson, R.; Crounse, J. D.; DeCarlo, P. F.; Karl, T.; Urbanski, S.; Atlas, E.; Campos, T.; Shinozuka, Y.; Kapustin, V.; Clarke, A. D.;
2009-01-01
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 indicaters 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 fires emitted unusually amounts of SO2 and particle chloride, likely due to a strong marine influence on the peninsula.
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Progress Towards Improved MOPITT-based Biomass Burning Emission Inventories for the Amazon Basin
Deeter, M. N.; Emmons, L. K.; Martinez-Alonso, S.; Wiedinmyer, C.; Arellano, A. F.; Fischer, E. V.; González-Alonso, L.; Val Martin, M.; Gatti, L. V.; Miller, J. B.; Gloor, M.; Domingues, L. G.; Correia, C. S. D. C.
2016-12-01
The 17-year long record of carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations from the MOPITT satellite instrument is uniquely suited for studying the interannual variability of biomass burning emissions. Data assimilation methods based on Ensemble Kalman Filtering are currently being developed to infer CO emissions within the Amazon Basin from MOPITT measurements along with additional datasets. The validity of these inversions will depend on the characteristics of the MOPITT CO retrievals (e.g., retrieval biases and vertical resolution) as well as the representation of chemistry and dynamics in the chemical transport model (CAM-Chem) used in the data assimilation runs. For example, the assumed vertical distribution ("injection height") of the biomass burning emissions plays a particularly important role. We will review recent progress made on a project to improve biomass burning emission inventories for the Amazon Basin. MOPITT CO retrievals over the Amazon Basin are first characterized, focusing on the MOPITT Version 6 "multispectral" retrieval product (exploiting both thermal-infrared and near-infrared channels). Validation results based on in-situ vertical profiles measured between 2010 and 2013 are presented for four sites in the Amazon Basin. Results indicate a significant negative bias in MOPITT retrieved lower-tropospheric CO concentrations. The seasonal and geographical variability of smoke injection height over the Amazon Basin is then analyzed using a MISR plume height climatology. This work has led to the development of a new fire emission injection height parameterization that was implemented in CAM-Chem and GEOS-Chem.. Finally, we present initial data assimilation results for the Amazon Basin and evaluate the results using available field campaign measurements.
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Biomass burning contributions to urban aerosols in a coastal Mediterranean city.
Reche, C; Viana, M; Amato, F; Alastuey, A; Moreno, T; Hillamo, R; Teinilä, K; Saarnio, K; Seco, R; Peñuelas, J; Mohr, C; Prévôt, A S H; Querol, X
2012-06-15
Mean annual biomass burning contributions to the bulk particulate matter (PM(X)) load were quantified in a southern-European urban environment (Barcelona, Spain) with special attention to typical Mediterranean winter and summer conditions. In spite of the complexity of the local air pollution cocktail and the expected low contribution of biomass burning emissions to PM levels in Southern Europe, the impact of these emissions was detected at an urban background site by means of tracers such as levoglucosan, K(+) and organic carbon (OC). The significant correlation between levoglucosan and OC (r(2)=0.77) and K(+) (r(2)=0.65), as well as a marked day/night variability of the levoglucosan levels and levoglucosan/OC ratios was indicative of the contribution from regional scale biomass burning emissions during night-time transported by land breezes. In addition, on specific days (21-22 March), the contribution from long-range transported biomass burning aerosols was detected. Quantification of the contribution of biomass burning aerosols to PM levels on an annual basis was possible by means of the Multilinear Engine (ME). Biomass burning emissions accounted for 3% of PM(10) and PM(2.5) (annual mean), while this percentage increased up to 5% of PM(1). During the winter period, regional-scale biomass burning emissions (agricultural waste burning) were estimated to contribute with 7±4% of PM(2.5) aerosols during night-time (period when emissions were clearly detected). Long-range transported biomass burning aerosols (possibly from forest fires and/or agricultural waste burning) accounted for 5±2% of PM(2.5) during specific episodes. Annually, biomass burning emissions accounted for 19%-21% of OC levels in PM(10), PM(2.5) and PM(1). The contribution of this source to K(+) ranged between 48% for PM(10) and 97% for PM(1) (annual mean). Results for K(+) from biomass burning evidenced that this tracer is mostly emitted in the fine fraction, and thus coarse K(+) could not be
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The contribution of biomass burning to global warming: An integrated assessment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lashof, D.A.
1991-01-01
An analysis of studies of emissions form biomass burning suggests that while biomass burning is less significant than fossil fuel combustion on global basis, it is a major contributor to the greenhouse gas buildup, responsible for perhaps 10% to 15% of the total forcing from current emissions. Uncertainties about emissions and the relative impact of different gases are large, yielding a range of 5% to 30%. Nonetheless, biomass burning is probably the dominant source of greenhouse gases in some regions. A comprehensive policy to limit global climate change must, therefore, address biomass burning
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Biomass burning fuel consumption rates: a field measurement database
van Leeuwen, T.T.; van der Werf, G.R.; Hoffmann, A.A.; Detmers, R.G.; Ruecker, G.; French, N.H.F.; Archibald, S.; Carvalho Jr., J.A.; Cook, G.D.; de Groot, J.W.; Hely, C.; Kasischke, E.S.; Kloster, S.; McCarty, J.L.; Pettinari, M.L.; Savadogo, P.
2014-01-01
Landscape fires show large variability in the amount of biomass or fuel consumed per unit area burned. Fuel consumption (FC) depends on the biomass available to burn and the fraction of the biomass that is actually combusted, and can be combined with estimates of area burned to assess emissions.
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Potter, Christopher; Brooks-Genovese, Vanessa; Klooster, Steven; Torregrosa, Alicia
2002-10-01
To produce a new daily record of trace gas emissions from biomass burning events for the Brazilian Legal Amazon, we have combined satellite advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data on fire counts together for the first time with vegetation greenness imagery as inputs to an ecosystem biomass model at 8 km spatial resolution. This analysis goes beyond previous estimates for reactive gas emissions from Amazon fires, owing to a more detailed geographic distribution estimate of vegetation biomass, coupled with daily fire activity for the region (original 1 km resolution), and inclusion of fire effects in extensive areas of the Legal Amazon (defined as the Brazilian states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins) covered by open woodland, secondary forests, savanna, and pasture vegetation. Results from our emissions model indicate that annual emissions from Amazon deforestation and biomass burning in the early 1990s total to 102 Tg yr-1 carbon monoxide (CO) and 3.5 Tg yr-1 nitrogen oxides (NOx). Peak daily burning emissions, which occurred in early September 1992, were estimated at slightly more than 3 Tg d-1for CO and 0.1 Tg d-1for NOx flux to the atmosphere. Other burning source fluxes of gases with relatively high emission factors are reported, including methane (CH4), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), in addition to total particulate matter (TPM). We estimate the Brazilian Amazon region to be a source of between one fifth and one third for each of these global emission fluxes to the atmosphere. The regional distribution of burning emissions appears to be highest in the Brazilian states of Maranhao and Tocantins, mainly from burning outside of moist forest areas, and in Pará and Mato Grosso, where we identify important contributions from primary forest cutting and burning. These new daily emission estimates of reactive gases from biomass burning fluxes are designed to be used as
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Biomass Burning Emissions in the Cerrado of Brazil Computed with Remote Sensing Data and GIS
Guild, Liane S.; Brass, James A.; Chatfield, Robert B.; Hlavka, Christine A.; Riggan, Philip J.; Setzer, Alberto; Pereira, Joao A. Raposo; Peterson, David L. (Technical Monitor)
1994-01-01
Biomass burnin is a common force in much of the developing tropical world where it has wide-ranging environmental impacts. Fire is a component of tropical deforestation and is 0 p often used to clear broad expanses of land for shifting agriculture and cattle ranching. Frequent burning in the tropical savannas is a distinct problem from that of primary forest. In Brazil, most of the burning occurs in the cerrado which occupies approximately 1,800,000 km2, primarily on the great plateau in central Brazil. Wildland and agricultural fires are dramatic sources of regional air pollution in central Brazil. Biomass burning is an important source of a large number of trace gases including greenhouse gases and other chemically active species. Knowledge of trace gas emissions from biomass burning in Brazil is limited by a number of factors, most notably relative emission factors for gases from specific fire types/fuels and accurate estimates of temporal and spatial distribution and extent of fire activity. Estimates of trace gas emissions during September 1992 will be presented that incorporates a digital map of vegetation classes, pyrogenic emission factors calculated from ground and aircraft missions, and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) fire products derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. The regional emissions calculated from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) AVHRR estimates of fire activity will provide an independent estimate for comparison with results obtained by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Transport and Atmospheric Chemistry Near the Equator - Atlantic (TRACE-A) experiments.
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Particulate Matter Emission Factors for Biomass Combustion
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simone Simões Amaral
2016-10-01
Full Text Available Emission factor is a relative measure and can be used to estimate emissions from multiple sources of air pollution. For this reason, data from literature on particulate matter emission factors from different types of biomass were evaluated in this paper. Initially, the main sources of particles were described, as well as relevant concepts associated with particle measurements. In addition, articles about particle emissions were classified and described in relation to the sampling environment (open or closed and type of burned biomass (agricultural, garden, forest, and dung. Based on this analysis, a set of emission factors was presented and discussed. Important observations were made about the main emission sources of particulate matter. Combustion of compacted biomass resulted in lower particulate emission factors. PM2.5 emissions were predominant in the burning of forest biomass. Emission factors were more elevated in laboratory burning, followed by burns in the field, residences and combustors.
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Parrington, Mark; Palmer, Paul I.; Rickard, Andrew; Young, Jennifer; Lewis, Ally; Lee, James; Henze, Daven; Tarasick, David; Hyer, Edward; Yantosca, Robert; Bowman, Kevin; Worden, John; Griffin, Debora; Franklin, Jonathan; Helmig, Detlev
2013-04-01
We use the GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model to quantify the impact of boreal biomass burning on tropospheric oxidant chemistry over the North Atlantic region during summer of 2011. The GEOS-Chem model is used at a spatial resolution of 1/2 degree latitude by 2/3 degree longitude for a domain covering eastern North America, the North Atlantic Ocean and western Europe. We initialise the model with biomass burning emissions from the Fire Locating and Monitoring of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) inventory and use a modified chemical mechanism providing a detailed description of ozone photochemistry in boreal biomass burning outflow derived from the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM). We evaluate the 3-D model distribution of ozone and tracers associated with biomass burning against measurements made by the UK FAAM BAe-146 research aircraft, ozonesondes, ground-based and satellite instruments as part of the BORTAS experiment between 12 July and 3 August 2011. We also use the GEOS-Chem model adjoint to fit the model to BORTAS measurements to analyse the sensitivity of the model chemical mechanism and ozone distribution to wildfire emissions in central Canada.
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Azuma, Yoshimi; Nakamura, Maya; Kuji, Makoto
2012-11-01
Southeast Asia is one of the biggest regions of biomass burning with forest fires and slash-and-burn farming. From the fire events, a large amount of air pollutants are emitted such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and aerosol (black carbon; BC). Biomass burning generally causes not only local, but also transboundary air pollution, and influences the atmospheric environment in the world accordingly. However, impact of air pollutants' emissions from large-scale fire in Southeast Asia is not well investigated compared to other regions such as South America and Africa. In this study, characteristics of the atmospheric environment were investigated with correlative analyses among several satellite data (MOPITT, OMI, and MODIS) and emission inventory (GFEDv3) in Southeast Asia from October 2004 to June 2008 on a monthly basis. As a result, it is suggested that the transboundary air pollution from the biomass burning regions occurred over Southeast Asia, which caused specifically higher air pollutants' concentration at Hanoi, Vietnam in spring dry season.
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I. R. Burling; R. J. Yokelson; S. K. Akagi; T. J. Johnson; D. W. Griffith; Shawn Urbanski; J. W. Taylor; J. S. Craven; G. R. McMeeking; J. M. Roberts; C. Warneke; P. R. Veres; J. A. de Gouw; J. B. Gilman; W. C. Kuster; WeiMin Hao; D. Weise; H. Coe; J. Seinfeld
2010-01-01
We report preliminary results from a large, multi-component study focused on North American biomass burning that measured both initial emissions and post-emission processing. Vegetation types burned were from the relatively less-studied temperate region of the US and included chaparral, oak savanna, and mixed conifer forest from the southwestern US, and pine understory...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. Eckhardt
2007-08-01
Full Text Available Soils and forests in the boreal region of the Northern Hemisphere are recognised as having a large capacity for storing air-borne Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs, such as the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs. Following reductions of primary emissions of various legacy POPs, there is an increasing interest and debate about the relative importance of secondary re-emissions on the atmospheric levels of POPs. In spring of 2006, biomass burning emissions from agricultural fires in Eastern Europe were transported to the Zeppelin station on Svalbard, where record-high levels of many air pollutants were recorded (Stohl et al., 2007. Here we report on the extremely high concentrations of PCBs that were also measured during this period. 21 out of 32 PCB congeners were enhanced by more than two standard deviations above the long-term mean concentrations. In July 2004, about 5.8 million hectare of boreal forest burned in North America, emitting a pollution plume which reached the Zeppelin station after a travel time of 3–4 weeks (Stohl et al., 2006. Again, 12 PCB congeners were elevated above the long-term mean by more than two standard deviations, with the less chlorinated congeners being most strongly affected. We propose that these abnormally high concentrations were caused by biomass burning emissions. Based on enhancement ratios with carbon monoxide and known emissions factors for this species, we estimate that 130 and 66 μg PCBs were released per kilogram dry matter burned, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first study relating atmospheric PCB enhancements with biomass burning. The strong effects on observed concentrations far away from the sources, suggest that biomass burning is an important source of PCBs for the atmosphere.
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An emissions audit of a biomass combustor burning treated wood waste
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jackson, P.M.; Jones, H.H.; King, P.G.
1993-01-01
This report describes the Emissions Audit carried out on a Biomass Combustor burning treated wood waste at the premises of a furniture manufacturer. The Biomass Combustor was tested in two firing modes; continuous fire and modulating fire. Combustion chamber temperatures and gas residence times were not measured. Boiler efficiencies were very good at greater than 75% in both tests. However, analysis of the flue gases indicated that improved efficiencies are possible. The average concentrations of CO (512mgm -3 ) and THC (34mgm -3 ) for Test 1 were high, indicating that combustion was poor. The combustor clearly does not meet the requirements of the Guidance Note for the Combustion of Wood Waste. CO 2 and O 2 concentrations were quite variable showing that combustion conditions were fairly unstable. Improved control of combustion should lead to acceptable emission concentrations. (Author)
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Duarte, Márcio; Vicente, Estela; Calvo, Ana; Nunes, Teresa; Tarelho, Luis; Alves, Célia
2014-05-01
In the last years, the importance of biomass fuels has increased mainly for two reasons. One of them is the effort to control the emissions of greenhouse gases, and on the other hand, the increasing costs associated with fossil fuels. Besides that, biomass burning is now recognised as one of the major sources contributing to high concentrations of particulate matter, especially during winter time. Southern European countries have a lack of information regarding emission profiles from biomass burning. Because of that, in most source apportionment studies, the information used comes from northern and alpine countries, whose combustion appliances, fuels and habits are different from those in Mediterranean countries. Due to this lack of information, series of tests using different types of equipment, as well as fuels, were carried out in order to obtain emission profiles and emission factors that correspond to the reality in southern European countries. Tests involved three types of biomass appliances used in Portugal, a fireplace, a woodstove and a modern pellet stove. Emission factors (mg.kg-1 fuel, dry basis) for CO, THC and PM10 were obtained. CO emission factors ranged from 38, for pine on the woodstove, to 84 for eucalyptus in the fireplace. THC emissions were between 4 and 24, for pine in the woodstove and eucalyptus in the fireplace, respectively. PM10 emission factors were in the range from 3.99, for pine in the woodstove, to 17.3 for eucalyptus in the fireplace. On average, the emission factors obtained for the fireplace are 1.5 (CO) to 4 (THC) times higher than those of the woodstove. The fireplace has emission factors for CO, THC and PM10 10, 35 and 32 times, respectively, higher than the pellet stove.
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Smoke aerosol chemistry and aging of Siberian biomass burning emissions in a large aerosol chamber
Kalogridis, A.-C.; Popovicheva, O. B.; Engling, G.; Diapouli, E.; Kawamura, K.; Tachibana, E.; Ono, K.; Kozlov, V. S.; Eleftheriadis, K.
2018-07-01
Vegetation open fires constitute a significant source of particulate pollutants on a global scale and play an important role in both atmospheric chemistry and climate change. To better understand the emission and aging characteristics of smoke aerosols, we performed small-scale fire experiments using the Large Aerosol Chamber (LAC, 1800 m3) with a focus on biomass burning from Siberian boreal coniferous forests. A series of burn experiments were conducted with typical Siberian biomass (pine and debris), simulating separately different combustion conditions, namely, flaming, smoldering and mixed phase. Following smoke emission and dispersion in the combustion chamber, we investigated aging of aerosols under dark conditions. Here, we present experimental data on emission factors of total, elemental and organic carbon, as well as individual organic compounds, such as anhydrosugars, phenolic and dicarboxylic acids. We found that total carbon accounts for up to 80% of the fine mode (PM2.5) smoke aerosol. Higher PM2.5 emission factors were observed in the smoldering compared to flaming phase and in pine compared to debris smoldering phase. For low-temperature combustion, organic carbon (OC) contributed to more than 90% of total carbon, whereas elemental carbon (EC) dominated the aerosol composition in flaming burns with a 60-70% contribution to the total carbon mass. For all smoldering burns, levoglucosan (LG), a cellulose decomposition product, was the most abundant organic species (average LG/OC = 0.26 for pine smoldering), followed by its isomer mannosan or dehydroabietic acid (DA), an important constituent of conifer resin (DA/OC = 0.033). A levoglucosan-to-mannosan ratio of about 3 was observed, which is consistent with ratios reported for coniferous biomass and more generally softwood. The rates of aerosol removal for OC and individual organic compounds were investigated during aging in the chamber in terms of mass concentration loss rates over time under dark
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Worden, John R; Bloom, A Anthony; Pandey, Sudhanshu; Jiang, Zhe; Worden, Helen M; Walker, Thomas W; Houweling, Sander; Röckmann, Thomas
2017-12-20
Several viable but conflicting explanations have been proposed to explain the recent ~8 p.p.b. per year increase in atmospheric methane after 2006, equivalent to net emissions increase of ~25 Tg CH 4 per year. A concurrent increase in atmospheric ethane implicates a fossil source; a concurrent decrease in the heavy isotope content of methane points toward a biogenic source, while other studies propose a decrease in the chemical sink (OH). Here we show that biomass burning emissions of methane decreased by 3.7 (±1.4) Tg CH 4 per year from the 2001-2007 to the 2008-2014 time periods using satellite measurements of CO and CH 4 , nearly twice the decrease expected from prior estimates. After updating both the total and isotopic budgets for atmospheric methane with these revised biomass burning emissions (and assuming no change to the chemical sink), we find that fossil fuels contribute between 12-19 Tg CH 4 per year to the recent atmospheric methane increase, thus reconciling the isotopic- and ethane-based results.
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Is it time to tackle PM(2.5) air pollutions in China from biomass-burning emissions?
Zhang, Yan-Lin; Cao, Fang
2015-07-01
An increase in haze days has been observed in China over the past two decades due to the rapid industrialization, urbanization and energy consumptions. To address this server issue, Chinese central government has recently released the Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, which mainly focuses on regulation of indusial and transport-related emissions with major energy consumption from fossil fuels. This comprehensive and toughest plan is definitely a major step in the right direction aiming at beautiful and environmental-friendly China; however, based on recent source apportionment results, we suggest that strengthening regulation emissions from biomass-burning sources in both urban and rural areas is needed to meet a rigorous reduction target. Here, household biofuel and open biomass burning are highlighted, as impacts of these emissions can cause local and regional pollution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Levoglucosan, a tracer for cellulose in biomass burning and atmospheric particles
Simoneit, B. R. T.; Schauer, J. J.; Nolte, C. G.; Oros, D. R.; Elias, V. O.; Fraser, M. P.; Rogge, W. F.; Cass, G. R.
The major organic components of smoke particles from biomass burning are monosaccharide derivatives from the breakdown of cellulose, accompanied by generally lesser amounts of straight-chain, aliphatic and oxygenated compounds and terpenoids from vegetation waxes, resins/gums, and other biopolymers. Levoglucosan and the related degradation products from cellulose can be utilized as specific and general indicator compounds for the presence of emissions from biomass burning in samples of atmospheric fine particulate matter. This enables the potential tracking of such emissions on a global basis. There are other compounds (e.g. amyrones, friedelin, dehydroabietic acid, and thermal derivatives from terpenoids and from lignin—syringaldehyde, vanillin, syringic acid, vanillic acid), which are additional key indicators in smoke from burning of biomass specific to the type of biomass fuel. The monosaccharide derivatives (e.g. levoglucosan) are proposed as specific indicators for cellulose in biomass burning emissions. Levoglucosan is emitted at such high concentrations that it can be detected at considerable distances from the original combustion source.
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Recent Progress and Emerging Issues in Measuring and Modeling Biomass Burning Emissions
Yokelson, R. J.; Stockwell, C.; Veres, P. R.; Hatch, L. E.; Barsanti, K. C.; Simpson, I. J.; Blake, D. R.; Alvarado, M.; Kreidenweis, S. M.; Robinson, A. L.; Akagi, S. K.; McMeeking, G. R.; Stone, E.; Gilman, J.; Warneke, C.; Sedlacek, A. J.; Kleinman, L. I.
2013-12-01
Nine recent multi-PI campaigns (6 airborne, 3 laboratory) have quantified biomass burning emissions and the subsequent smoke evolution in unprecedented detail. Among these projects were the Fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME-4) and the DOE airborne campaign BBOP (Biomass Burning Observation Project). Between 2009 and 2013 a large selection of fuels and ecosystems were probed including: (1) 21 US prescribed fires in pine forests, chaparral, and shrublands; (2) numerous wildfires in the Pacific Northwest of the US; (3) 77 lab fires burning fuels collected from the sites of the prescribed fires; and (4) 158 lab fires burning authentic fuels in traditional cooking fires and advanced stoves; peat from Indonesia, Canada, and North Carolina; savanna grasses from Africa; temperate grasses from the US; crop waste from the US; rice straw from Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and California; temperate and boreal forest fuels collected in Montana and Alaska; chaparral fuels from California; trash; and tires. Instrumentation for gases included: FTIR, PTR-TOF-MS, 2D-GC and whole air sampling. Particle measurements included filter sampling (with IC, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and GC-MS) and numerous real-time measurements such as: HR-AMS (high-resolution aerosol MS), SP-AMS (soot particle AMS), SP2 (single particle soot photometer), SP-MS (single particle MS), ice nuclei, CCN (cloud condensation nuclei), water soluble OC, size distribution, and optical properties in the UV-VIS. New data include: emission factors for over 400 gases, black carbon (BC), brown carbon (BrC), organic aerosol (OA), ions, metals, EC, and OC; and details of particle morphology, mixing state, optical properties, size distributions, and cloud nucleating activity. Large concentrations (several ppm) of monoterpenes were present in fresh smoke. About 30-70% of the initially emitted gas-phase non-methane organic compounds were semivolatile and could not be identified with current technology
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Global biomass burning - Atmospheric, climatic, and biospheric implicati ons [Introduction
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zhu, Zhiliang; Teuber, K.B.
1991-01-01
On a global scale, the total biomass consumed by annual burning is about 8680 million tons of dry material; the estimated total biomass consumed by the burning of savanna grasslands, at 3690 million tons/year, exceeds all other biomass burning (BMB) components. These components encompass agricultural wastes burning, forest burning, and fuel wood burning. BMB is not restricted to the tropics, and is largely anthropogenic. Satellite measurements indicate significantly increased tropospheric concentrations of CO and ozone associated with BMB. BMB significantly enhances the microbial production and emission of NO(x) from soils, and of methane from wetlands
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Sensitivity of molecular marker-based CMB models to biomass burning source profiles
Sheesley, Rebecca J.; Schauer, James J.; Zheng, Mei; Wang, Bo
To assess the contribution of sources to fine particulate organic carbon (OC) at four sites in North Carolina, USA, a molecular marker chemical mass balance model (MM-CMB) was used to quantify seasonal contributions for 2 years. The biomass burning contribution at these sites was found to be 30-50% of the annual OC concentration. In order to provide a better understanding of the uncertainty in MM-CMB model results, a biomass burning profile sensitivity test was performed on the 18 seasonal composites. The results using reconstructed emission profiles based on published profiles compared well, while model results using a single source test profile resulted in biomass burning contributions that were more variable. The biomass burning contribution calculated using an average regional profile of fireplace emissions from five southeastern tree species also compared well with an average profile of open burning of pine-dominated forest from Georgia. The standard deviation of the results using different source profiles was a little over 30% of the annual average biomass contributions. Because the biomass burning contribution accounted for 30-50% of the OC at these sites, the choice of profile also impacted the motor vehicle source attribution due to the common emission of elemental carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The total mobile organic carbon contribution was less effected by the biomass burning profile than the relative contributions from gasoline and diesel engines.
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OH-initiated Aging of Biomass Burning Aerosol during FIREX
Lim, C. Y.; Hagan, D. H.; Cappa, C. D.; Kroll, J. H.; Coggon, M.; Koss, A.; Sekimoto, K.; De Gouw, J. A.; Warneke, C.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning emissions represent a major source of fine particulate matter to the atmosphere, and this source will likely become increasingly important in the future due to changes in the Earth's climate. Understanding the effects that increased fire emissions have on both air quality and climate requires understanding the composition of the particles emitted, since chemical and physical composition directly impact important particle properties such as absorptivity, toxicity, and cloud condensation nuclei activity. However, the composition of biomass burning particles in the atmosphere is dynamic, as the particles are subject to the condensation of low-volatility vapors and reaction with oxidants such as the hydroxyl radical (OH) during transport. Here we present a series of laboratory chamber experiments on the OH-initiated aging of biomass burning aerosol performed at the Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, MT as part of the Fire Influences on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX) campaign. We describe the evolution of biomass burning aerosol produced from a variety of fuels operating the chamber in both particle-only and gas + particle mode, focusing on changes to the organic composition. In particle-only mode, gas-phase biomass burning emissions are removed before oxidation to focus on heterogeneous oxidation, while gas + particle mode includes both heterogeneous oxidation and condensation of oxidized volatile organic compounds onto the particles (secondary organic aerosol formation). Variability in fuels and burning conditions lead to differences in aerosol loading and secondary aerosol production, but in all cases aging results in a significant and rapid increases in the carbon oxidation state of the particles.
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Mercury (Hg) emissions from biomass burning (BB) are an important source of atmospheric Hg and a major factor driving the interannual variation of Hg concentrations in the troposphere. The greatest fraction of Hg from BB is released in the form of elemental Hg (Hg0(g)). However, ...
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Impact Assessment of Biomass Burning on Air Quality in Southeast and East Asia During BASE-ASIA
Huang, Kan; Fu, Joshua S.; Hsu, N. Christina; Gao, Yang; Dong, Xinyi; Tsay, Si-Chee; Lam, Yun Fat
2013-01-01
A synergy of numerical simulation, ground-based measurement and satellite observation was applied to evaluate the impact of biomass burning originating from Southeast Asia (SE Asia) within the framework of NASA's 2006 Biomass burning Aerosols in Southeast Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment (BASE-ASIA). Biomass burning emissions in the spring of 2006 peaked in MarcheApril when most intense biomass burning occurred in Myanmar, northern Thailand, Laos, and parts of Vietnam and Cambodia. Model performances were reasonably validated by comparing to both satellite and ground-based observations despite overestimation or underestimation occurring in specific regions due to high uncertainties of biomass burning emission. Chemical tracers of particulate K(+), OC concentrations, and OC/EC ratios showed distinct regional characteristics, suggesting biomass burning and local emission dominated the aerosol chemistry. CMAQ modeled aerosol chemical components were underestimated at most circumstances and the converted AOD values from CMAQ were biased low at about a factor of 2, probably due to the underestimation of biomass emissions. Scenario simulation indicated that the impact of biomass burning to the downwind regions spread over a large area via the Asian spring monsoon, which included Southern China, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait. Comparison of AERONET aerosol optical properties with simulation at multi-sites clearly demonstrated the biomass burning impact via longrange transport. In the source region, the contribution from biomass burning to AOD was estimated to be over 56%. While in the downwind regions, the contribution was still significant within the range of 26%-62%.
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Seasonal, interannual, and long-term variabilities in biomass burning activity over South Asia.
Bhardwaj, P; Naja, M; Kumar, R; Chandola, H C
2016-03-01
The seasonal, interannual, and long-term variations in biomass burning activity and related emissions are not well studied over South Asia. In this regard, active fire location retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the retrievals of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from MODIS Terra, and tropospheric column NO2 from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) are used to understand the effects of biomass burning on the tropospheric pollution loadings over South Asia during 2003-2013. Biomass burning emission estimates from Global Fire Emission Database (GFED) and Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) are also used to quantify uncertainties and regional discrepancies in the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and black carbon (BC) due to biomass burning in South Asia. In the Asian continent, the frequency of fire activity is highest over Southeast Asia, followed by South Asia and East Asia. The biomass burning activity in South Asia shows a distinct seasonal cycle that peaks during February-May with some differences among four (north, central, northeast, and south) regions in India. The annual biomass burning activity in north, central, and south regions shows an increasing tendency, particularly after 2008, while a decrease is seen in northeast region during 2003-2013. The increase in fire counts over the north and central regions contributes 24 % of the net enhancement in fire counts over South Asia. MODIS AOD and OMI tropospheric column NO2 retrievals are classified into high and low fire activity periods and show that biomass burning leads to significant enhancement in tropospheric pollution loading over both the cropland and forest regions. The enhancement is much higher (110-176 %) over the forest region compared to the cropland (34-62 %) region. Further efforts are required to understand the implications of biomass burning on the regional air quality and climate of South Asia.
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Emissions from burning of softwood pellets
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Olsson, Maria; Kjaellstrand, Jennica
2004-01-01
Softwood pellets from three different Swedish manufacturers were burnt in laboratory scale to determine compounds emitted. The emissions were sampled on Tenax cartridges and assessed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. No large differences in the emissions from pellets from different manufacturers were observed. The major primary semi-volatile compounds released during flaming burning were 2-methoxyphenols from lignin. The methoxyphenols are of interest due to their antioxidant effect, which may counteract health hazards of aromatic hydrocarbons. Glowing combustion released the carcinogenic benzene as the predominant aromatic compound. However, the benzene emissions were lower than from flaming burning. To relate the results from the laboratory burnings to emissions from pellet burners and pellet stoves, chimney emissions were determined for different burning equipments. The pellet burner emitted benzene as the major aromatic compound, whereas the stove and boiler emitted phenolic antioxidants together with benzene. As the demand for pellets increases, different biomass wastes will be considered as raw materials. Ecological aspects and pollution hazards indicate that wood pellets should be used primarily for residential heating, whereas controlled large-scale combustion should be preferred for pellets made of most other types of biomass waste. (Author)
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Engling, G.; He, J.; Betha, R.; Balasubramanian, R.
2014-08-01
Biomass burning activities commonly occur in Southeast Asia (SEA), and are particularly intense in Indonesia during the dry seasons. The effect of biomass smoke emissions on air quality in the city state of Singapore was investigated during a haze episode in October 2006. Substantially increased levels of airborne particulate matter (PM) and associated chemical species were observed during the haze period. Specifically, the enhancement in the concentration of molecular tracers for biomass combustion such as levoglucosan by as much as two orders of magnitude and the diagnostic ratios of individual organic compounds indicated that biomass burning emissions caused a regional smoke haze episode due to their long-range transport by prevailing winds. With the aid of air mass backward trajectories and chemical mass balance modeling, large-scale forest and peat fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan were identified as the sources of the smoke aerosol, exerting a significant impact on air quality in downwind areas, such as Singapore.
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Aerial sampling of emissions from biomass pile burns in ...
Emissions from burning piles of post-harvest timber slash in Grande Ronde, Oregon were sampled using an instrument platform lofted into the plume using a tether-controlled aerostat or balloon. Emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, particulate matter (PM2.5 µm), black carbon, ultraviolet absorbing PM, elemental/organic carbon, semi-volatile organics (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/dibenzofurans), filter-based metals, and volatile organics were sampled for determination of emission factors. The effect on emissions from covering or not covering piles with polyethylene sheets to prevent fuel wetting was determined. Results showed that the uncovered (“wet”) piles burned with lower combustion efficiency and higher emissions of volatile organic compounds. Results for other pollutants will also be discussed. This work determined the emissions from open burning of forest slash wood, with and without plastic sheeting. The foresters advocate the use of plastic to keep the slash wood dry and aid in the controlled combustion of the slash to reduce fuel loading. Concerns about the emissions from the burning plastic prompted this work which conducted an extensive characterization of dry, wet, and dry with plastic slash pile emissions.
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Top-down estimates of biomass burning emissions of black carbon in the western United States
Y. H. Mao; Q. B. Li; D. Chen; L. Zhang; W. -M. Hao; K.-N. Liou
2014-01-01
We estimate biomass burning and anthropogenic emissions of black carbon (BC) in the western US for May-October 2006 by inverting surface BC concentrations from the Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environment (IMPROVE) network using a global chemical transport model. We first use active fire counts from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS...
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CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Carter, WS
2008-10-01
Full Text Available inventory, trajectory analysis. 1. Introduction The Kruger National Park (KNP), situated on the border of South Africa and Mozambique was intensively studied for its emission contributions and effects on the atmosphere during both the SAFARI...-1992 and SAFARI-2000 campaigns. It is a region that is characterised by dry season biomass burning with more than 52% of its fires occurring throughout the winter months. As an initial step in this study, pyrogenic emissions from savanna...
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G. R. McMeeking; J. W. Taylor; A. P. Sullivan; M. J. Flynn; S. K. Akagi; C. M. Carrico; J. L. Collett; E. Fortner; T. B. Onasch; S. M. Kreidenweis; R. J. Yokelson; C. Hennigan; A. L. Robinson; H. Coe
2010-01-01
We present SP2 observations of BC mass, size distributions and mixing state in emissions from laboratory and field biomass fires in California, USA. Biomass burning is the primary global black carbon (BC) source, but understanding of the amount emitted and its physical properties at and following emission are limited. The single particle soot photometer (SP2) uses a...
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Biomass burning: A significant source of nutrients for Andean rainforests
Fabian, P. F.; Rollenbeck, R.; University Of Marburg, Germany
2010-12-01
Regular rain and fogwater sampling in the Podocarpus National Park,on the humid eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes,has been carried out since 2002.The samples,accumulated over about 1-week intervals,were analysed for pH,conductivity,and major ions (K+, Na+, NH4+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, SO4 2-, NO3-, PO4 3- ).Annual deposition rates of these ions which, due to poor acidic soils with low mineralization rates,constitute the dominant nutrient supply to the mountaineous rainforests, and major ion sources could be determined using back trajectories,along with satellite data. While most of the Na, Cl, and K as well as Ca and Mg input was found to originate from natural oceanic and desert dust sources,respectively (P.Fabian et al.,Adv.Geosci.22,85-94, 2009), NO3, NH4, and about 90% of SO4 (about 10 % is from active volcanoes) are almost entirely due to anthropogenic sources,most likely biomass burning. Industrial and transportation emissions and other pollutants,however,act in a similar way as the precursors produced by biomass burning.For quantifying the impacts of biomass burning vs. those of anthropogenic sources other than biomass burning we used recently established emission inventories,along with simplified model calculations on back trajectories.First results yielding significant contributions of biomass burning will be discussed.
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Arellano, Avelino F.; Kasibhatla, Prasad S.; Giglio, Louis; van der Werf, Guido R.; Randerson, James T.; Collatz, G. James
2006-05-01
We present an inverse-modeling analysis of CO emissions using column CO retrievals from the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument and a global chemical transport model (GEOS-CHEM). We first focus on the information content of MOPITT CO column retrievals in terms of constraining CO emissions associated with biomass burning and fossil fuel/biofuel use. Our analysis shows that seasonal variation of biomass-burning CO emissions in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia can be characterized using monthly mean MOPITT CO columns. For the fossil fuel/biofuel source category the derived monthly mean emission estimates are noisy even when the error statistics are accurately known, precluding a characterization of seasonal variations of regional CO emissions for this source category. The derived estimate of CO emissions from biomass burning in southern Africa during the June-July 2000 period is significantly higher than the prior estimate (prior, 34 Tg; posterior, 13 Tg). We also estimate that emissions are higher relative to the prior estimate in northern Africa during December 2000 to January 2001 and lower relative to the prior estimate in Central America and Oceania/Indonesia during April-May and September-October 2000, respectively. While these adjustments provide better agreement of the model with MOPITT CO column fields and with independent measurements of surface CO from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory at background sites in the Northern Hemisphere, some systematic differences between modeled and measured CO fields persist, including model overestimation of background surface CO in the Southern Hemisphere. Characterizing and accounting for underlying biases in the measurement model system are needed to improve the robustness of the top-down estimates.
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Yuan, B.; Krechmer, J. E.; Warneke, C.; Coggon, M.; Koss, A.; Lim, C. Y.; Selimovic, V.; Gilman, J.; Lerner, B. M.; Stark, H.; Kang, H.; Jimenez, J. L.; Yokelson, R. J.; Liggio, J.; Roberts, J. M.; Kroll, J. H.; De Gouw, J. A.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning can emit large amounts of many different organic compounds to the atmosphere. The emission strengths of these emitted organic compounds and their subsequent atmospheric chemistry are not well known. In this study, we deployed a time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer using iodide as reagent ions (Iodide ToF-CIMS) to measure direct emissions of organic compounds during the FIREX laboratory 2016 intensive in the USDA Fire Sciences Lab in Missoula, MT. An interpretation of the I- TOF-CIMS mass spectra from biomass burning emissions will be presented. The dependence of the emissions of selected organic compounds with fuel types, combustion efficiency and fuel chemical compositions will be discussed. The I- TOF-CIMS also measured aged biomass burning smoke from a small smog chamber and an oxidative flow reactor (OFR). The I- TOF-CIMS consistently observed much higher signals of highly oxygenated organic compounds in the aged biomass burning smoke than in fresh emissions, indicative of strong secondary formation of these organic compounds in biomass burning plumes.
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Petrenko, Mariya; Kahn, Ralph; Chin, Mian; Limbacher, James
2017-10-01
Simulations of biomass burning (BB) emissions in global chemistry and aerosol transport models depend on external inventories, which provide location and strength for BB aerosol sources. Our previous work shows that to first order, satellite snapshots of aerosol optical depth (AOD) near the emitted smoke plume can be used to constrain model-simulated AOD, and effectively, the smoke source strength. We now refine the satellite-snapshot method and investigate where applying simple multiplicative emission adjustment factors alone to the widely used Global Fire Emission Database version 3 emission inventory can achieve regional-scale consistency between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) AOD snapshots and the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model. The model and satellite AOD are compared globally, over a set of BB cases observed by the MODIS instrument during the 2004, and 2006-2008 biomass burning seasons. Regional discrepancies between the model and satellite are diverse around the globe yet quite consistent within most ecosystems. We refine our approach to address physically based limitations of our earlier work (1) by expanding the number of fire cases from 124 to almost 900, (2) by using scaled reanalysis-model simulations to fill missing AOD retrievals in the MODIS observations, (3) by distinguishing the BB components of the total aerosol load from background aerosol in the near-source regions, and (4) by including emissions from fires too small to be identified explicitly in the satellite observations. The small-fire emission adjustment shows the complimentary nature of correcting for source strength and adding geographically distinct missing sources. Our analysis indicates that the method works best for fire cases where the BB fraction of total AOD is high, primarily evergreen or deciduous forests. In heavily polluted or agricultural burning regions, where smoke and background AOD values tend to be comparable, this approach
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zhang Gan, E-mail: zhanggan@gig.ac.c [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Li Jun [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Li Xiangdong [Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon (Hong Kong); Xu Yue; Guo Lingli [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Tang Jianhui [Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003 (China); Lee, Celine S.L. [Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon (Hong Kong); Liu Xiang [State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Chen Yingjun [Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003 (China)
2010-11-15
Carbonaceous aerosols were studied at three background sites in south and southwest China. Hok Tsui in Hong Kong had the highest concentrations of carbonaceous aerosols (OC = 8.7 {+-} 4.5 {mu}g/m{sup 3}, EC = 2.5 {+-} 1.9 {mu}g/m{sup 3}) among the three sites, and Jianfeng Mountains in Hainan Island (OC = 5.8 {+-} 2.6 {mu}g/m{sup 3}, EC = 0.8 {+-} 0.4 {mu}g/m{sup 3}) and Tengchong mountain over the east edge of the Tibetan Plateau (OC = 4.8 {+-} 4.0 {mu}g/m{sup 3}, EC = 0.5 {+-} 0.4 {mu}g/m{sup 3}) showed similar concentration levels. Distinct seasonal patterns with higher concentrations during the winter, and lower concentrations during the summertime were observed, which may be caused by the changes of the regional emissions, and monsoon effects. The industrial and vehicular emissions in East, Southeast and South China, and the regional open biomass burning in the Indo-Myanmar region of Asia were probably the two major potential sources for carbonaceous matters in this region. - Anthropogenic emissions in China and open biomass burning in the Indo-Myanmar region were the two major potential sources for carbonaceous matters in South China region.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zhang Gan; Li Jun; Li Xiangdong; Xu Yue; Guo Lingli; Tang Jianhui; Lee, Celine S.L.; Liu Xiang; Chen Yingjun
2010-01-01
Carbonaceous aerosols were studied at three background sites in south and southwest China. Hok Tsui in Hong Kong had the highest concentrations of carbonaceous aerosols (OC = 8.7 ± 4.5 μg/m 3 , EC = 2.5 ± 1.9 μg/m 3 ) among the three sites, and Jianfeng Mountains in Hainan Island (OC = 5.8 ± 2.6 μg/m 3 , EC = 0.8 ± 0.4 μg/m 3 ) and Tengchong mountain over the east edge of the Tibetan Plateau (OC = 4.8 ± 4.0 μg/m 3 , EC = 0.5 ± 0.4 μg/m 3 ) showed similar concentration levels. Distinct seasonal patterns with higher concentrations during the winter, and lower concentrations during the summertime were observed, which may be caused by the changes of the regional emissions, and monsoon effects. The industrial and vehicular emissions in East, Southeast and South China, and the regional open biomass burning in the Indo-Myanmar region of Asia were probably the two major potential sources for carbonaceous matters in this region. - Anthropogenic emissions in China and open biomass burning in the Indo-Myanmar region were the two major potential sources for carbonaceous matters in South China region.
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Biomass fuel burning and its implications: Deforestation and greenhouse gases emissions in Pakistan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tahir, S.N.A.; Rafique, M.; Alaamer, A.S.
2010-01-01
Pakistan is facing problem of deforestation. Pakistan lost 14.7% of its forest habitat between 1990 and 2005 interval. This paper assesses the present forest wood consumption rate by 6000 brick kilns established in the country and its implications in terms of deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases. Information regarding consumption of forest wood by the brick kilns was collected during a manual survey of 180 brick kiln units conducted in eighteen provincial divisions of country. Considering annual emission contributions of three primary GHGs i.e., CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O, due to burning of forest wood in brick kiln units in Pakistan and using IPCC recommended GWP indices, the combined CO 2 -equivalent has been estimated to be 533019 t y -1 . - Consumption of forest wood in the brick industry poses the problem of deforestation in Pakistan in addition to release of GHGs in the environment owing to biomass burning.
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Aouizerats, B.; van der Werf, G. R.; Balasubramanian, R.; Betha, R.
2015-01-01
Smoke from biomass and peat burning has a notable impact on ambient air quality and climate in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. We modeled a large fire-induced haze episode in 2006 stemming mostly from Indonesia using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem). We focused on the evolution of the fire plume composition and its interaction with the urbanized area of the city state of Singapore, and on comparisons of modeled and measured aerosol and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations. Two simulations were run with WRF-Chem using the complex volatility basis set (VBS) scheme to reproduce primary and secondary aerosol evolution and concentration. The first simulation referred to as WRF-FIRE included anthropogenic, biogenic and biomass burning emissions from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED3) while the second simulation referred to as WRF-NOFIRE was run without emissions from biomass burning. To test model performance, we used three independent data sets for comparison including airborne measurements of particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM10) in Singapore, CO measurements in Sumatra, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) column observations from four satellite-based sensors. We found reasonable agreement between the model runs and both ground-based measurements of CO and PM10. The comparison with AOD was less favorable and indicated the model underestimated AOD, although the degree of mismatch varied between different satellite data sets. During our study period, forest and peat fires in Sumatra were the main cause of enhanced aerosol concentrations from regional transport over Singapore. Analysis of the biomass burning plume showed high concentrations of primary organic aerosols (POA) with values up to 600 μg m-3 over the fire locations. The concentration of POA remained quite stable within the plume between the main burning region and Singapore while the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentration
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Parrington, M.; Palmer, P. I.; Henze, D. K.; Tarasick, D. W.; Hyer, E. J.; Owen, R. C.; Helmig, D.; Clerbaux, C.; Bowman, K. W.; Deeter, M. N.; Barratt, E. M.; Coheur, P.-F.; Hurtmans, D.; Jiang, Z.; George, M.; Worden, J. R.
2012-02-01
We have analysed the sensitivity of the tropospheric ozone distribution over North America and the North Atlantic to boreal biomass burning emissions during the summer of 2010 using the GEOS-Chem 3-D global tropospheric chemical transport model and observations from in situ and satellite instruments. We show that the model ozone distribution is consistent with observations from the Pico Mountain Observatory in the Azores, ozonesondes across Canada, and the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Instrument (IASI) satellite instruments. Mean biases between the model and observed ozone mixing ratio in the free troposphere were less than 10 ppbv. We used the adjoint of GEOS-Chem to show the model ozone distribution in the free troposphere over Maritime Canada is largely sensitive to NOx emissions from biomass burning sources in Central Canada, lightning sources in the central US, and anthropogenic sources in the eastern US and south-eastern Canada. We also used the adjoint of GEOS-Chem to evaluate the Fire Locating And Monitoring of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) inventory through assimilation of CO observations from the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite instrument. The CO inversion showed that, on average, the FLAMBE emissions needed to be reduced to 89% of their original values, with scaling factors ranging from 12% to 102%, to fit the MOPITT observations in the boreal regions. Applying the CO scaling factors to all species emitted from boreal biomass burning sources led to a decrease of the model tropospheric distributions of CO, PAN, and NOx by as much as -20 ppbv, -50 pptv, and -20 pptv respectively. The modification of the biomass burning emission estimates reduced the model ozone distribution by approximately -3 ppbv (-8%) and on average improved the agreement of the model ozone distribution compared to the observations throughout the free troposphere, reducing the mean model bias from 5.5 to 4.0 ppbv
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Myhre, G.; Hoyle, C. R.; Berglen, T. F.; Johnson, B. T.; Haywood, J. M.
2008-12-01
The radiative forcing associated with biomass burning aerosols has been calculated over West Africa using a chemical transport model. The model simulations focus on the period of January˜February 2006 during the Dust and Biomass-burning Experiment (DABEX). All of the main aerosol components for this region are modeled including mineral dust, biomass burning (BB) aerosols, secondary organic carbon associated with BB emissions, and carbonaceous particles from the use of fossil fuel and biofuel. The optical properties of the BB aerosol are specified using aircraft data from DABEX. The modeled aerosol optical depth (AOD) is within 15-20% of data from the few available Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) measurement stations. However, the model predicts very high AOD over central Africa, which disagrees somewhat with satellite retrieved AOD from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR). This indicates that BB emissions may be too high in central Africa or that very high AOD may be incorrectly screened out of the satellite data. The aerosol single scattering albedo increases with wavelength in our model and in AERONET retrievals, which contrasts with results from a previous biomass burning aerosol campaign. The model gives a strong negative radiative forcing of the BB aerosols at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) in clear-sky conditions over most of the domain, except over the Saharan desert where surface albedos are high. The all-sky TOA radiative forcing is quite inhomogeneous with values varying from -10 to 10 W m-2. The regional mean TOA radiative forcing is close to zero for the all-sky calculation and around -1.5 W m-2 for the clear-sky calculation. Sensitivity simulations indicate a positive regional mean TOA radiative forcing of up to 3 W m-2.
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Xing, Xiaofan; Zhou, Ying; Lang, Jianlei; Chen, Dongsheng; Cheng, Shuiyuan; Han, Lihui; Huang, Dawei; Zhang, Yanyun
2018-06-01
Domestic biomass burning (DBB) influences both indoor and outdoor air quality due to the multiple pollutants released during incomplete and inefficient combustion. The emissions are not well quantified because of insufficient information, which were the key parameters related to fuel consumption estimation, such as province- and year-specific percentage of domestic straw burning (P straw ) and firewood consumption (Fc). In this study, we established the quantitative relationship between rural-related socioeconomic parameters (e.g., rural per-capita income and rural Engel's coefficient) and P straw /Fc. DBB emissions, including 12 crop straw types and firewood for 12 kinds of pollutants in China during the period 1995-2014, were estimated based on fuel-specific emission factors and detailed fuel consumption data. The results revealed that the national emissions generally increased initially and then decreased with the turning point around 2007-2008. Firewood burning was the major source of the NH 3 and BC emissions; straw burning contributed more to SO 2 , NMVOC, CO, OC, and CH 4 emissions; while the major contributor changed from firewood to domestic straw burning for NOx, PM 10 , PM 2.5 , CO 2 , and Hg emissions. The emission trends varied among the 31 provinces. The major agricultural regions of north-eastern, central, and south-western China were always characterized by high emissions. The spatial variation mainly occurred in the northeast and north China (increase), and central-south and coastal regions of China (decrease). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Pan, Xiaole; Kanaya, Yugo; Taketani, Fumikazu; Miyakawa, Takuma; Inomata, Satoshi; Komazaki, Yuichi; Tanimoto, Hiroshi; Wang, Zhe; Uno, Itsushi; Wang, Zifa
2017-11-01
The emission characteristics of refractory black carbon (rBC) from biomass burning are essential information for numerical simulations of regional pollution and climate effects. We conducted combustion experiments in the laboratory to investigate the emission ratio and mixing state of rBC from the burning of wheat straw and rapeseed plants, which are the main crops cultivated in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. A single particle soot photometer (SP2) was used to measure rBC-containing particles at high temporal resolution and with high accuracy. The combustion state of each burning case was indicated by the modified combustion efficiency (MCE), which is calculated using the integrated enhancement of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide concentrations relative to their background values. The mass size distribution of the rBC particles showed a lognormal shape with a mode mass equivalent diameter (MED) of 189 nm (ranging from 152 to 215 nm), assuming an rBC density of 1.8 g cm-3. rBC particles less than 80 nm in size (the lower detection limit of the SP2) accounted for ˜ 5 % of the total rBC mass, on average. The emission ratios, which are expressed as ΔrBC / ΔCO (Δ indicates the difference between the observed and background values), displayed a significant positive correlation with the MCE values and varied between 1.8 and 34 ng m-3 ppbv-1. Multi-peak fitting analysis of the delay time (Δt, or the time of occurrence of the scattering peak minus that of the incandescence peak) distribution showed that rBC-containing particles with rBC MED = 200 ± 10 nm displayed two peaks at Δt = 1.7 µs and Δt = 3.2 µs, which could be attributed to the contributions from both flaming and smoldering combustion in each burning case. Both the Δt values and the shell / core ratios of the rBC-containing particles clearly increased as the MCE decreased from 0.98 (smoldering-dominant combustion) to 0.86 (flaming-dominant combustion), implying the great importance of the
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Constraining Absorption of Organic Aerosol from Biomass Burning with Observations
Feng, Y.; Liu, X.
2014-12-01
Biomass burning emissions contribute to a large fraction of global organic aerosol (OA) emissions. In most models, radiative forcing of black carbon (BC) and OA from biomass burning offsets each other to give a small or close to zero total forcing, i.e., an estimate of 0 (-0.2 to +0.2) W m-2 by IPCC-AR5. Recent observational and modeling studies have shown the absorbing part of OA, referred to as "brown" carbon (BrC), to be a significant source of direct absorption of solar radiation thus positive forcing, in particular over regions dominated by biomass burning and biofuel emissions. Here we implement optical treatment for the BrC absorption in the CESM1/CAM5 model, and compare the calculated aerosol spectral absorption with ground-based AERONET and DOE/ARM observations. In this version of CAM5, biomass burning and biofuel OA are treated separately from fossil fuel OA with different imaginary refractive index. Because the absorption of BrC is highly variable and uncertain depending on source, aging, and mixing state, sensitivity studies of BrC refractive index parameterized by fuel type and ratio of BC to OA mass will be examined and the resulting uncertainty in the estimated forcing will be discussed. Preliminary results suggest the simulated wavelength dependence of aerosol absorption, as measured by the absorption Ångström exponent (AAE), increases from 0.9 for non-absorbing OA to 1.2 (or 1.0) for strongly (or moderately) absorbing BrC. The AAE calculated for the strongly absorbing BrC agrees with AERONET spectral observations at 440-870 nm over most regions but overpredicts for the open biomass burning-dominated South America and southern Africa, in which inclusion of moderately absorbing BrC exhibits better agreement.
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Biomass Burning: The Cycling of Gases and Particulates from the Biosphere to the Atmosphere
Levine, J. S.
2003-12-01
Biomass burning is both a process of geochemical cycling of gases and particulates from the biosphere to the atmosphere and a process of global change. In the preface to the book, One Earth, One Future: Our Changing Global Environment (National Academy of Sciences, 1990), Dr. Frank Press, the President of the National Academy of Sciences, writes: "Human activities are transforming the global environment, and these global changes have many faces: ozone depletion, tropical deforestation, acid deposition, and increased atmospheric concentrations of gases that trap heat and may warm the global climate."It is interesting to note that all four global change "faces" identified by Dr. Press have a common thread - they are all caused by biomass burning.Biomass burning or vegetation burning is the burning of living and dead vegetation and includes human-initiated burning and natural lightning-induced burning. The bulk of the world's biomass burning occurs in the tropics - in the tropical forests of South America and Southeast Asia and in the savannasof Africa and South America. The majority of the biomass burning, primarily in the tropics (perhaps as much as 90%), is believed to be human initiated for land clearing and land-use change. Natural fires triggered by atmospheric lightning only accounts for ˜10% of all fires (Andreae, 1991). As will be discussed, a significant amount of biomass burning occurs in the boreal forests of Russia, Canada, and Alaska.Biomass burning is a significant source of gases and particulates to the regional and global atmosphere (Crutzen et al., 1979; Seiler and Crutzen, 1980; Crutzen and Andreae, 1990; Levine et al., 1995). Its burning is truly a multidiscipline subject, encompassing the following areas: fire ecology, fire measurements, fire modeling, fire combustion, remote sensing, fire combustion gaseous and particulate emissions, the atmospheric transport of these emissions, and the chemical and climatic impacts of these emissions. Recently
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The 2014 National Emission Inventory for Rangeland Fires and Crop Residue Burning
Biomass burning has been identified as an important contributor to the degradation of air quality because of its impact on ozone and particulate matter. One component of the biomass burning inventory, crop residue burning, has been poorly characterized in the National Emissions I...
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Xie, Mingjie; Hays, Michael D; Holder, Amara L
2017-08-04
Light-absorbing organic carbon (OC), also termed brown carbon (BrC), from laboratory-based biomass burning (BB) has been studied intensively to understand the contribution of BB to radiative forcing. However, relatively few measurements have been conducted on field-based BB and even fewer measurements have examined BrC from anthropogenic combustion sources like motor vehicle emissions. In this work, the light absorption of methanol-extractable OC from prescribed and laboratory BB and gasoline vehicle emissions was examined using spectrophotometry. The light absorption of methanol extracts showed a strong wavelength dependence for both BB and gasoline vehicle emissions. The mass absorption coefficients at 365 nm (MAC 365 , m 2 g -1 C) - used as a measurement proxy for BrC - were significantly correlated (p burn conditions and fuel types may impact BB BrC characteristics. The average MAC 365 of gasoline vehicle emission samples is 0.62 ± 0.76 m 2 g -1 C, which is similar in magnitude to the BB samples (1.27 ± 0.76 m 2 g -1 C). These results suggest that in addition to BB, gasoline vehicle emissions may also be an important BrC source in urban areas.
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Emission of toxic air pollutants from biomass combustion
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Houck, J.E.; Barnett, S.G.; Roholt, R.B.; Rock, M.E.
1991-01-01
Combustion of biomass for power generation, home heating, process steam generation, and waste disposal constitutes a major source of air pollutants nationwide. Emissions from hog-fueled boilers, demolition wood-fired power plants, municipal waste incinerators, woodstoves, fireplaces, pellet stoves, agricultural burning, and forestry burning have been characterized for a variety of purposes. These have included risk assessment, permitting, emission inventory development, source profiling for receptor modeling, and control technology evaluations. From the results of the source characterization studies a compilation of emission factors for criteria and non-criteria pollutants are presented here. Key among these pollutants are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, priority pollutant metals, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and PM 10 particles. The emission factors from the biomass combustion processes are compared and contrasted with other pollutant sources. In addition, sampling and analysis procedures most appropriate for characterizing emissions from the biomass combustion sources are also discussed
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. Parrington
2012-02-01
Full Text Available We have analysed the sensitivity of the tropospheric ozone distribution over North America and the North Atlantic to boreal biomass burning emissions during the summer of 2010 using the GEOS-Chem 3-D global tropospheric chemical transport model and observations from in situ and satellite instruments. We show that the model ozone distribution is consistent with observations from the Pico Mountain Observatory in the Azores, ozonesondes across Canada, and the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Instrument (IASI satellite instruments. Mean biases between the model and observed ozone mixing ratio in the free troposphere were less than 10 ppbv. We used the adjoint of GEOS-Chem to show the model ozone distribution in the free troposphere over Maritime Canada is largely sensitive to NOx emissions from biomass burning sources in Central Canada, lightning sources in the central US, and anthropogenic sources in the eastern US and south-eastern Canada. We also used the adjoint of GEOS-Chem to evaluate the Fire Locating And Monitoring of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE inventory through assimilation of CO observations from the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT satellite instrument. The CO inversion showed that, on average, the FLAMBE emissions needed to be reduced to 89% of their original values, with scaling factors ranging from 12% to 102%, to fit the MOPITT observations in the boreal regions. Applying the CO scaling factors to all species emitted from boreal biomass burning sources led to a decrease of the model tropospheric distributions of CO, PAN, and NOx by as much as −20 ppbv, −50 pptv, and −20 pptv respectively. The modification of the biomass burning emission estimates reduced the model ozone distribution by approximately −3 ppbv (−8% and on average improved the agreement of the model ozone distribution compared to the observations throughout the free troposphere
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Emissions of organic air toxics from open burning: a comprehensive review
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lemieux, P M [United States Environmental Protection Agency, NC (United States). Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division, National Risk Management Research Laboratory; Lutes, C C; Santoianni, D A [ARCADIS G and M, Durham, NC (United States)
2004-07-01
Emissions from open burning, on a mass pollutant per mass fuel (emission factor) basis, are greater than those from well-controlled combustion sources. Some types of open burning (e.g. biomass) are large sources on a global scale in comparison to other broad classes of sources (e.g. mobile and industrial sources). A detailed literature search was performed to collect and collate available data reporting emissions of organic air toxics from open burning sources. The sources that were included in this paper are: Accidental Fires, Agricultural Burning of Crop Residue, Agricultural Plastic Film, Animal Carcasses, Automobile Shredder Fluff Fires, Camp Fires, Car-Boat-Train (the vehicle not cargo) Fires, Construction Debris Fires, Copper Wire Reclamation, Crude Oil and Oil Spill Fires, Electronics Waste, Fiberglass, Fireworks, Grain Silo Fires, Household Waste, Land Clearing Debris (biomass), Landfills/Dumps, Prescribed Burning and Savanna/Forest Fires, Structural Fires, Tire Fires, and Yard Waste Fires. Availability of data varied according to the source and the class of air toxics of interest. Volatile organic compound (VOC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) data were available for many of the sources. Non-PAH semi-volatile organic compound (SVOC) data were available for several sources. Carbonyl and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDD/F) data were available for only a few sources. There were several known sources for which no emissions data were available at all. It is desirable that emissions from those sources be tested so that the relative degree of hazard they pose can be assessed. Several observations were made including: Biomass open burning sources typically emitted less VOCs than open burning sources with anthropogenic fuels on a mass emitted per mass burned basis, particularly those where polymers were concerned. Biomass open burning sources typically emitted less SVOCs and PAHs than anthropogenic sources on a mass
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Impact of biomass burning on rainwater acidity and composition in Singapore
Balasubramanian, R.; Victor, T.; Begum, R.
1999-11-01
The Indonesian forest fires that took place from August through October 1997 released large amounts of gaseous and particulate pollutants into the atmosphere. The particulate emissions produced a plume that was easily visible by satellite and significantly affected regional air quality in Southeast Asia. This prolonged haze episode provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine the effects of biomass burning on regional atmospheric chemistry. We undertook a comprehensive field study to assess the influence of biomass burning impacted air masses on precipitation chemistry in Singapore. Major inorganic and organic ions were determined in 104 rain samples collected using an automated wet-only sampler from July through December 1997. Mean pH values ranged from 3.79 to 6.20 with a volume-weighted mean of 4.35. There was a substantially large number of rain events with elevated concentrations of these ions during the biomass burning period. The relatively high concentrations of SO2-4, NO-3, and NH+4 observed during the burning period are attributed to a long residence time of air masses, leading to progressive gas to particle conversion of biomass burning emission components. The decrease in pH of precipitation in response to the increased concentrations of acids is only marginal, which is ascribed to neutralization of acidity by NH3 and CaCO3.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
X. Pan
2017-11-01
Full Text Available The emission characteristics of refractory black carbon (rBC from biomass burning are essential information for numerical simulations of regional pollution and climate effects. We conducted combustion experiments in the laboratory to investigate the emission ratio and mixing state of rBC from the burning of wheat straw and rapeseed plants, which are the main crops cultivated in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. A single particle soot photometer (SP2 was used to measure rBC-containing particles at high temporal resolution and with high accuracy. The combustion state of each burning case was indicated by the modified combustion efficiency (MCE, which is calculated using the integrated enhancement of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide concentrations relative to their background values. The mass size distribution of the rBC particles showed a lognormal shape with a mode mass equivalent diameter (MED of 189 nm (ranging from 152 to 215 nm, assuming an rBC density of 1.8 g cm−3. rBC particles less than 80 nm in size (the lower detection limit of the SP2 accounted for ∼ 5 % of the total rBC mass, on average. The emission ratios, which are expressed as ΔrBC ∕ ΔCO (Δ indicates the difference between the observed and background values, displayed a significant positive correlation with the MCE values and varied between 1.8 and 34 ng m−3 ppbv−1. Multi-peak fitting analysis of the delay time (Δt, or the time of occurrence of the scattering peak minus that of the incandescence peak distribution showed that rBC-containing particles with rBC MED = 200 ± 10 nm displayed two peaks at Δt = 1.7 µs and Δt = 3.2 µs, which could be attributed to the contributions from both flaming and smoldering combustion in each burning case. Both the Δt values and the shell / core ratios of the rBC-containing particles clearly increased as the MCE decreased from 0.98 (smoldering
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C. J. Hennigan; M. A. Miracolo; G. J. Engelhart; A. A. May; A. A. Presto; T. Lee; A. P. Sullivan; G. R. McMeeking; H. Coe; C. E. Wold; W.-M. Hao; J. B. Gilman; W. C. Kuster; J. de Gouw; B. A. Schichtel; J. L. Collett; S. M. Kreidenweis; A. L. Robinson
2011-01-01
Smog chamber experiments were conducted to investigate the chemical and physical transformations of organic aerosol (OA) during photo-oxidation of open biomass burning emissions. The experiments were carried out at the US Forest Service Fire Science Laboratory as part of the third Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME III). We investigated emissions from 12 different...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vivienne H. Payne
2011-11-01
Full Text Available We use the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES aboard the NASA Aura satellite to determine the concentrations of the trace gases ammonia (NH3 and formic acid (HCOOH within boreal biomass burning plumes, and present the first detection of peroxy acetyl nitrate (PAN and ethylene (C2H4 by TES. We focus on two fresh Canadian plumes observed by TES in the summer of 2008 as part of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS-B campaign. We use TES retrievals of NH3 and HCOOH within the smoke plumes to calculate their emission ratios (1.0% ± 0.5% and 0.31% ± 0.21%, respectively relative to CO for these Canadian fires. The TES derived emission ratios for these gases agree well with previous aircraft and satellite estimates, and can complement ground-based studies that have greater surface sensitivity. We find that TES observes PAN mixing ratios of ~2 ppb within these mid-tropospheric boreal biomass burning plumes when the average cloud optical depth is low ( < 0.1 and that TES can detect C2H4 mixing ratios of ~2 ppb in fresh biomass burning smoke plumes.
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Trace gas emissions from burning Florida wetlands
Cofer, Wesley R., III; Levine, Joel S.; Lebel, Peter J.; Winstead, Edward L.; Koller, Albert M., Jr.; Hinkle, C. Ross
1990-01-01
Measurements of biomass burn-produced trace gases were obtained using a helicopter at low altitudes above burning Florida wetlands on November 9, 1987, and from both helicopter and light-aircraft samplings on November 7, 1988. Carbon dioxide normalized emission ratios for carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane, total nonmethane hydrocarbons, and nitrous oxide were obtained over burning graminoid wetlands consisting primarily of Spartina bakeri and Juncus roemerianus. Some interspersed scrub oak and saw palmetto were also burned. No significant differences were observed in the emission ratios determined for these gases from samples collected over flaming, mixed, and smoldering phases of combustion during the 1987 fire. Combustion-categorized differences in emission ratios were small for the 1988 fire. Combustion efficiency was relatively good (low emission ratios for reduced gases) for both fires. It is believed that the consistently low emission ratios were a unique result of graminoid wetlands fires, in which the grasses and rushes burned rapidly down to standing water and were quickly extinguished. Consequently, the efficiency of the combustion was good and the amount and duration of smoldering combustion was greatly deminished.
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Analyses of biomass burning contribution to aerosol in Zhengzhou during wheat harvest season in 2015
Chen, Hongyang; Yin, Shasha; Li, Xiao; Wang, Jia; Zhang, Ruiqin
2018-07-01
Ambient PM2.5 samples were collected in suburban area of Zhengzhou, China to investigate the impact of straw open burning on local aerosol during wheat harvest season in 2015. Secondary formation and accumulation processes were found under unfavorable meteorological conditions through the chemical composition analysis in PM2.5. And spatial and temporal variation of the agricultural activities were observed through MODIS fire spots data combined with back trajectory analysis. Results showed elevated levoglucosan was affected directly during biomass burning episodes and transportation periods. In order to estimate the contribution, levoglucosan/K+ combined with levoglucosan/mannosan were analyzed to identify biomass burning sources. And the results showed that levoglucosan were emitted from straw burning mixing with softwood combustion during the study period, emphasizing that wood combustion for households was non-negligible which consists part of the levoglucosan background in Zhengzhou aerosol. Based on emission factors (levoglucosan/OC or levoglucosan/PM2.5) summarized by laboratory simulation experiments, the study period was divided into 7 depending on the former characteristics to estimate the contribution of biomass burning to aerosol, and the average contributions of biomass burning emission to OC and PM2.5 were 46% and 13% relatively, indicating biomass burning have a significant impact on ambient aerosol levels during harvest season.
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Global biomass burning. Atmospheric, climatic, and biospheric implications
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Levine, J.S.
1991-01-01
Biomass burning is a significant source of atmospheric gases and, as such, may contribute to global climate changes. Biomass burning includes burning forests and savanna grasslands for land clearing, burning agricultural stubble and waste after harvesting, and burning biomass fuels. The chapters in this volume include the following topics: remote sensing of biomass burning from space;geographical distribution of burning; combustion products of burning in tropical, temperate and boreal ecosystems; burning as a global source of atmospheric gases and particulates; impacts of biomass burning gases and particulates on global climate; and the role of biomass burning on biodiversity and past global extinctions. A total of 1428 references are cited for the 63 chapters. Individual chapters are indexed separately for the data bases
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Top-down Estimates of Biomass Burning Emissions of Black Carbon in the Western United States
Mao, Y.; Li, Q.; Randerson, J. T.; CHEN, D.; Zhang, L.; Liou, K.
2012-12-01
We apply a Bayesian linear inversion to derive top-down estimates of biomass burning emissions of black carbon (BC) in the western United States (WUS) for May-November 2006 by inverting surface BC concentrations from the IMPROVE network using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model. Model simulations are conducted at both 2°×2.5° (globally) and 0.5°×0.667° (nested over North America) horizontal resolutions. We first improve the spatial distributions and seasonal and interannual variations of the BC emissions from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFEDv2) using MODIS 8-day active fire counts from 2005-2007. The GFEDv2 emissions in N. America are adjusted for three zones: boreal N. America, temperate N. America, and Mexico plus Central America. The resulting emissions are then used as a priori for the inversion. The a posteriori emissions are 2-5 times higher than the a priori in California and the Rockies. Model surface BC concentrations using the a posteriori estimate provide better agreement with IMPROVE observations (~50% increase in the Taylor skill score), including improved ability to capture the observed variability especially during June-September. However, model surface BC concentrations are still biased low by ~30%. Comparisons with the Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) are included.
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Global biomass burning: Atmospheric, climatic, and biospheric implications
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Levine, J.S.
1991-01-01
As a significant source of atmospheric gases, biomass burning must be addressed as a major environmental problem. Biomass burning includes burning forests and savanna grasslands for land clearing and conversion, burning agricultural stubble and waste after harvesting, and burning biomass fuels. The editor discusses the history of biomass burning and provides an overview of the individual chapters
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Pavlovic, Radenko; Chen, Jack; Anderson, Kerry; Moran, Michael D.; Beaulieu, Paul-Andr?; Davignon, Didier; Cousineau, Sophie
2016-01-01
ABSTRACT Environment and Climate Change Canada?s FireWork air quality (AQ) forecast system for North America with near-real-time biomass burning emissions has been running experimentally during the Canadian wildfire season since 2013. The system runs twice per day with model initializations at 00 UTC and 12 UTC, and produces numerical AQ forecast guidance with 48-hr lead time. In this work we describe the FireWork system, which incorporates near-real-time biomass burning emissions based on th...
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A large impact of tropical biomass burning on CO and CO{sub 2} in the upper troposphere
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hidekazu Matsueda; Shoichi Taguchi; Hisayuki Y; Inoue & Masao Ishii [Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba-shi (Japan). Geochemical Research Department
2002-07-01
A large interannual variation of biomass burning emissions from Southeast Asia is associated with the ENSO events. During 1997/98 and 1994 El Nino years, uncontrolled wildfires of tropical rainforests and peat lands in Indonesia were enlarged due to a long drought. Enhanced CO injection into the upper troposphere from the intense Indonesian fires was clearly observed in the 8-year measurements from a regular flask sampling over the western Pacific using a JAL airliner between Australia and Japan. This airliner observation also revealed that upper tropospheric CO{sub 2} cycle largely changed during the 1997 El Nio year due partly to the biomass burning emissions. Widespread pollution from the biomass burnings in Southeast Asia was simulated using a CO tracer driven by a 3D global chemical transport model. This simulation indicates that tropical deep convections connected to rapid advection by the subtropical jet play a significant role in dispersing biomass-burning emissions from Southeast Asia on a global scale.
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Local biomass burning is a dominant cause of the observed precipitation reduction in southern Africa
Hodnebrog, Øivind; Myhre, Gunnar; Forster, Piers M.; Sillmann, Jana; Samset, Bjørn H.
2016-01-01
Observations indicate a precipitation decline over large parts of southern Africa since the 1950s. Concurrently, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols have increased due to anthropogenic activities. Here we show that local black carbon and organic carbon aerosol emissions from biomass burning activities are a main cause of the observed decline in southern African dry season precipitation over the last century. Near the main biomass burning regions, global and regional modelling indicates precipitation decreases of 20–30%, with large spatial variability. Increasing global CO2 concentrations further contribute to precipitation reductions, somewhat less in magnitude but covering a larger area. Whereas precipitation changes from increased CO2 are driven by large-scale circulation changes, the increase in biomass burning aerosols causes local drying of the atmosphere. This study illustrates that reducing local biomass burning aerosol emissions may be a useful way to mitigate reduced rainfall in the region. PMID:27068129
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Reijnders, L.
2009-01-01
Forestation and landfilling purpose-grown biomass are not adequate offsets for the CO 2 emission from burning fossil fuels. Their permanence is insufficiently guaranteed and landfilling purpose-grown biomass may even be counterproductive. As to permanence, bio-char may do better than forests or landfilled biomass, but there are major uncertainties about net greenhouse gas emissions linked to the bio-char life cycle, which necessitate suspension of judgement about the adequacy of bio-char addition to soils as an offset for CO 2 emissions from burning fossil fuels.
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Health impacts of anthropogenic biomass burning in the developed world.
Sigsgaard, Torben; Forsberg, Bertil; Annesi-Maesano, Isabella; Blomberg, Anders; Bølling, Anette; Boman, Christoffer; Bønløkke, Jakob; Brauer, Michael; Bruce, Nigel; Héroux, Marie-Eve; Hirvonen, Maija-Riitta; Kelly, Frank; Künzli, Nino; Lundbäck, Bo; Moshammer, Hanns; Noonan, Curtis; Pagels, Joachim; Sallsten, Gerd; Sculier, Jean-Paul; Brunekreef, Bert
2015-12-01
Climate change policies have stimulated a shift towards renewable energy sources such as biomass. The economic crisis of 2008 has also increased the practice of household biomass burning as it is often cheaper than using oil, gas or electricity for heating. As a result, household biomass combustion is becoming an important source of air pollutants in the European Union.This position paper discusses the contribution of biomass combustion to pollution levels in Europe, and the emerging evidence on the adverse health effects of biomass combustion products.Epidemiological studies in the developed world have documented associations between indoor and outdoor exposure to biomass combustion products and a range of adverse health effects. A conservative estimate of the current contribution of biomass smoke to premature mortality in Europe amounts to at least 40 000 deaths per year.We conclude that emissions from current biomass combustion products negatively affect respiratory and, possibly, cardiovascular health in Europe. Biomass combustion emissions, in contrast to emissions from most other sources of air pollution, are increasing. More needs to be done to further document the health effects of biomass combustion in Europe, and to reduce emissions of harmful biomass combustion products to protect public health. Copyright ©ERS 2015.
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Lee, H. H.; Iraqui, O.; Gu, Y.; Yim, S. H. L.; Wang, C.
2017-12-01
Severe haze events in Southeast Asia have attracted the attention of governments and the general public in recent years, due to their impact on local economies, air quality and public health. Widespread biomass burning activities are a major source of severe haze events in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, particulate pollutants from human activities other than biomass burning also play an important role in degrading air quality in Southeast Asia. These pollutants can be locally produced or brought in from neighboring regions by long-range transport. A better understanding of the respective contributions of fossil fuel and biomass burning aerosols to air quality degradation becomes an urgent task in forming effective air pollution mitigation policies in Southeast Asia. In this study, to examine and quantify the contributions of fossil fuel and biomass burning aerosols to air quality and visibility degradation over Southeast Asia, we conducted three numerical simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a chemistry component (WRF-Chem). These simulations were driven by different aerosol emissions from: (a) fossil fuel burning only, (b) biomass burning only, and (c) both fossil fuel and biomass burning. By comparing the simulation results, we examined the corresponding impacts of fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions, separately and combined, on the air quality and visibility of the region. The results also showed that the major contributors to low visibility days (LVDs) among 50 ASEAN cities are fossil fuel burning aerosols (59%), while biomass burning aerosols provided an additional 13% of LVDs in Southeast Asia. In addition, the number of premature mortalities among ASEAN cities has increased from 4110 in 2002 to 6540 in 2008, caused primarily by fossil fuel burning aerosols. This study suggests that reductions in both fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions are necessary to improve the air quality in Southeast Asia.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
C. Liousse
2010-10-01
Full Text Available African biomass burning emission inventories for gaseous and particulate species have been constructed at a resolution of 1 km by 1km with daily coverage for the 2000–2007 period. These inventories are higher than the GFED2 inventories, which are currently widely in use. Evaluation specifically focusing on combustion aerosol has been carried out with the ORISAM-TM4 global chemistry transport model which includes a detailed aerosol module. This paper compares modeled results with measurements of surface BC concentrations and scattering coefficients from the AMMA Enhanced Observations period, aerosol optical depths and single scattering albedo from AERONET sunphotometers, LIDAR vertical distributions of extinction coefficients as well as satellite data. Aerosol seasonal and interannual evolutions over the 2004–2007 period observed at regional scale and more specifically at the Djougou (Benin and Banizoumbou (Niger AMMA/IDAF sites are well reproduced by our global model, indicating that our biomass burning emission inventory appears reasonable.
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Shen, Guofeng; Wei, Siye; Zhang, Yanyan; Wang, Rong; Wang, Bin; Li, Wei; Shen, Huizhong; Huang, Ye; Chen, Yuanchen; Chen, Han; Wei, Wen; Tao, Shu
2012-12-01
Biomass pellets are undergoing fast deployment widely in the world, including China. To this stage, there were limited studies on the emissions of various organic pollutants from the burning of those pellets. In addition to parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, oxygenated PAHs (oPAHs) have been received increased concerns. In this study, emission factors of oPAHs (EFoPAHs) were measured for two types of pellets made from corn straw and pine wood, respectively. Two combustion modes with (mode II) and without (mode I) secondary side air supply in a modern pellet burner were investigated. For the purpose of comparison, EFoPAHs for raw fuels combusted in a traditional cooking stove were also measured. EFoPAHs were 348 ± 305 and 396 ± 387 μg kg-1 in the combustion mode II for pine wood and corn straw pellets, respectively. In mode I, measured EFoPAHs were 77.7 ± 49.4 and 189 ± 118 μg kg-1, respectively. EFs in mode II were higher (2-5 times) than those in mode I mainly due to the decreased combustion temperature under more excess air. Compared to EFoPAHs for raw corn straw and pine wood burned in a traditional cooking stove, total EFoPAHs for the pellets in mode I were significantly lower (p pellets burned in mode II was not statistically significant. Taking both the increased thermal efficiencies and decreased EFs into consideration, substantial reduction in oPAH emission can be expected if the biomass pellets can be extensively used by rural residents.
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Greg Jones; Dan Loeffler; Edward Butler; Woodam Chung; Susan Hummel
2010-01-01
The emissions from delivering and burning forest treatment residue biomass in a boiler for thermal energy were compared with onsite disposal by pile-burning and using fossil fuels for the equivalent energy. Using biomass for thermal energy reduced carbon dioxide emissions on average by 39 percent and particulate matter emissions by 89 percent for boilers with emission...
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Cao, Fang; Zhang, Shi-Chun; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Liu, Xiaoyan; Yang, Chi; Xu, Zufei; Fan, Meiyi; Zhang, Wenqi; Bao, Mengying; Chang, Yunhua; Song, Wenhuai; Liu, Shoudong; Lee, Xuhui; Li, Jun; Zhang, Gan; Zhang, Yan-Lin
2017-12-01
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were collected using a high-volume air sampler and pre-combusted quartz filters during May 2013 to January 2014 at a background rural site (47 ∘ 35 N, 133 ∘ 31 E) in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. A homologous series of dicarboxylic acids (C 2 -C 11 ) and related compounds (oxoacids, α-dicarbonyls and fatty acids) were analyzed by using a gas chromatography (GC) and GC-MS method employing a dibutyl ester derivatization technique. Intensively open biomass-burning (BB) episodes during the harvest season in fall were characterized by high mass concentrations of PM2.5, dicarboxylic acids and levoglucosan. During the BB period, mass concentrations of dicarboxylic acids and related compounds were increased by up to >20 times with different factors for different organic compounds (i.e., succinic (C 4 ) acid > oxalic (C 2 ) acid > malonic (C 3 ) acid). High concentrations were also found for their possible precursors such as glyoxylic acid (ωC 2 ), 4-oxobutanoic acid, pyruvic acid, glyoxal, and methylglyoxal as well as fatty acids. Levoglucosan showed strong correlations with carbonaceous aerosols (OC, EC, WSOC) and dicarboxylic acids although such good correlations were not observed during non-biomass-burning seasons. Our results clearly demonstrate biomass burning emissions are very important contributors to dicarboxylic acids and related compounds. The selected ratios (e.g., C 3 /C 4 , maleic acid/fumaric acid, C 2 /ωC 2 , and C 2 /levoglucosan) were used as tracers for secondary formation of organic aerosols and their aging process. Our results indicate that organic aerosols from biomass burning in this study are fresh without substantial aging or secondary production. The present chemical characteristics of organic compounds in biomass-burning emissions are very important for better understanding the impacts of biomass burning on the atmosphere aerosols. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Biomass burning in the tropics: Impact on atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Crutzen, P.J.; Andreae, M.O.
1990-01-01
Biomass burning is widespread, especially in the tropics. It serves to clear land for shifting cultivation, to convert forests to agricultural and pastoral lands, and to remove dry vegetation in order to promote agricultural productivity and the growth of higher yield grasses. Furthermore, much agricultural waste and fuel wood is being combusted, particularly in developing countries. Biomass containing 2 to 5 petagrams of carbon is burned annually (1 petagram = 10 15 grams), producing large amounts of trace gases and aerosol particles that play important roles in atmospheric chemistry and climate. Emissions of carbon monoxide and methane by biomass burning affect the oxidation efficiency of the atmosphere by reacting with hydroxyl radicals, and emissions of nitric oxide and hydrocarbons lead to high ozone concentrations in the tropics during the dry season. Large quantities of smoke particles are produced as well, and these can serve as cloud condensation nuclei. These particles may thus substantially influence cloud microphysical and optical properties, an effect that could have repercussions for the radiation budget and the hydrological cycle in the tropics. Widespread burning may also disturb biogeochemical cycles, especially that of nitrogen. About 50% of the nitrogen in the biomass fuel can be released as molecular nitrogen. This pyrodenitrification process causes a sizable loss of fixed nitrogen in tropical ecosystems, in the range of 10 to 20 teragrams per year (1 teragram = 10 12 grams)
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Zhang, Zhisheng; Gao, Jian; Zhang, Leiming; Wang, Han; Tao, Jun; Qiu, Xionghui; Chai, Fahe; Li, Yang; Wang, Shulan
2017-11-01
To evaluate the effectiveness of biomass burning control measures on PM2.5 reduction, day- and nighttime PM2.5 samples were collected at two urban sites in North China, one in Beijing (BJ) and the other in Shijiazhuang (SJZ), during the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Typical biomass burning aerosol tracers including levoglucosan (LG), Mannosan (MN), and water-soluble potassium (K+), together with other water-soluble ions and carbonaceous species were determined. The levels of biomass burning tracers dropped dramatically during the APEC period when open biomass burning activities were well controlled in North China, yet they increased sharply to even higher levels during the post-APEC period. Distinct linear regression relationships between LG and MN were found with lower LG/MN ratios from periods with much reduced open biomass burning activities. This was likely resulted from the reduced open crop residues burning and increased residential wood burning emissions, as was also supported by the simultaneous decrease in K+/LG ratio. The positive matrix factorization and air quality model simulation analyses suggested that PM2.5 concentration produced from biomass burning sources was reduced by 22% at BJ and 46% at SJZ during the APEC period compared to pre-APEC period, although they increased to higher levels after APEC mainly due to increased residential biomass burning emissions in winter heating season. Biomass burning was also found to be the most important contributor to carbonaceous species that might cause significant light extinction in this region. This study not only suggested implementing biomass burning controls measures were helpful to reduce PM2.5 in North China, but also pointed out both open crop residues burning and indoor biomass burning activities could make substantial contributions to PM2.5 and its major components in urban areas in North China.
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Trace gas emissions from burning Florida wetlands
Cofer, Wesley R.; Levine, Joel S.; Winstead, Edward L.; Lebel, Peter J.; Koller, Albert M.; Hinkle, C. Ross
1990-02-01
Measurements of biomass burn-produced trace gases are presented that were obtained using a helicopter at low altitudes above burning Florida wetlands on November 9, 1987, and from both helicopter and light-aircraft samplings on November 7, 1988. Carbon dioxide (CO2) normalized emission ratios (ΔX/ΔCO2; V/V; where X is trace gas) for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), methane (CH4), total nonmethane hydrocarbons (TNMHC), and nitrous oxide (N2O) were obtained over burning graminoid wetlands consisting primarily of Spartina bakeri and Juncus roemerianus. Some interspersed scrub oak (Quercus spp) and saw palmetto (Screnoa repens) were also burned. No significant differences were observed in the emission ratios determined for these gases from samples collected over flaming, mixed, and smoldering phases of combustion during the 1987 fire. Combustion-categorized differences in emission ratios were small for the 1988 fire. Combustion efficiency was relatively good (low emission ratios for reduced gases) for both fires. We believe that the consistently low emission ratios were a unique result of graminoid wetlands fires, in which the grasses and rushes (both small-size fuels) burned rapidly down to standing water and were quickly extinguished. Consequently, the efficiency of the combustion was good and the amount and duration of smoldering combustion was greatly diminished.
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Cao, F.; Zhang, Y.; Kawamura, K.
2015-12-01
To better characterize the sources of fine particulate matter (i.e. PM2.5) in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China, aerosol chemical composition such total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and inorganic ions were studied as well as stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of TC. Intensively open biomass burning episodes were identified from late September to early October by satellite fire and aerosol optical depth maps. During the biomass burning episodes, concentrations of PM2.5, OC, EC, and WSOC increased by a factor of 4-12 compared to non-biomass-burning periods. Non-sea-salt potassium is strongly correlated with PM2.5, OC, EC and WSOC, suggesting an important contribution of biomass burning emission. The enrichment in both the non-sea-salt potassium and chlorine is significantly larger than other inorganic species, indicating that biomass burning aerosols in Sanjiang Plain is mostly fresh and less aged. In addition, WSOC to OC ratio is relatively lower compared to that reported in biomass burning aerosols in tropical regions, supporting that biomass burning aerosols in Sanjiang Plain is mostly primary and secondary organic aerosols is not significant. A lower average δ13C value (-26.2‰) is found for the biomass-burning aerosols, suggesting a dominant contribution from combustion of C3 plants in the studied region.
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Biomass Burning: Major Uncertainties, Advances, and Opportunities
Yokelson, R. J.; Stockwell, C.; Veres, P. R.; Hatch, L. E.; Barsanti, K. C.; Liu, X.; Huey, L. G.; Ryerson, T. B.; Dibb, J. E.; Wisthaler, A.; Müller, M.; Alvarado, M. J.; Kreidenweis, S. M.; Robinson, A. L.; Toon, O. B.; Peischl, J.; Pollack, I. B.
2014-12-01
Domestic and open biomass burning are poorly-understood, major influences on Earth's atmosphere composed of countless individual fires that (along with their products) are difficult to quantify spatially and temporally. Each fire is a minimally-controlled complex phenomenon producing a diverse suite of gases and aerosols that experience many different atmospheric processing scenarios. New lab, airborne, and space-based observations along with model and algorithm development are significantly improving our knowledge of biomass burning. Several campaigns provided new detailed emissions profiles for previously undersampled fire types; including wildfires, cooking fires, peat fires, and agricultural burning; which may increase in importance with climate change and rising population. Multiple campaigns have better characterized black and brown carbon and used new instruments such as high resolution PTR-TOF-MS and 2D-GC/TOF-MS to improve quantification of semi-volatile precursors to aerosol and ozone. The aerosol evolution and formation of PAN and ozone, within hours after emission, have now been measured extensively. The NASA DC-8 sampled smoke before and after cloud-processing in two campaigns. The DC-8 performed continuous intensive sampling of a wildfire plume from the source in California to Canada probing multi-day aerosol and trace gas aging. Night-time plume chemistry has now been measured in detail. Fire inventories are being compared and improved, as is modeling of mass transfer between phases and sub-grid photochemistry for global models.
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Emission ratio and isotopic signatures of molecular hydrogen emissions from tropical biomass burning
Haumann, F.A.; Batenburg, A.M.; Pieterse, G.; Gerbig, C.; Krol, M.C.; Rockmann, T.
2013-01-01
In this study, we identify a biomass-burning signal in molecular hydrogen (H-2) over the Amazonian tropical rainforest. To quantify this signal, we measure the mixing ratios of H-2 and several other species as well as the H-2 isotopic composition in air samples that were collected in the BARCA
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
D. Stroppiana
2010-12-01
Full Text Available We compare five global inventories of monthly CO emissions named VGT, ATSR, MODIS, GFED3 and MOPITT based on remotely sensed active fires and/or burned area products for the year 2003. The objective is to highlight similarities and differences by focusing on the geographical and temporal distribution and on the emissions for three broad land cover classes (forest, savanna/grassland and agriculture. Globally, CO emissions for the year 2003 range between 365 Tg CO (GFED3 and 1422 Tg CO (VGT. Despite the large uncertainty in the total amounts, some common spatial patterns typical of biomass burning can be identified in the boreal forests of Siberia, in agricultural areas of Eastern Europe and Russia and in savanna ecosystems of South America, Africa and Australia. Regionally, the largest difference in terms of total amounts (CV > 100% and seasonality is observed at the northernmost latitudes, especially in North America and Siberia where VGT appears to overestimate the area affected by fires. On the contrary, Africa shows the best agreement both in terms of total annual amounts (CV = 31% and of seasonality despite some overestimation of emissions from forest and agriculture observed in the MODIS inventory. In Africa VGT provides the most reliable seasonality. Looking at the broad land cover types, the range of contribution to the global emissions of CO is 64–74%, 23–32% and 3–4% for forest, savanna/grassland and agriculture, respectively. These results suggest that there is still large uncertainty in global estimates of emissions and it increases if the comparison is carried by out taking into account the temporal (month and spatial (0.5° × 0.5° cell dimensions. Besides the area affected by fires, also vegetation characteristics and conditions at the time of burning should also be accurately parameterized since they can greatly influence the global estimates of CO emissions.
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Astronaut observations of global biomass burning
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wood, C.A.; Nelson, R.
1991-01-01
One of the most fundamental inputs for understanding and modeling possible effects of biomass burning is knowledge of the size of the area burned. Because the burns are often very large and occur on all continents (except Antarctica), observations from space are essential. Information is presented in this chapter on another method for monitoring biomass burning, including immediate and long-term effects. Examples of astronaut photography of burning during one year give a perspective of the widespread occurrence of burning and the variety of biological materials that are consumed. The growth of burning in the Amazon region is presented over 15 years using smoke as a proxy for actual burning. Possible climate effects of smoke palls are also discussed
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Regional biomass burning trends in India: Analysis of satellite fire data
Indian Academy of Sciences (India)
humans have dramatically influenced biomass burn- ing for agricultural needs ... implications for climatic change as a result of land- scape change ... Comprehensive modelling-based emission esti- mates of .... Cloud coverage could be also a ...
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An overview of particulate emissions from residential biomass combustion
Vicente, E. D.; Alves, C. A.
2018-01-01
Residential biomass burning has been pointed out as one of the largest sources of fine particles in the global troposphere with serious impacts on air quality, climate and human health. Quantitative estimations of the contribution of this source to the atmospheric particulate matter levels are hard to obtain, because emission factors vary greatly with wood type, combustion equipment and operating conditions. Updated information should improve not only regional and global biomass burning emission inventories, but also the input for atmospheric models. In this work, an extensive tabulation of particulate matter emission factors obtained worldwide is presented and critically evaluated. Existing quantifications and the suitability of specific organic markers to assign the input of residential biomass combustion to the ambient carbonaceous aerosol are also discussed. Based on these organic markers or other tracers, estimates of the contribution of this sector to observed particulate levels by receptor models for different regions around the world are compiled. Key areas requiring future research are highlighted and briefly discussed.
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Emission ratio and isotopic signatures of molecular hydrogen emissions from tropical biomass burning
Haumann, F.A.; Batenburg, A.M.; Pieterse, G.; Gerbig, C; Krol, M.C.; Röckmann, T.
2013-01-01
In this study, we identify a biomass-burning signal in molecular hydrogen (H2) over the Amazonian tropical rainforest. To quantify this signal, we measure the mixing ratios of H2 and several other species as well as the H2 isotopic composition in air samples that were collected in the BARCA (Balanço
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Shen, Guofeng; Wei, Siye; Zhang, Yanyan; Wang, Rong; Wang, Bin; Li, Wei; Shen, Huizhong; Huang, Ye; Chen, Yuanchen; Chen, Han; Wei, Wen; Tao, Shu
2012-12-01
Biomass pellets are undergoing fast deployment widely in the world, including China. To this stage, there were limited studies on the emissions of various organic pollutants from the burning of those pellets. In addition to parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, oxygenated PAHs (oPAHs) have been received increased concerns. In this study, emission factors of oPAHs (EF oPAHs ) were measured for two types of pellets made from corn straw and pine wood, respectively. Two combustion modes with (mode II) and without (mode I) secondary side air supply in a modern pellet burner were investigated. For the purpose of comparison, EF oPAHs for raw fuels combusted in a traditional cooking stove were also measured. EF oPAHs were 348±305 and 396±387 µg/kg in the combustion mode II for pine wood and corn straw pellets, respectively. In mode I, measured EF oPAHs were 77.7±49.4 and 189±118 µg/kg, respectively. EFs in mode II were higher (2-5 times) than those in mode I mainly due to the decreased combustion temperature under more excess air. Compared to EF oPAHs for raw corn straw and pine wood burned in a traditional cooking stove, total EF oPAHs for the pellets in mode I were significantly lower ( p < 0.05 ), likely due to increased combustion efficiencies and change in fuel properties. However, the difference between raw biomass fuels and the pellets burned in mode II was not statistically significant. Taking both the increased thermal efficiencies and decreased EFs into consideration, substantial reduction in oPAH emission can be expected if the biomass pellets can be extensively used by rural residents.
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Terrestrial cycling of (CO2)-C-13 by photosynthesis, respiration, and biomass burning in SiBCASA
Velde, van der I.R.; Miller, J.B.; Schaefer, K.; Werf, van der G.R.; Krol, M.C.; Peters, W.
2014-01-01
We present an enhanced version of the SiBCASA terrestrial biosphere model that is extended with (a) biomass burning emissions from the SiBCASA carbon pools using remotely sensed burned area from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED), (b) an isotopic discrimination scheme that calculates 13C
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
K. M. Sakamoto
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Biomass-burning aerosols have a significant effect on global and regional aerosol climate forcings. To model the magnitude of these effects accurately requires knowledge of the size distribution of the emitted and evolving aerosol particles. Current biomass-burning inventories do not include size distributions, and global and regional models generally assume a fixed size distribution from all biomass-burning emissions. However, biomass-burning size distributions evolve in the plume due to coagulation and net organic aerosol (OA evaporation or formation, and the plume processes occur on spacial scales smaller than global/regional-model grid boxes. The extent of this size-distribution evolution is dependent on a variety of factors relating to the emission source and atmospheric conditions. Therefore, accurately accounting for biomass-burning aerosol size in global models requires an effective aerosol size distribution that accounts for this sub-grid evolution and can be derived from available emission-inventory and meteorological parameters. In this paper, we perform a detailed investigation of the effects of coagulation on the aerosol size distribution in biomass-burning plumes. We compare the effect of coagulation to that of OA evaporation and formation. We develop coagulation-only parameterizations for effective biomass-burning size distributions using the SAM-TOMAS large-eddy simulation plume model. For the most-sophisticated parameterization, we use the Gaussian Emulation Machine for Sensitivity Analysis (GEM-SA to build a parameterization of the aged size distribution based on the SAM-TOMAS output and seven inputs: emission median dry diameter, emission distribution modal width, mass emissions flux, fire area, mean boundary-layer wind speed, plume mixing depth, and time/distance since emission. This parameterization was tested against an independent set of SAM-TOMAS simulations and yields R2 values of 0.83 and 0.89 for Dpm and modal width
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Sakamoto, Kimiko M.; Laing, James R.; Stevens, Robin G.; Jaffe, Daniel A.; Pierce, Jeffrey R.
2016-06-01
Biomass-burning aerosols have a significant effect on global and regional aerosol climate forcings. To model the magnitude of these effects accurately requires knowledge of the size distribution of the emitted and evolving aerosol particles. Current biomass-burning inventories do not include size distributions, and global and regional models generally assume a fixed size distribution from all biomass-burning emissions. However, biomass-burning size distributions evolve in the plume due to coagulation and net organic aerosol (OA) evaporation or formation, and the plume processes occur on spacial scales smaller than global/regional-model grid boxes. The extent of this size-distribution evolution is dependent on a variety of factors relating to the emission source and atmospheric conditions. Therefore, accurately accounting for biomass-burning aerosol size in global models requires an effective aerosol size distribution that accounts for this sub-grid evolution and can be derived from available emission-inventory and meteorological parameters. In this paper, we perform a detailed investigation of the effects of coagulation on the aerosol size distribution in biomass-burning plumes. We compare the effect of coagulation to that of OA evaporation and formation. We develop coagulation-only parameterizations for effective biomass-burning size distributions using the SAM-TOMAS large-eddy simulation plume model. For the most-sophisticated parameterization, we use the Gaussian Emulation Machine for Sensitivity Analysis (GEM-SA) to build a parameterization of the aged size distribution based on the SAM-TOMAS output and seven inputs: emission median dry diameter, emission distribution modal width, mass emissions flux, fire area, mean boundary-layer wind speed, plume mixing depth, and time/distance since emission. This parameterization was tested against an independent set of SAM-TOMAS simulations and yields R2 values of 0.83 and 0.89 for Dpm and modal width, respectively. The
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M. D. Mallet; M. J. Desservettaz; B. Miljevic; A. Milic; Z. D. Ristovski; J. Alroe; L. T. Cravigan; E. R. Jayaratne; C. Paton-Walsh; D. W. T. Griffith; S. R. Wilson; G. Kettlewell; M. V. van der Schoot; P. Selleck; F. Reisen
2017-01-01
The SAFIRED (Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season) campaign took place from 29 May until 30 June 2014 at the Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research Station (ATARS) in the Northern Territory, Australia. The purpose of this campaign was to investigate emissions from fires in the early dry season in northern Australia. Measurements were made of biomass burning aerosols, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic carbons, greenhouse gases, radon, speciated atmospheric ...
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Not carbon neutral: Assessing the net emissions impact of residues burned for bioenergy
Booth, Mary S.
2018-03-01
Climate mitigation requires emissions to peak then decline within two decades, but many mitigation models include 100 EJ or more of bioenergy, ignoring emissions from biomass oxidation. Treatment of bioenergy as ‘low carbon’ or carbon neutral often assumes fuels are agricultural or forestry residues that will decompose and emit CO2 if not burned for energy. However, for ‘low carbon’ assumptions about residues to be reasonable, two conditions must be met: biomass must genuinely be material left over from some other process; and cumulative net emissions, the additional CO2 emitted by burning biomass compared to its alternative fate, must be low or negligible in a timeframe meaningful for climate mitigation. This study assesses biomass use and net emissions from the US bioenergy and wood pellet manufacturing sectors. It defines the ratio of cumulative net emissions to combustion, manufacturing and transport emissions as the net emissions impact (NEI), and evaluates the NEI at year 10 and beyond for a variety of scenarios. The analysis indicates the US industrial bioenergy sector mostly burns black liquor and has an NEI of 20% at year 10, while the NEI for plants burning forest residues ranges from 41%-95%. Wood pellets have a NEI of 55%-79% at year 10, with net CO2 emissions of 14-20 tonnes for every tonne of pellets; by year 40, the NEI is 26%-54%. Net emissions may be ten times higher at year 40 if whole trees are harvested for feedstock. Projected global pellet use would generate around 1% of world bioenergy with cumulative net emissions of 2 Gt of CO2 by 2050. Using the NEI to weight biogenic CO2 for inclusion in carbon trading programs and to qualify bioenergy for renewable energy subsidies would reduce emissions more effectively than the current assumption of carbon neutrality.
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Gilman, J. B.; Lerner, B. M.; Kuster, W. C.; Goldan, P. D.; Warneke, C.; Veres, P. R.; Roberts, J. M.; de Gouw, J. A.; Burling, I. R.; Yokelson, R. J.
2015-12-01
A comprehensive suite of instruments was used to quantify the emissions of over 200 organic gases, including methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and 9 inorganic gases from 56 laboratory burns of 18 different biomass fuel types common in the southeastern, southwestern, or northern US. A gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrument provided extensive chemical detail of discrete air samples collected during a laboratory burn and was complemented by real-time measurements of organic and inorganic species via an open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (OP-FTIR) instrument and three different chemical ionization-mass spectrometers. These measurements were conducted in February 2009 at the US Department of Agriculture's Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana and were used as the basis for a number of emission factors reported by Yokelson et al. (2013). The relative magnitude and composition of the gases emitted varied by individual fuel type and, more broadly, by the three geographic fuel regions being simulated. Discrete emission ratios relative to carbon monoxide (CO) were used to characterize the composition of gases emitted by mass; reactivity with the hydroxyl radical, OH; and potential secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors for the 3 different US fuel regions presented here. VOCs contributed less than 0.78 % ± 0.12 % of emissions by mole and less than 0.95 % × 0.07 % of emissions by mass (on average) due to the predominance of CO2, CO, CH4, and NOx emissions; however, VOCs contributed 70-90 (±16) % to OH reactivity and were the only measured gas-phase source of SOA precursors from combustion of biomass. Over 82 % of the VOC emissions by mole were unsaturated compounds including highly reactive alkenes and aromatics and photolabile oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) such as formaldehyde. OVOCs contributed 57-68 % of the VOC mass emitted, 41-54 % of VOC-OH reactivity, and aromatic-OVOCs such as benzenediols, phenols, and benzaldehyde
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Inter-annual changes of Biomass Burning and Desert Dust and their impact over East Asia
DONG, X.; Fu, J. S.; Huang, K.
2014-12-01
Impact of mineral dust and biomass burning aerosols on air quality has been well documented in the last few decades, but the knowledge about their interactions with anthropogenic emission and their impacts on regional climate is very limited (IPCC, 2007). While East Asia is greatly affected by dust storms in spring from Taklamakan and Gobi deserts (Huang et al., 2010; Li et al., 2012), it also suffers from significant biomass burning emission from Southeast Asia during the same season. Observations from both surface monitoring and satellite data indicated that mineral dust and biomass burning aerosols may approach to coastal area of East Asia simultaneously, thus have a very unique impact on the local atmospheric environment and regional climate. In this study, we first investigated the inter-annual variations of biomass burning and dust aerosols emission for 5 consecutive years from 2006-2010 to estimate the upper and lower limits and correlation with meteorology conditions, and then evaluate their impacts with a chemical transport system. Our preliminary results indicated that biomass burning has a strong correlation with precipitation over Southeast Asia, which could drive the emission varying from 542 Tg in 2008 to 945 Tg in 2010, according to FLAMBE emission inventory (Reid et al., 2009). Mineral dust also demonstrated a strong dependence on wind filed. These inter-annual/annual variations will also lead to different findings and impacts on air quality in East Asia. Reference: Huang, K., et al. (2010), Mixing of Asian dust with pollution aerosol and the transformation of aerosol components during the dust storm over China in spring 2007, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 115. IPCC (2007), Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, New York. Li, J., et al. (2012), Mixing of Asian mineral dust with anthropogenic pollutants over East Asia: a model case study of a super-duststorm in
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Aerial Sampling of Emissions from Biomass Pile Burns in Oregon
Emissions from burning piles of post-harvest timber slash in Grande Ronde, Oregon were sampled using an instrument platform lofted into the plume using a tether-controlled aerostat or balloon. Emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, particulate matter (PM2.5 µm), ...
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Methoxyphenols in smoke from biomass burning
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kjaellstrand, J
2000-07-01
Wood and other forest plant materials were burned in laboratory experiments with the ambition to simulate the natural burning course in a fireplace or a forest fire. Smoke samples were taken and analysed with respect to methoxyphenols, using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Different kinds of bio pellets, intended for residential heating were studied in the same way. The aim of a first study was to establish analytical data to facilitate further research. Thirty-six specific methoxyphenols were identified, and gas chromatographic retention and mass spectrometric data were determined for these. In a subsequent study, the methoxyphenol emissions from the burning of wood and other forest plant materials were investigated. Proportions and concentrations of specific methoxyphenols were determined. Methoxyphenols and anhydrosugars, formed from the decomposition of lignin and cellulose respectively, were the most prominent semi-volatile compounds in the biomass smoke. The methoxyphenol compositions reflected the lignin structures of different plant materials. Softwood smoke contained almost only 2-methoxyphenols, while hardwood smoke contained both 2-methoxyphenols and 2,6-dimethoxyphenols. The methoxyphenols in smoke from pellets, made of sawdust, bark and lignin, reflected the source of biomass. Although smoke from incompletely burned wood contains mainly methoxyphenols and anhydrosugars, there is also a smaller amount of well-known hazardous compounds present. The methoxyphenols are antioxidants. They appear mainly condensed on particles and are presumed to be inhaled together with other smoke components. As antioxidants, phenols interrupt free radical chain reactions and possibly counteract the effect of hazardous smoke components. Health hazards of small-scale wood burning should be re-evaluated considering antioxidant effects of the methoxyphenols.
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Intensified water storage loss by biomass burning in Kalimantan: Detection by GRACE
Han, Jiancheng; Tangdamrongsub, Natthachet; Hwang, Cheinway; Abidin, Hasanuddin Z.
2017-03-01
Biomass burning is the principal tool for land clearing and a primary driver of land use change in Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo island). Biomass burning here has consumed millions of hectares of peatland and swamp forests. It also degrades air quality in Southeast Asia, perturbs the global carbon cycle, threatens ecosystem health and biodiversity, and potentially affects the global water cycle. Here we present the optimal estimate of water storage changes over Kalimantan from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Over August 2002 to December 2014, our result shows a north-south dipole pattern in the long-term changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) and groundwater storage (GWS). Both TWS and GWS increase in the northern part of Kalimantan, while they decrease in the southern part where fire events are the most severe. The loss rates in TWS and GWS in the southern part are 0.56 ± 0.11 cm yr-1 and 0.55 ± 0.10 cm yr-1, respectively. We use GRACE estimates, burned area, carbon emissions, and hydroclimatic data to study the relationship between biomass burning and water storage losses. The analysis shows that extensive biomass burning results in excessive evapotranspiration, which then increases long-term water storage losses in the fire-prone region of Kalimantan. Our results show the potentials of GRACE and its follow-on missions in assisting water storage and fire managements in a region with extensive biomass burning such as Kalimantan.
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Spatial and temporal distribution of tropical biomass burning
Hao, Wei Min; Liu, Mei-Huey
1994-12-01
A database for the spatial and temporal distribution of the amount of biomass burned in tropical America, Africa, and Asia during the late 1970s is presented with a resolution of 5° latitude × 5° longitude. The sources of burning in each grid cell have been quantified. Savanna fires, shifting cultivation, deforestation, fuel wood use, and burning of agricultural residues contribute about 50, 24, 10, 11, and 5%, respectively, of total biomass burned in the tropics. Savanna fires dominate in tropical Africa, and forest fires dominate in tropical Asia. A similar amount of biomass is burned from forest and savanna fires in tropical America. The distribution of biomass burned monthly during the dry season has been derived for each grid cell using the seasonal cycles of surface ozone concentrations. Land use changes during the last decade could have a profound impact on the amount of biomass burned and the amount of trace gases and aerosol particles emitted.
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Shen, Guofeng; Tao, Shu; Wei, Siye; Zhang, Yanyan; Wang, Rong; Wang, Bin; Li, Wei; Shen, Huizhong; Huang, Ye; Chen, Yuanchen; Chen, Han; Yang, Yifeng; Wang, Wei; Wei, Wen; Wang, Xilong; Liu, Wenxing; Wang, Xuejun; Masse Simonich, Staci L y
2012-06-05
Biomass pellets are emerging as a cleaner alternative to traditional biomass fuels. The potential benefits of using biomass pellets include improving energy utilization efficiency and reducing emissions of air pollutants. To assess the environmental, climate, and health significance of replacing traditional fuels with biomass pellets, it is critical to measure the emission factors (EFs) of various pollutants from pellet burning. However, only a few field measurements have been conducted on the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the combustion of pellets. In this study, pine wood and corn straw pellets were burned in a pellet burner (2.6 kW), and the EFs of CO, organic carbon, elemental carbon, PM, and PAHs (EF(CO), EF(OC), EF(EC), EF(PM), and EF(PAH)) were determined. The average EF(CO), EF(OC), EF(EC), and EF(PM) were 1520 ± 1170, 8.68 ± 11.4, 11.2 ± 8.7, and 188 ± 87 mg/MJ for corn straw pellets and 266 ± 137, 5.74 ± 7.17, 2.02 ± 1.57, and 71.0 ± 54.0 mg/MJ for pine wood pellets, respectively. Total carbonaceous carbon constituted 8 to 14% of the PM mass emitted. The measured values of EF(PAH) for the two pellets were 1.02 ± 0.64 and 0.506 ± 0.360 mg/MJ, respectively. The secondary side air supply in the pellet burner did not change the EFs of most pollutants significantly (p > 0.05). The only exceptions were EF(OC) and EF(PM) for pine wood pellets because of reduced combustion temperatures with the increased air supply. In comparison with EFs for the raw pine wood and corn straw, EF(CO), EF(OC), EF(EC), and EF(PM) for pellets were significantly lower than those for raw fuels (p 0.05). Based on the measured EFs and thermal efficiencies, it was estimated that 95, 98, 98, 88, and 71% reductions in the total emissions of CO, OC, EC, PM, and PAHs could be achieved by replacing the raw biomass fuels combusted in traditional cooking stoves with pellets burned in modern pellet burners.
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Molecular Characterization of Brown Carbon in Biomass Burning Aerosol Particles
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lin, Peng; Aiona, Paige K.; Li, Ying; Shiraiwa, Manabu; Laskin, Julia; Nizkorodov, Sergey A.; Laskin, Alexander
2016-11-01
Emissions from biomass burning are a significant source of brown carbon (BrC) in the atmosphere. In this study, we investigate the molecular composition of freshly-emitted biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) samples collected during test burns of selected biomass fuels: sawgrass, peat, ponderosa pine, and black spruce. We characterize individual BrC chromophores present in these samples using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a photodiode array detector and a high-resolution mass spectrometer. We demonstrate that both the overall BrC absorption and the chemical composition of light-absorbing compounds depend significantly on the type of biomass fuels and burning conditions. Common BrC chromophores in the selected BBOA samples include nitro-aromatics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives, and polyphenols spanning a wide range of molecular weights, structures, and light absorption properties. A number of biofuel-specific BrC chromophores are observed, indicating that some of them may be used as potential markers of BrC originating from different biomass burning sources. On average, ~50% of the light absorption above 300 nm can be attributed to a limited number of strong BrC chromophores, which may serve as representative light-absorbing species for studying atmospheric processing of BrC aerosol. The absorption coefficients of BBOA are affected by solar photolysis. Specifically, under typical atmospheric conditions, the 300 nm absorbance decays with a half-life of 16 hours. A “molecular corridors” analysis of the BBOA volatility distribution suggests that many BrC compounds in the fresh BBOA have low volatility (<1 g m-1) and will be retained in the particle phase under atmospherically relevant conditions.
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The emissions from a space-heating biomass stove
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Koyuncu, T.; Pinar, Y.
2007-01-01
In this paper, the flue gas emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO X ), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and soot from an improved space-heating biomass stove and thermal efficiency of the stove have been investigated. Various biomass fuels such as firewood, wood shavings, hazelnut shell, walnut shell, peanut shell, seed shell of apricot (sweet and hot seed type), kernel removed corncob, wheat stalk litter (for cattle and sheep pen), cornhusk and maize stalk litter (for cattle pen) and charcoal were burned in the same space-heating biomass stove. Flue gas emissions were recorded during the combustion period at intervals of 5min. It was seen from the results that the flue gas emissions have different values depending on the characteristics of biomass fuels. Charcoal is the most appropriate biomass fuel for use in the space-heating biomass stoves because its combustion emits less smoke and the thermal efficiency of the stove is approximately 46%. (author)
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Characteristics of smoke emissions from biomass fires of the Amazon region--Base-A experiment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ward, D.E.; Setzer, A.W.; Kaufman, Y.J.; Rasmussen, R.A.
1991-01-01
An airborne sampling system was used to collect grab samples of smokes for analysis of both in-plume smoke characteristics and ambient air in Brazil. In addition to the emission measurements, the chemical composition of the forest biomass burned by one fire in the Amazon region of Brazil was compared to the fuel composition for biomass burned in North America. The limited data set suggests that combustion efficiencies for tropical biomass combustion are higher than those of temperature forest fuels, as are emission factors for carbon dioxide
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Biomass Burning Emissions of Black Carbon from African Sources
Aiken, A. C.; Leone, O.; Nitschke, K. L.; Dubey, M. K.; Carrico, C.; Springston, S. R.; Sedlacek, A. J., III; Watson, T. B.; Kuang, C.; Uin, J.; McMeeking, G. R.; DeMott, P. J.; Kreidenweis, S. M.; Robinson, A. L.; Yokelson, R. J.; Zuidema, P.
2016-12-01
Biomass burning (BB) emissions are a large source of carbon to the atmosphere via particles and gas phase species. Carbonaceous aerosols are emitted along with gas-phase carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be used to determine particulate emission ratios and modified combustion efficiencies. Black carbon (BC) aerosols are potentially underestimated in global models and are considered to be one of the most important global warming factors behind CO2. Half or more BC in the atmosphere is from BB, estimated at 6-9 Tg/yr (IPCC, 5AR) and contributing up to 0.6 W/m2 atmospheric warming (Bond et al., 2013). With a potential rise in drought and extreme events in the future due to climate change, these numbers are expected to increase. For this reason, we focus on BC and organic carbon aerosol species that are emitted from forest fires and compare their emission ratios, physical and optical properties to those from controlled laboratory studies of single-source BB fuels to understand BB carbonaceous aerosols in the atmosphere. We investigate BC in concentrated BB plumes as sampled from the new U.S. DOE ARM Program campaign, Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC). The ARM Aerosol Mobile Facility 1 (AMF1) and Mobile Aerosol Observing System (MAOS) are currently located on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, located midway between Angola and Brazil. The location was chosen for sampling maximum aerosol outflow from Africa. The far-field aged BC from LASIC is compared to BC from indoor generation from single-source fuels, e.g. African grass, sampled during Fire Lab At Missoula Experiments IV (FLAME-IV). BC is measured with a single-particle soot photometer (SP2) alongside numerous supporting instrumentation, e.g. particle counters, CO and CO2 detectors, aerosol scattering and absorption measurements, etc. FLAME-IV includes both direct emissions and well-mixed aerosol samples that have undergone dilution, cooling, and condensation. BC
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M. Parrington; P. I. Palmer; D. K. Henze; D. W. Tarasick; E. J. Hyer; R. C. Owen; D. Helmig; C. Clerbaux; K. W. Bowman; M. N. Deeter; E. M. Barratt; P.-F. Coheur; D. Hurtmans; M. George; J. R. Worden
2011-01-01
We analyse the tropospheric ozone distribution over North America and the North Atlantic to boreal biomass burning emissions during the summer of 2010 using the GEOS-Chem 3-D global tropospheric chemical transport model, and observations from in situ and satellite instruments. In comparison to observations from the PICO-NARE observatory in the Azores, ozonesondes across Canada, and the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Instrument (IASI) satellite instr...
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Health and cost impact of air pollution from biomass burning over the United States
Eslami, E.; Sadeghi, B.; Choi, Y.
2017-12-01
Effective assessment of health and cost effects of air pollution associated with wildfire events is critical for supporting sustainable management and policy analysis to reduce environmental damages. Since biomass burning events result in higher ozone, PM2.5, and NOx concentration values in urban regions due to long-range transport, preliminary results indicated that wildfire events cause a considerable increase in incident estimates and costs. This study aims to evaluate the health and cost impact of biomass burning events over the continental United States using combined air quality and health impact modeling. To meet this goal, a comprehensive air quality modeling scenarios containing biomass burning emissions were conducted using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system from 2011 to 2014 with a spatial resolution of 12 km. The modeling period includes fire seasons between April and October over the course of four years. By using modeled pollutants concentrations, the USEPA's GIS-based computer program Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition (BenMAP-CE) provides an inclusive figure of health and cost impact caused by changing gaseous and particulate air pollution due to fire events. The basis of BenMAP-CE is the use of a damage-function approach to estimate the health impact of an applied change in air quality by comparing a biomass burning scenario (the one that includes wildfire events) with a baseline scenario (without biomass emissions). This approach considers several factors containing population, exposure to the pollutants, adverse health effects of a particular pollutant, and economic costs. Hence, this study made it capable of showing how biomass burning across U.S. influences people's health in different months, seasons, and regions. Besides, the cost impact of the wildfire events during study periods has also been estimated at both national and regional levels. The results of this study demonstrate the
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Mallet, Marc D.; Desservettaz, Maximilien J.; Miljevic, Branka; Milic, Andelija; Ristovski, Zoran D.; Alroe, Joel; Cravigan, Luke T.; Jayaratne, E. Rohan; Paton-Walsh, Clare; Griffith, David W. T.; Wilson, Stephen R.; Kettlewell, Graham; Schoot, Marcel V.; Selleck, Paul; Reisen, Fabienne
2016-01-01
The SAFIRED (Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season) campaign took place from 29th of May, 2014 until the 30th June, 2014 at the Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research Station (ATARS) in the Northern Territory, Australia. The purpose of this campaign was to investigate emissions from fires in the early dry season in northern Australia. Measurements were made of biomass burning aerosols, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic carbons, greenhouse gases, radon, mercury cycle, and trac...
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Improving satellite retrievals of NO2 in biomass burning regions
Bousserez, N.; Martin, R. V.; Lamsal, L. N.; Mao, J.; Cohen, R. C.; Anderson, B. E.
2010-12-01
The quality of space-based nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrievals from solar backscatter depends on a priori knowledge of the NO2 profile shape as well as the effects of atmospheric scattering. These effects are characterized by the air mass factor (AMF) calculation. Calculation of the AMF combines a radiative transfer calculation together with a priori information about aerosols and about NO2 profiles (shape factors), which are usually taken from a chemical transport model. In this work we assess the impact of biomass burning emissions on the AMF using the LIDORT radiative transfer model and a GEOS-Chem simulation based on a daily fire emissions inventory (FLAMBE). We evaluate the GEOS-Chem aerosol optical properties and NO2 shape factors using in situ data from the ARCTAS summer 2008 (North America) and DABEX winter 2006 (western Africa) experiments. Sensitivity studies are conducted to assess the impact of biomass burning on the aerosols and the NO2 shape factors used in the AMF calculation. The mean aerosol correction over boreal fires is negligible (+3%), in contrast with a large reduction (-18%) over African savanna fires. The change in sign and magnitude over boreal forest and savanna fires appears to be driven by the shielding effects that arise from the greater biomass burning aerosol optical thickness (AOT) above the African biomass burning NO2. In agreement with previous work, the single scattering albedo (SSA) also affects the aerosol correction. We further investigated the effect of clouds on the aerosol correction. For a fixed AOT, the aerosol correction can increase from 20% to 50% when cloud fraction increases from 0 to 30%. Over both boreal and savanna fires, the greatest impact on the AMF is from the fire-induced change in the NO2 profile (shape factor correction), that decreases the AMF by 38% over the boreal fires and by 62% of the savanna fires. Combining the aerosol and shape factor corrections together results in small differences compared to the
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Santana, Victor M.; Alday, Josu G.; Lee, HyoHyeMi; Allen, Katherine A.; Marrs, Rob H.
2016-01-01
A present challenge in fire ecology is to optimize management techniques so that ecological services are maximized and C emissions minimized. Here, we modeled the effects of different prescribed-burning rotation intervals and wildfires on carbon emissions (present and future) in British moorlands. Biomass-accumulation curves from four Calluna-dominated ecosystems along a north-south gradient in Great Britain were calculated and used within a matrix-model based on Markov Chains to calculate above-ground biomass-loads and annual C emissions under different prescribed-burning rotation intervals. Additionally, we assessed the interaction of these parameters with a decreasing wildfire return intervals. We observed that litter accumulation patterns varied between sites. Northern sites (colder and wetter) accumulated lower amounts of litter with time than southern sites (hotter and drier). The accumulation patterns of the living vegetation dominated by Calluna were determined by site-specific conditions. The optimal prescribed-burning rotation interval for minimizing annual carbon emissions also differed between sites: the optimal rotation interval for northern sites was between 30 and 50 years, whereas for southern sites a hump-backed relationship was found with the optimal interval either between 8 to 10 years or between 30 to 50 years. Increasing wildfire frequency interacted with prescribed-burning rotation intervals by both increasing C emissions and modifying the optimum prescribed-burning interval for minimum C emission. This highlights the importance of studying site-specific biomass accumulation patterns with respect to environmental conditions for identifying suitable fire-rotation intervals to minimize C emissions. PMID:27880840
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Santana, Victor M; Alday, Josu G; Lee, HyoHyeMi; Allen, Katherine A; Marrs, Rob H
2016-01-01
A present challenge in fire ecology is to optimize management techniques so that ecological services are maximized and C emissions minimized. Here, we modeled the effects of different prescribed-burning rotation intervals and wildfires on carbon emissions (present and future) in British moorlands. Biomass-accumulation curves from four Calluna-dominated ecosystems along a north-south gradient in Great Britain were calculated and used within a matrix-model based on Markov Chains to calculate above-ground biomass-loads and annual C emissions under different prescribed-burning rotation intervals. Additionally, we assessed the interaction of these parameters with a decreasing wildfire return intervals. We observed that litter accumulation patterns varied between sites. Northern sites (colder and wetter) accumulated lower amounts of litter with time than southern sites (hotter and drier). The accumulation patterns of the living vegetation dominated by Calluna were determined by site-specific conditions. The optimal prescribed-burning rotation interval for minimizing annual carbon emissions also differed between sites: the optimal rotation interval for northern sites was between 30 and 50 years, whereas for southern sites a hump-backed relationship was found with the optimal interval either between 8 to 10 years or between 30 to 50 years. Increasing wildfire frequency interacted with prescribed-burning rotation intervals by both increasing C emissions and modifying the optimum prescribed-burning interval for minimum C emission. This highlights the importance of studying site-specific biomass accumulation patterns with respect to environmental conditions for identifying suitable fire-rotation intervals to minimize C emissions.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
C. J. Hennigan
2011-08-01
Full Text Available Smog chamber experiments were conducted to investigate the chemical and physical transformations of organic aerosol (OA during photo-oxidation of open biomass burning emissions. The experiments were carried out at the US Forest Service Fire Science Laboratory as part of the third Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME III. We investigated emissions from 12 different fuels commonly burned in North American wildfires. The experiments feature atmospheric and plume aerosol and oxidant concentrations; aging times ranged from 3 to 4.5 h. OA production, expressed as a mass enhancement ratio (ratio of OA to primary OA (POA mass, was highly variable. OA mass enhancement ratios ranged from 2.9 in experiments where secondary OA (SOA production nearly tripled the POA concentration to 0.7 in experiments where photo-oxidation resulted in a 30 % loss of the OA mass. The campaign-average OA mass enhancement ratio was 1.7 ± 0.7 (mean ± 1σ; therefore, on average, there was substantial SOA production. In every experiment, the OA was chemically transformed. Even in experiments with net loss of OA mass, the OA became increasingly oxygenated and less volatile with aging, indicating that photo-oxidation transformed the POA emissions. Levoglucosan concentrations were also substantially reduced with photo-oxidation. The transformations of POA were extensive; using levoglucosan as a tracer for POA, unreacted POA only contributed 17 % of the campaign-average OA mass after 3.5 h of exposure to typical atmospheric hydroxyl radical (OH levels. Heterogeneous reactions with OH could account for less than half of this transformation, implying that the coupled gas-particle partitioning and reaction of semi-volatile vapors is an important and potentially dominant mechanism for POA processing. Overall, the results illustrate that biomass burning emissions are subject to extensive chemical processing in the atmosphere, and the timescale for these transformations is rapid.
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Impacts of South East Biomass Burning on local air quality in South China Sea
Wai-man Yeung, Irene; Fat Lam, Yun; Eniolu Morakinyo, Tobi
2016-04-01
Biomass burning is a significant source of carbon monoxide and particulate matter, which is not only contribute to the local air pollution, but also regional air pollution. This study investigated the impacts of biomass burning emissions from Southeast Asia (SEA) as well as its contribution to the local air pollution in East and South China Sea, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Three years (2012 - 2014) of the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian-Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) with particles dispersion analyses using NCEP (Final) Operational Global Analysis data (FNL) data (2012 - 2014) were analyzed to track down all possible long-range transport from SEA with a sinking motion that worsened the surface air quality (tropospheric downwash from the free troposphere). The major sources of SEA biomass burning emissions were first identified using high fire emissions from the Global Fire Emission Database (GFED), followed by the HYSPLIT backward trajectory dispersion modeling analysis. The analyses were compared with the local observation data from Tai Mo Shan (1,000 msl) and Tap Mun (60 msl) in Hong Kong, as well as the data from Lulin mountain (2,600 msl) in Taiwan, to assess the possible impacts of SEA biomass burning on local air quality. The correlation between long-range transport events from the particles dispersion results and locally observed air quality data indicated that the background concentrations of ozone, PM2.5 and PM10 at the surface stations were enhanced by 12 μg/m3, 4 μg/m3 and 7 μg/m3, respectively, while the long-range transport contributed to enhancements of 4 μg/m3, 4 μg/m3 and 8 μg/m3 for O3, PM2.5 and PM10, respectively at the lower free atmosphere.
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CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Wooster, MJ
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Biomass burning emissions factors are vital to quantifying trace gases releases from vegetation fires. Here the authors evaluate emissions factors for a series of savannah fires in Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa using ground-based open...
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Domestic biomass combustion and associated atmospheric emissions in West Africa
Brocard, Delphine; Lacaux, Jean-Pierre; Eva, Hugh
1998-03-01
Biofuel is the main source of energy for cooking and heating in Africa. In order to estimate the consumption of this resource at a regional level, a database with a spatial resolution of 1° latitude by 1° longitude of the distribution of the amounts of fuel wood and charcoal annually burned in West Africa has been derived. Chemical emission factors for fuel wood, for charcoal burning, and for charcoal fabrication measured during two field experiments are then used in conjunction with this database to produce a second 1° latitude by 1° longitude database of the emissions due to domestic fires for the region. A comparison of these emissions from domestic fires with those of savanna fires, the dominant form of biomass burning in tropical Africa, shows that the relative contribution of the wood fuel (i.e. fuel wood and charcoal) combustion is important for CH4 (46%), CO (42%), and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) (44%), less so for CO2 (32%). This source of biomass burning has a different spatial and temporal distribution than that of savanna fires and represents an atmospheric background noise throughout the year, whereas the savanna fires occur during a limited season.
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Shi, Yusheng; Matsunaga, Tsuneo
2017-07-01
Biomass burning is a large important source of greenhouse gases and atmospheric aerosols, and can contribute greatly to the temporal variations of CO 2 emissions at regional and global scales. In this study, we compared four globally gridded CO 2 emission inventories from biomass burning during the period of 2002-2011, highlighting the similarities and differences in seasonality and interannual variability of the CO 2 emissions both at regional and global scales. The four datasets included Global Fire Emissions Database 4s with small fires (GFED4s), Global Fire Assimilation System 1.0 (GFAS1.0), Fire INventory from NCAR 1.0 (FINN1.0), and Global Inventory for Chemistry-Climate studies-GFED4s (G-G). The results showed that in general, the four inventories presented consistent temporal trend but with large differences as well. Globally, CO 2 emissions of GFED4s, GFAS1.0, and G-G all peaked in August with the exception in FINN1.0, which recorded another peak in annual March. The interannual trend of all datasets displayed an overall decrease in CO 2 emissions during 2002-2011, except for the inconsistent FINN1.0, which showed a tendency to increase during the considered period. Meanwhile, GFED4s and GFAS1.0 noted consistent agreement from 2002 to 2011 at both global (R 2 > 0.8) and continental levels (R 2 > 0.7). FINN1.0 was found to have the poorest temporal correlations with the other three inventories globally (R 2 80%) but showed small variations through the years (<40%).
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Space-based retrieval of NO2 over biomass burning regions: quantifying and reducing uncertainties
Bousserez, N.
2014-10-01
The accuracy of space-based nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrievals from solar backscatter radiances critically depends on a priori knowledge of the vertical profiles of NO2 and aerosol optical properties. This information is used to calculate an air mass factor (AMF), which accounts for atmospheric scattering and is used to convert the measured line-of-sight "slant" columns into vertical columns. In this study we investigate the impact of biomass burning emissions on the AMF in order to quantify NO2 retrieval errors in the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) products over these sources. Sensitivity analyses are conducted using the Linearized Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (LIDORT) model. The NO2 and aerosol profiles are obtained from a 3-D chemistry-transport model (GEOS-Chem), which uses the Fire Locating and Monitoring of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) daily biomass burning emission inventory. Aircraft in situ data collected during two field campaigns, the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) and the Dust and Biomass-burning Experiment (DABEX), are used to evaluate the modeled aerosol optical properties and NO2 profiles over Canadian boreal fires and West African savanna fires, respectively. Over both domains, the effect of biomass burning emissions on the AMF through the modified NO2 shape factor can be as high as -60%. A sensitivity analysis also revealed that the effect of aerosol and shape factor perturbations on the AMF is very sensitive to surface reflectance and clouds. As an illustration, the aerosol correction can range from -20 to +100% for different surface reflectances, while the shape factor correction varies from -70 to -20%. Although previous studies have shown that in clear-sky conditions the effect of aerosols on the AMF was in part implicitly accounted for by the modified cloud parameters, here it is suggested that when clouds are present above a surface layer of scattering aerosols, an explicit
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Amaral, Simone Simões; de Carvalho, João Andrade; Costa, Maria Angélica Martins; Soares Neto, Turíbio Gomes; Dellani, Rafael; Leite, Luiz Henrique Scavacini
2014-07-01
Two different types of typical Brazilian forest biomass were burned in the laboratory in order to compare their combustion characteristics and pollutant emissions. Approximately 2 kg of Amazon biomass (hardwood) and 2 kg of Araucaria biomass (softwood) were burned. Gaseous emissions of CO2, CO, and NOx and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) were evaluated in the flaming and smoldering combustion phases. Temperature, burn rate, modified combustion efficiency, emissions factor, and particle diameter and concentration were studied. A continuous analyzer was used to quantify gas concentrations. A DataRam4 and a Cascade Impactor were used to sample PM2.5. Araucaria biomass (softwood) had a lignin content of 34.9%, higher than the 23.3% of the Amazon biomass (hardwood). CO2 and CO emissions factors seem to be influenced by lignin content. Maximum concentrations of CO2, NOx and PM2.5 were observed in the flaming phase. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Gilman, J. B.; Lerner, B. M.; Kuster, W. C.; Goldan, P. D.; Warneke, C.; Veres, P. R.; Roberts, J. M.; de Gouw, J. A.; Burling, I. R.; Yokelson, R. J.
2015-08-01
A comprehensive suite of instruments was used to quantify the emissions of over 200 organic gases, including methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and 9 inorganic gases from 56 laboratory burns of 18 different biomass fuel types common in the southeastern, southwestern, or northern United States. A gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) provided extensive chemical detail of discrete air samples collected during a laboratory burn and was complemented by real-time measurements of organic and inorganic species via an open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (OP-FTIR) and 3 different chemical ionization-mass spectrometers. These measurements were conducted in February 2009 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The relative magnitude and composition of the gases emitted varied by individual fuel type and, more broadly, by the 3 geographic fuel regions being simulated. Emission ratios relative to carbon monoxide (CO) were used to characterize the composition of gases emitted by mass; reactivity with the hydroxyl radical, OH; and potential secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors for the 3 different US fuel regions presented here. VOCs contributed less than 0.78 ± 0.12 % of emissions by mole and less than 0.95 ± 0.07 % of emissions by mass (on average) due to the predominance of CO2, CO, CH4, and NOx emissions; however, VOCs contributed 70-90 (±16) % to OH reactivity and were the only measured gas-phase source of SOA precursors from combustion of biomass. Over 82 % of the VOC emissions by mole were unsaturated compounds including highly reactive alkenes and aromatics and photolabile oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) such as formaldehyde. OVOCs contributed 57-68 % of the VOC mass emitted, 42-57 % of VOC-OH reactivity, and aromatic-OVOCs such as benzenediols, phenols, and benzaldehyde were the dominant potential SOA precursors. In addition, ambient air measurements of emissions from the Fourmile Canyon Fire
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Lobo, Prem; Hagen, Donald E; Whitefield, Philip D
2011-12-15
Rising fuel costs, an increasing desire to enhance security of energy supply, and potential environmental benefits have driven research into alternative renewable fuels for commercial aviation applications. This paper reports the results of the first measurements of particulate matter (PM) emissions from a CFM56-7B commercial jet engine burning conventional and alternative biomass- and, Fischer-Tropsch (F-T)-based fuels. PM emissions reductions are observed with all fuels and blends when compared to the emissions from a reference conventional fuel, Jet A1, and are attributed to fuel properties associated with the fuels and blends studied. Although the alternative fuel candidates studied in this campaign offer the potential for large PM emissions reductions, with the exception of the 50% blend of F-T fuel, they do not meet current standards for aviation fuel and thus cannot be considered as certified replacement fuels. Over the ICAO Landing Takeoff Cycle, which is intended to simulate aircraft engine operations that affect local air quality, the overall PM number-based emissions for the 50% blend of F-T fuel were reduced by 34 ± 7%, and the mass-based emissions were reduced by 39 ± 7%.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
X. Wan
2017-07-01
Full Text Available To better understand the characteristics of biomass burning in the northern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP, total suspended particles were collected in a rural site, Lumbini, Nepal, during April 2013 to March 2014 and analyzed for the biomass burning tracers (i.e., levoglucosan, mannosan, vanillic acid. The annual average concentration of levoglucosan was 734 ± 1043 ng m−3 with the maximum seasonal mean concentration during post-monsoon season (2206 ± 1753 ng m−3, followed by winter (1161 ± 1347 ng m−3, pre-monsoon (771 ± 524 ng m−3 and minimum concentration during monsoon season (212 ± 279 ng m−3. The other biomass burning tracers (mannosan, galactosan, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid and dehydroabietic acid also showed the similar seasonal variations. There were good correlations among levoglucosan, organic carbon (OC and elemental carbon (EC, indicating significant impact of biomass burning activities on carbonaceous aerosol loading throughout the year in Lumbini area. According to the characteristic ratios, levoglucosan ∕ mannosan (lev ∕ man and syringic acid ∕ vanillic acid (syr ∕ van, we deduced that the high abundances of biomass burning products during non-monsoon seasons were mainly caused by the burning of crop residues and hardwood while the softwood had less contribution. Based on the diagnostic tracer ratio (i.e., lev ∕ OC, the OC derived from biomass burning constituted large fraction of total OC, especially during post-monsoon season. By analyzing the MODIS fire spot product and 5-day air-mass back trajectories, we further demonstrated that organic aerosol composition was not only related to the local agricultural activities and residential biomass usage but also impacted by the regional emissions. During the post-monsoon season, the emissions from rice residue burning in western India and eastern Pakistan could impact particulate
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Biomass burning contributions to urban PM2.5 along the coastal lines of southeastern China
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shui-Ping Wu
2016-11-01
Full Text Available Levoglucosan (LG, water soluble organic carbon (WSOC and potassium (K+, and the light absorption at 365 nm (Abs365 of the extracted WSOC are measured in PM2.5 samples collected from November 2011 to July 2013 at four coastal urban sites in southeast China (Fuzhou, Putian, Quanzhou and Xiamen. These species are markers of biomass burning and used to determine the contributions of biomass burning to the PM2.5 burden in these locations. LG and WSOC concentrations exhibited a clear seasonal pattern, with a large enhancement in winter and spring and a minimum in summer, and annual means across all sites of 59.2±46.8 ng m−3 and 2.69±1.21 µg C m−3, respectively. The distinctive seasonal patterns of LG and WSOC are more explained by the East Asian monsoon than the upwind varying emission sources according to the HYSPLIT backward trajectories and MODIS fire spots. Observations produced significant correlation (at the p<0.01 level between LG and non-sea salt K+ (nss-K+ at each site, but the correlations exhibited no clear seasonal trend. The LG/nss-K+ ratios ranged from 0.03±0.01 to 0.24±0.13 which lay within the limits for the crop residues and/or grass combustion smoke. Stronger correlations were found between WSOC or Abs365 and sulphate than between WSOC and LG. This observation is consistent with the fact that biomass burning is a less important contributor to WSOC and/or brown carbon than is secondary organic aerosol formation and oxidation. The average relative contributions of biomass burning to OC and WSOC in PM2.5 were 8.3 and 15.2 %, respectively, estimated by the measured LG to OC and WSOC (LG/OC and LG/WSOC ratios in comparison to literature-derived LG/OC and LG/WSOC values for biomass burning smoke. Using the reported conversion factor of LG to PM2.5 for crop straw burning smoke, the LG-estimated PM2.5 contributions from biomass burning exhibited minimum values in summer and higher values in winter and spring. Positive Matrix
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Aircraft measurement over the Gulf of Tonkin capturing aloft transport of biomass burning
Yang, Xiaoyang; Xu, Jun; Bi, Fang; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Chen, Yunbo; He, Youjiang; Han, Feng; Zhi, Guorui; Liu, Shijie; Meng, Fan
2018-06-01
A suite of aircraft measurements was conducted over the Gulf of Tonkin, located downwind to the east of Mainland Southeast Asia (MSE), between March 23rd and April 6th, 2015. To the best of our knowledge, this campaign of 11 flights (totaling 34.4 h) was the first in-flight measurement over the region. Measurements of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide, black carbon and the particulate scattering coefficient were recorded at approximately 1 500 m (low level) and 3 000 m (high level). Significantly higher measurements of black carbon, carbon monoxide and ozone in the high level on March 23rd and April 5th and 6th were directly related to biomass burning in the MSE and were comparable to severe pollution events at the surface. Similarly, relatively low pollutant concentrations were observed at both altitudes between March 23rd and April 5th. A combined analysis of the measurements with meteorology and satellite data verified that the plumes captured at 3 000 m were attributed to transport in the high altitude originating from biomass burning in northern MSE. Furthermore, each plume captured by the measurements in the high level corresponded to heavy regional air pollution caused by biomass burning in northern MSE. In addition, relatively low levels of the measured pollutants corresponded to relatively light pollution levels in MSE and its adjacent areas. Taken together, these results indicated that aircraft measurements were accurate in characterizing the variation in transport and pollutant levels. During the most active season of biomass burning in MSE, pollutant emissions and their regional impact could vary on an episodic basis. Nonetheless, such concentrated emissions from biomass burning is likely to lead to particularly high atmospheric-loading of pollutants at a regional level and, depending on weather conditions, has the potential of being transported over considerably longer distances. Further investigation of the short-term impacts of
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McCluskey, Christina S.
Insufficient knowledge regarding the sources and number concentrations of atmospheric ice nucleating particles (INP) leads to large uncertainties in understanding the interaction of aerosols with cloud processes, such as cloud life time and precipitation rates. This study utilizes measurements of INP from a diverse set of biomass burning events to better understand INP associated with biomass burning in the U.S. Prescribed burns in Georgia and Colorado, two Colorado wildfires and two laboratory burns were monitored for INP number concentrations. The relationship between nINP and total particle number concentrations, evident within prescribed burning plumes, was degraded within aged smoke plumes from the wildfires, limiting the utility of this relationship for comparing laboratory and field data. Larger particles, represented by n500nm, are less vulnerable to plume processing and have previously been evaluated for their relation to nINP. Our measurements indicated that for a given n500nm, nINP associated with the wildfires were nearly an order of magnitude higher than nINP found in prescribed fire emissions. Reasons for the differences between INP characteristics in these emissions were explored, including variations in combustion efficiency, fuel type, transport time and environmental conditions. Combustion efficiency and fuel type were eliminated as controlling factors by comparing samples with contrasting combustion efficiencies and fuel types. Transport time was eliminated because the expected impact would be to reduce n500nm, thus resulting in the opposite effect from the observed change. Bulk aerosol chemical composition analyses support the potential role of elevated soil dust particle concentrations during the fires, contributing to the population of INP, but the bulk analyses do not target INP composition directly. It is hypothesized that both hardwood burning and soil lofting are responsible for the elevated production of INP in the Colorado wildfires in
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Potter, Christopher; Brooks Genovese, Vanessa; Klooster, Steven; Bobo, Matthew; Torregrosa, Alicia
To produce a new daily record of gross carbon emissions from biomass burning events and post-burning decomposition fluxes in the states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE), 1991. Anuario Estatistico do Brasil, Vol. 51. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil pp. 1-1024). We have used vegetation greenness estimates from satellite images as inputs to a terrestrial ecosystem production model. This carbon allocation model generates new estimates of regional aboveground vegetation biomass at 8-km resolution. The modeled biomass product is then combined for the first time with fire pixel counts from the advanced very high-resolution radiometer (AVHRR) to overlay regional burning activities in the Amazon. Results from our analysis indicate that carbon emission estimates from annual region-wide sources of deforestation and biomass burning in the early 1990s are apparently three to five times higher than reported in previous studies for the Brazilian Legal Amazon (Houghton et al., 2000. Nature 403, 301-304; Fearnside, 1997. Climatic Change 35, 321-360), i.e., studies which implied that the Legal Amazon region tends toward a net-zero annual source of terrestrial carbon. In contrast, our analysis implies that the total source fluxes over the entire Legal Amazon region range from 0.2 to 1.2 Pg C yr -1, depending strongly on annual rainfall patterns. The reasons for our higher burning emission estimates are (1) use of combustion fractions typically measured during Amazon forest burning events for computing carbon losses, (2) more detailed geographic distribution of vegetation biomass and daily fire activity for the region, and (3) inclusion of fire effects in extensive areas of the Legal Amazon covered by open woodland, secondary forests, savanna, and pasture vegetation. The total area of rainforest estimated annually to be deforested did not differ substantially among the previous analyses cited and our own.
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Production of N2O5 and ClNO2 through Nocturnal Processing of Biomass-Burning Aerosol.
Ahern, Adam T; Goldberger, Lexie; Jahl, Lydia; Thornton, Joel; Sullivan, Ryan C
2018-01-16
Biomass burning is a source of both particulate chloride and nitrogen oxides, two important precursors for the formation of nitryl chloride (ClNO 2 ), a source of atmospheric oxidants that is poorly prescribed in atmospheric models. We investigated the ability of biomass burning to produce N 2 O 5 (g) and ClNO 2 (g) through nocturnal chemistry using authentic biomass-burning emissions in a smog chamber. There was a positive relationship between the amount of ClNO 2 formed and the total amount of particulate chloride emitted and with the chloride fraction of nonrefractory particle mass. In every fuel tested, dinitrogen pentoxide (N 2 O 5 ) formed quickly, following the addition of ozone to the smoke aerosol, and ClNO 2 (g) production promptly followed. At atmospherically relevant relative humidities, the particulate chloride in the biomass-burning aerosol was rapidly but incompletely displaced, likely by the nitric acid produced largely by the heterogeneous uptake of N 2 O 5 (g). Despite this chloride acid displacement, the biomass-burning aerosol still converted on the order of 10% of reacted N 2 O 5 (g) into ClNO 2 (g). These experiments directly confirm that biomass burning is a potentially significant source of atmospheric N 2 O 5 and ClNO 2 to the atmosphere.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
K. A. Pratt
2011-12-01
Full Text Available Biomass burning represents a major global source of aerosols impacting direct radiative forcing and cloud properties. Thus, the goal of a number of current studies involves developing a better understanding of how the chemical composition and mixing state of biomass burning aerosols evolve during atmospheric aging processes. During the Ice in Clouds Experiment-Layer Clouds (ICE-L in the fall of 2007, smoke plumes from two small Wyoming Bureau of Land Management prescribed burns were measured by on-line aerosol instrumentation aboard a C-130 aircraft, providing a detailed chemical characterization of the particles. After ~2–4 min of aging, submicron smoke particles, produced primarily from sagebrush combustion, consisted predominantly of organics by mass, but were comprised primarily of internal mixtures of organic carbon, elemental carbon, potassium chloride, and potassium sulfate. Significantly, the fresh biomass burning particles contained minor mass fractions of nitrate and sulfate, suggesting that hygroscopic material is incorporated very near or at the point of emission. The mass fractions of ammonium, sulfate, and nitrate increased with aging up to ~81–88 min and resulted in acidic particles. Decreasing black carbon mass concentrations occurred due to dilution of the plume. Increases in the fraction of oxygenated organic carbon and the presence of dicarboxylic acids, in particular, were observed with aging. Cloud condensation nuclei measurements suggested all particles >100 nm were active at 0.5% water supersaturation in the smoke plumes, confirming the relatively high hygroscopicity of the freshly emitted particles. For immersion/condensation freezing, ice nuclei measurements at −32 °C suggested activation of ~0.03–0.07% of the particles with diameters greater than 500 nm.
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Koss, A.; Sekimoto, K.; Gilman, J.; Selimovic, V.; Coggon, M.; Zarzana, K. J.; Yuan, B.; Lerner, B. M.; Brown, S. S.; Jimenez, J. L.; Krechmer, J. E.; Warneke, C.; Yokelson, R. J.; De Gouw, J. A.
2017-12-01
Gas-phase biomass burning emissions can include hundreds, if not thousands, of unique volatile and intermediate-volatility organic compounds. It is crucial to know the composition of these emissions to understand secondary organic aerosol formation, ozone formation, and human health effects resulting from fires. However, the composition can vary greatly with fuel type and fire combustion process. During the FIREX 2016 laboratory intensive at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana, high-resolution H3O+-CIMS (PTR-ToF) was deployed to characterize VOC emissions. More than 500 ion masses were consistently enhanced in each of 58 fires, which included a wide variety of fuel types representative of the western United States. Using a combination of extensive literature review, H3O+ and NO+ CIMS with GC preseparation, comparison to other instruments, and mass spectral context, we were able to identify the VOC contributors to 90% of the instrument signal. This provides unprecedented chemical detail in high time resolution. We present chemical characteristics of emissions, including OH reactivity and volatility, and highlight areas where better identification is needed.
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Organic aerosols from biomass burning in Amazonian rain forest and their impact onto the environment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cecinato, A.; Mabilia, R.; De Castro Vasconcellos, P.
2001-01-01
A field campaign performed in Southern Brazilian Amazonia in 1993 has proved that this region is subjected to fallout of particulated exhausts released by fires of forestal biomass. In fact, organic content of aerosols collected at urban sites located on the border of pluvial forest, about 50 km from fires, was similar to that of biomass burning exhausts. Aerosol composition is indicative of dolous origin of fires. However, organic contents seems to be influenced by two additional sources, i. e. motor vehicle and high vegetation emission. Chemical pattern of organic aerosols released by biomass burning of forest seems to promote occurrence of photochemical smog episodes in that region [it
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Coggon, M. M.; Warneke, C.; Koss, A.; Sekimoto, K.; Yuan, B.; Lim, C. Y.; Hagan, D. H.; Kroll, J. H.; Cappa, C. D.; Gilman, J.; Lerner, B. M.; Jimenez, J. L.; Yokelson, R. J.; Roberts, J. M.; De Gouw, J. A.
2017-12-01
Non-methane organic gases (NMOG) emitted by biomass burning constitute a large source of reactive carbon in the atmosphere. Once emitted, these compounds may undergo series of reactions with the OH radical and nitrogen oxides to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA), ozone, or other health-impacting products. The complex emission profile and strong variability of biomass burning NMOG play an important, yet understudied, role in the variability of air quality outcomes such as SOA and ozone. In this study, we summarize measurements of biomass burning volatile organic compounds (VOCs) conducted using a H3O+ chemical ionization mass spectrometer (H3O+-CIMS) during the 2016 FIREX laboratory campaign in Missoula, MT. Specifically, we will present data demonstrating the chemical evolution of biomass burning VOCs artificially aged in a field-deployable photooxidation chamber and an oxidation flow reactor. More than 50 OH-oxidation experiments were conducted with biomass types representing a range of North American fuels. Across many fuel types, VOCs with high SOA and ozone formation potential, such as aromatics and furans, were observed to quickly react with the OH radical while oxidized species were generated. We compare the calculated OH reactivity of the primary emissions to the calculated OH reactivity used in many photochemical models and highlight areas requiring additional research in order to improve model/measurement comparisons.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Onasch, Timothy B [Aerodyne Research, Inc.; Sedlacek, Arthur J [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
2017-03-15
The scientific focus of this study was to investigate and quantify the mass loadings, chemical compositions, and optical properties of biomass burning particulate emissions generated in the laboratory from Western U.S. fuels using a similar instrument suite to the one deployed on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Gulfstream-1 (G-1) aircraft during the 2013 Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) field study (Kleinman and Sedlacek, 2013). We deployed the single-particle soot photometer (SP2) to make measurements of biomass burning refractory black carbon (rBC) mass loadings and size distributions to correlate with non-refractory particulate matter (NR-PM; i.e., HR-AMS) and rBC (SP-AMS) measurements as a function of photo-oxidation processes in an environmental chamber. With these measurements, we will address the following scientific questions: 1. What are the emission indices (g/kg fuel) of rBC from various wildland fuels from the Pacific Northwest (i.e., relevant to BBOP analysis) as a function of combustion conditions and simulated atmospheric processing in an environmental chamber? 2. What are the optical properties (e.g., mass-specific absorption cross-section [MAC], single-scattering albedo [SSA], and absorption Angstrom exponent [AAE)] of rBC emitted from various wildland fuels and how are they impacted by atmospheric processing? 3. How does the mixing state of rBC in biomass-burning plumes relate to the optical properties? 4. How does the emitted rBC affect radiative forcing?
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Light-absorbing carbon from prescribed and laboratory biomass burning and gasoline vehicle emissions
Carbonaceous aerosols are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and can directly affect Earth’s climate by absorbing and scattering incoming solar radiation. Both field and laboratory measurements have confirmed that biomass burning (BB) is an important primary source of light absorbing o...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
T. G. Karl
2007-11-01
Full Text Available Volatile Organic Compound (VOC emissions from fires in tropical forest fuels were quantified using Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTRMS, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR and gas chromatography (GC coupled to PTRMS (GC-PTR-MS. We investigated VOC emissions from 19 controlled laboratory fires at the USFS (United States Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory and 16 fires during an intensive airborne field campaign during the peak of the burning season in Brazil in 2004. The VOC emissions were dominated by oxygenated VOCs (OVOC (OVOC/NMHC ~4:1, NMHC: non-methane hydrocarbons The specificity of the PTR-MS instrument, which measures the mass to charge ratio of VOCs ionized by H3O+ ions, was validated by gas chromatography and by intercomparing in-situ measurements with those obtained from an open path FTIR instrument. Emission ratios for methyl vinyl ketone, methacrolein, crotonaldehyde, acrylonitrile and pyrrole were measured in the field for the first time. Our measurements show a higher contribution of OVOCs than previously assumed for modeling purposes. Comparison of fresh (<15 min and aged (>1 h–1 d smoke suggests altered emission ratios due to gas phase chemistry for acetone but not for acetaldehyde and methanol. Emission ratios for numerous, important, reactive VOCs with respect to acetonitrile (a biomass burning tracer are presented.
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Characterisation of the impact of open biomass burning on urban air quality in Brisbane, Australia.
He, Congrong; Miljevic, Branka; Crilley, Leigh R; Surawski, Nicholas C; Bartsch, Jennifer; Salimi, Farhad; Uhde, Erik; Schnelle-Kreis, Jürgen; Orasche, Jürgen; Ristovski, Zoran; Ayoko, Godwin A; Zimmermann, Ralf; Morawska, Lidia
2016-05-01
Open biomass burning from wildfires and the prescribed burning of forests and farmland is a frequent occurrence in South-East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. This work reports on data collected from 10 to 30 September 2011, which covers the days before (10-14 September), during (15-20 September) and after (21-30 September) a period of biomass burning in SEQ. The aim of this project was to comprehensively quantify the impact of the biomass burning on air quality in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland. A multi-parameter field measurement campaign was conducted and ambient air quality data from 13 monitoring stations across SEQ were analysed. During the burning period, the average concentrations of all measured pollutants increased (from 20% to 430%) compared to the non-burning period (both before and after burning), except for total xylenes. The average concentration of O3, NO2, SO2, benzene, formaldehyde, PM10, PM2.5 and visibility-reducing particles reached their highest levels for the year, which were up to 10 times higher than annual average levels, while PM10, PM2.5 and SO2 concentrations exceeded the WHO 24-hour guidelines and O3 concentration exceeded the WHO maximum 8-hour average threshold during the burning period. Overall spatial variations showed that all measured pollutants, with the exception of O3, were closer to spatial homogeneity during the burning compared to the non-burning period. In addition to the above, elevated concentrations of three biomass burning organic tracers (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan), together with the amount of non-refractory organic particles (PM1) and the average value of f60 (attributed to levoglucosan), reinforce that elevated pollutant concentration levels were due to emissions from open biomass burning events, 70% of which were prescribed burning events. This study, which is the first and most comprehensive of its kind in Australia, provides quantitative evidence of the significant impact of open biomass burning
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Impact of deforestation on biomass burning in the tropics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hao, W.M.; Liu, M.H.; Ward, D.E.
1994-01-01
Fires are widely used for various land use practices in tropical countries. Large amounts of trace gases and aerosol particles are produced during the fires. It is important to assess the potential impact of these gases and particulate matter on the chemistry of the atmosphere and global climate. One of the largest uncertainties in quantifying the effects is the lack of information on the source strengths. The authors quantify the amount of biomass burned due to deforestation in each tropical country on basis of the deforestation rate, the above ground density, and the fraction of above ground biomass burned. Approximately 725 Tg of biomass were burned in 1980 and 984 Tg were burned in 1990. The 36% increase took place mostly in Latin America and tropical Asia. The largest source was Brazil, contributing about 29% of the total biomass burned in the tropics. The second largest source was Indonesia accounting for 10%, followed by Zaire accounting for about 8%. The burning of biomass due to increased deforestation has resulted in an additional 33 Tg CO and 2.5 Tg CH 4 emitted annually to the atmosphere from 1980 to 1990
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Terrestrial cycling of 13CO2 by photosynthesis, respiration, and biomass burning in SiBCASA
van der Velde, I. R.; Miller, J. B.; Schaefer, K.; van der Werf, G. R.; Krol, M. C.; Peters, W.
2014-12-01
We present an enhanced version of the SiBCASA terrestrial biosphere model that is extended with (a) biomass burning emissions from the SiBCASA carbon pools using remotely sensed burned area from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED), (b) an isotopic discrimination scheme that calculates 13C signatures of photosynthesis and autotrophic respiration, and (c) a separate set of 13C pools to carry isotope ratios into heterotrophic respiration. We quantify in this study the terrestrial exchange of CO2 and 13CO2 as a function of environmental changes in humidity and biomass burning. The implementation of biomass burning yields similar fluxes as CASA-GFED both in magnitude and spatial patterns. The implementation of isotope exchange gives a global mean discrimination value of 15.2‰, ranges between 4 and 20‰ depending on the photosynthetic pathway in the plant, and compares favorably (annually and seasonally) with other published values. Similarly, the isotopic disequilibrium is similar to other studies that include a small effect of biomass burning as it shortens the turnover of carbon. In comparison to measurements, a newly modified starch/sugar storage pool propagates the isotopic discrimination anomalies to respiration much better. In addition, the amplitude of the drought response by SiBCASA is lower than suggested by the measured isotope ratios. We show that a slight increase in the stomatal closure for large vapor pressure deficit would amplify the respired isotope ratio variability. Our study highlights the importance of isotope ratio observations of 13C to assess and improve biochemical models like SiBCASA, especially with regard to the allocation and turnover of carbon and the responses to drought.
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Emissions tradeoffs associated with cofiring forest biomass with coal: A case study in Colorado, USA
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Loeffler, Dan; Anderson, Nathaniel
2014-01-01
Highlights: • Case study using audited fuel consumption and emissions data from a coal mine and power plant. • Model emissions tradeoffs of cofiring forest biomass with coal up to 20% by heat input value. • Substituting forest biomass with coal displaces fossil energy with an otherwise waste material. • Substantially less system emissions overall are generated when cofiring forest biomass. • Cofiring forest biomass has positive global and local greenhouse gas and human health implications. - Abstract: Cofiring forest biomass residues with coal to generate electricity is often cited for its potential to offset fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the extent to which cofiring achieves these objectives is highly dependent on case specific variables. This paper uses facility and forest specific data to examine emissions from cofiring forest biomass with coal ranging up to 20% substitution by heat value in southwest Colorado, USA. Calculations for net system emissions include five emissions sources: coal mining, power plant processes, forest biomass processes, boiler emissions, and forest biomass disposal. At the maximum displacement of 20% of heat demand using 120,717 t of forest biomass per year, total system emissions are projected to decrease by 15% for CO 2 , 95% for CH 4 , 18% for NO X , 82% for PM 10 , and 27% for SO X . PM 10 and CH 4 emissions benefits are closely tied to reducing open burning for residue disposal. At maximum displacement, 189,240 t of CO 2 emissions equivalent to the annual CO 2 emissions from 36,200 passenger vehicles, 440,000 barrels of oil, or nearly 990 railcars of coal are avoided. When forest biomass is not cofired, emissions equivalent to144,200 t of CO 2 are emitted from open burning. In addition to exploring the details of this case, we provide a methodology for assessing the emissions tradeoffs related to using forest biomass for cogeneration that incorporates the operational aspects of managing forest
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The Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) Project
Reid, J. S.; Prins, E. M.; Westphal, D.; Richardson, K.; Christopher, S.; Schmidt, C.; Theisen, M.; Eck, T.; Reid, E. A.
2001-12-01
The Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) project was initiated by NASA, the US Navy and NOAA to monitor biomass burning and burning emissions on a global scale. The idea behind the mission is to integrate remote sensing data with global and regional transport models in real time for the purpose of providing the scientific community with smoke and fire products for planning and research purposes. FLAMBE is currently utilizing real time satellite data from GOES satellites, fire products based on the Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (WF_ABBA) are generated for the Western Hemisphere every 30 minutes with only a 90 minute processing delay. We are currently collaborating with other investigators to gain global coverage. Once generated, the fire products are used to input smoke fluxes into the NRL Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System, where advection forecasts are performed for up to 6 days. Subsequent radiative transfer calculations are used to estimate top of atmosphere and surface radiative forcing as well as surface layer visibility. Near real time validation is performed using field data collected by Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun photometers. In this paper we fully describe the FLAMBE project and data availability. Preliminary result from the previous year will also be presented, with an emphasis on the development of algorithms to determine smoke emission fluxes from individual fire products. Comparisons to AERONET Sun photometer data will be made.
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Reijnders, L.
2009-01-01
Forestation and landfilling purpose-grown biomass are not adequate offsets for the CO2 emission from burning fossil fuels. Their permanence is insufficiently guaranteed and landfilling purpose-grown biomass may even be counterproductive. As to permanence, bio-char may do better than forests or
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Toxicity of Urban PM10 and Relation with Tracers of Biomass Burning.
Van Den Heuvel, Rosette; Staelens, Jeroen; Koppen, Gudrun; Schoeters, Greet
2018-02-12
The chemical composition of particles varies with space and time and depends on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and weather conditions. Evidence suggesting that particles differ in toxicity depending on their chemical composition is growing. This in vitro study investigated the biological effects of PM 10 in relation to PM-associated chemicals. PM 10 was sampled in ambient air at an urban traffic site (Borgerhout) and a rural background location (Houtem) in Flanders (Belgium). To characterize the toxic potential of PM 10 , airway epithelial cells (Beas-2B cells) were exposed to particles in vitro. Different endpoints were studied including cell damage and death (cell viability) and the induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8). The mutagenic capacity was assessed using the Ames II Mutagenicity Test. The endotoxin levels in the collected samples were analyzed and the oxidative potential (OP) of PM 10 particles was evaluated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Chemical characteristics of PM 10 included tracers for biomass burning (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan), elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Most samples displayed dose-dependent cytotoxicity and IL-8 induction. Spatial and temporal differences in PM 10 toxicity were seen. PM 10 collected at the urban site was characterized by increased pro-inflammatory and mutagenic activity as well as higher OP and elevated endotoxin levels compared to the background area. Reduced cell viability (-0.46 biomass burning, levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan. Furthermore, direct and indirect mutagenicity were associated with tracers for biomass burning, OC, EC and PAHs. Multiple regression analyses showed levoglucosan to explain 16% and 28% of the variance in direct and indirect mutagenicity, respectively. Markers for biomass burning were associated with altered cellular responses and increased mutagenic activity. These findings may indicate a role of
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Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) Final Campaign Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kleinman, LI [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Sedlacek, A. J. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
2016-01-01
The Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) was conducted to obtain a better understanding of how aerosols generated from biomass fires affect the atmosphere and climate. It is estimated that 40% of carbonaceous aerosol produced originates from biomass burning—enough to affect regional and global climate. Several biomass-burning studies have focused on tropical climates; however, few campaigns have been conducted within the United States, where millions of acres are burned each year, trending to higher values and greater climate impacts because of droughts in the West. Using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerial Facility (AAF), the BBOP deployed the Gulfstream-1 (G-1) aircraft over smoke plumes from active wildfire and agricultural burns to help identify the impact of these events and how impacts evolve with time. BBOP was one of very few studies that targeted the near-field time evolution of aerosols and aimed to obtain a process-level understanding of the large changes that occur within a few hours of atmospheric processing.
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Comparative Chemistry and Toxicity of Diesel and Biomass Combustion Emissions
Air pollution includes a complex mixture of carbonaceous gases and particles emitted from multiple anthropogenic, biogenic, and biomass burning sources, and also includes secondary organic components that form during atmospheric aging of these emissions. Exposure to these mixture...
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Lasko, Kristofer; Vadrevu, Krishna
2018-01-01
In Southeast Asia and Vietnam, rice residues are routinely burned after the harvest to prepare fields for the next season. Specific to Vietnam, the two prevalent burning practices include: a). piling the residues after hand harvesting; b). burning the residues without piling, after machine harvesting. In this study, we synthesized field and laboratory studies from the literature on rice residue burning emission factors for Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5). We found significant differences in the resulting burning-practice specific emission factors, with 16.9 grams per square kilogram (plus or minus 6.9) for pile burning and 8.8 grams per square kilogram (plus or minus 3.5) for non-pile burning. We calculated burning practice specific emissions based on rice area data, region-specific fuel-loading factors, combined emission factors, and estimates of burning from the literature. Our results for year 2015 estimate 180 gigagrams of PM2.5 result from the pile burning method and 130 gigagrams result from non-pile burning method, with the most-likely current emission scenario of 150 gigagrams PM2.5 emissions for Vietnam. For comparison purposes, we calculated emissions using generalized agricultural emission factors employed in global biomass burning studies. These results estimate 80 gigagrams PM2.5, which is only 44 percent of the pile burning-based estimates, suggesting underestimation in previous studies. We compare our emissions to an existing all-combustion sources inventory, results show emissions account for 14-18 percent of Vietnam's total PM2.5 depending on burning practice. Within the highly-urbanized and cloud-covered Hanoi Capital region (HCR), we use rice area from Sentinel-1A to derive spatially-explicit emissions and indirectly estimate residue burning dates. Results from HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) back-trajectory analysis stratified by season show autumn has most emission trajectories originating in
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van Drooge, B L; Fontal, M; Bravo, N; Fernández, P; Fernández, M A; Muñoz-Arnanz, J; Jiménez, B; Grimalt, J O
2014-10-01
PM1 aerosol characterization on organic tracers for biomass burning (levoglucosan and its isomers and dehydroabietic acid) was conducted within the AERTRANS project. PM1 filters (N = 90) were sampled from 2010 to 2012 in busy streets in the urban centre of Madrid and Barcelona (Spain) at ground-level and at roof sites. In both urban areas, biomass burning was not expected to be an important local emission source, but regional emissions from wildfires, residential heating or biomass removal may influence the air quality in the cities. Although both areas are under influence of high solar radiation, Madrid is situated in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, while Barcelona is located at the Mediterranean Coast and under influence of marine atmospheres. Two extraction methods were applied, i.e. Soxhlet and ASE, which showed equivalent results after GC-MS analyses. The ambient air concentrations of the organic tracers for biomass burning increased by an order of magnitude at both sites during winter compared to summer. An exception was observed during a PM event in summer 2012, when the atmosphere in Barcelona was directly affected by regional wildfire smoke and levels were four times higher as those observed in winter. Overall, there was little variation between the street and roof sites in both cities, suggesting that regional biomass burning sources influence the urban areas after atmospheric transport. Despite the different atmospheric characteristics in terms of air relative humidity, Madrid and Barcelona exhibit very similar composition and concentrations of biomass burning organic tracers. Nevertheless, levoglucosan and its isomers seem to be more suitable for source apportionment purposes than dehydroabietic acid. In both urban areas, biomass burning contributions to PM were generally low (2 %) in summer, except on the day when wildfire smoke arrive to the urban area. In the colder periods the contribution increase to around 30 %, indicating that regional
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Ichoku, Charles; Gatebe, Charles; Bolten, John; Policelli, Fritz; Habib, Shahid; Lee, Jejung; Wang, Jun; Wilcox, Eric; Adegoke, Jimmy
2011-01-01
The northern sub-Saharan African (NSSA) region, bounded on the north and south by the Sahara and the Equator, respectively, and stretching from the West to the East African coastlines, has one of the highest biomass-burning rates per unit land area among all regions of the world. Because of the high concentration and frequency of fires in this region, with the associated abundance of heat release and gaseous and particulate smoke emissions, biomass-burning activity is believed to be one of the drivers of the regional carbon and energy cycles, with serious implications for the water cycle. A new interdisciplinary research effort sponsored by NASA is presently being focused on the NSSA region, to better understand the possible connection between the intense biomass burning observed from satellite year after year across the region and the rapid depletion of the regional water resources, as exemplified by the dramatic drying of Lake Chad. A combination of remote sensing and modeling approaches is being utilized in investigating multiple regional surface, atmospheric, and water-cycle processes, and inferring possible links between them. In this presentation, we will discuss preliminary results as well as the path toward improved understanding'of the interrelationships and feedbacks between the biomass burning and the environmental change dynamics in the NSSA region.
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Tsay, Si-Chee
2004-01-01
Airborne dusts from northern China contribute a significant part of the air quality problem and, to some extent, regional climatic impact in Asia during spring-time. However, with the economical growth in China, increases in the emission of air pollutants generated from industrial and vehicular sources will not only impact the radiation balance, but adverse health effects to humans all year round. In addition, both of these dust and air pollution clouds can transport swiftly across the Pacific reaching North America within a few days, possessing an even larger scale effect. The Asian dust and air pollution aerosols can be detected by its colored appearance on current Earth observing satellites (e.g., MODIS, SeaWiFS, TOMS, etc.) and its evolution monitored by satellites and surface network. Biomass burning has been a regular practice for land clearing and land conversion in many countries, especially those in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia. However, the unique climatology of Southeast Asia is very different than that of Africa and South America, such that large-scale biomass burning causes smoke to interact extensively with clouds during the peak-burning season of March to April. Significant global sources of greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2, CH4), chemically active gases (e.g., NO, CO, HC, CH3Br), and atmospheric aerosols are produced by biomass burning processes. These gases influence the Earth-atmosphere system, impacting both global climate and tropospheric chemistry. Some aerosols can serve as cloud condensation nuclei, which play an important role in determining cloud lifetime and precipitation, hence, altering the earth's radiation and water budget. Biomass burning also affects the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and carbon compounds from the soil to the atmosphere; the hydrological cycle (i.e., run off and evaporation); land surface reflectivity and emissivity; as well as ecosystem biodiversity and stability. Two new initiatives, EAST-AIRE (East
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Biomass burning aerosols in a savanna region of the Ivory Coast
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Cachier, H.; Ducret, J.; Bremond, M.P.; Yoboue, V.; Lacaux, J.P.; Gaudichet, A.; Baudet, J.
1991-01-01
In order to characterize the biomass burning particulate emissions, the authors sampled aerosols at Lamto in the wooded savanna of the Ivory Coast, during periods when the atmosphere is primarily influenced by various prescribed nearby or distant fires. They present here the results of parallel analyses which focus on the problem of tracing biomass burning aerosols at different levels of investigation. Soluble ion measurements give evidence of enhanced levels of various cations (potassium, calcium) and anions (sulfate, nitrate, oxalate), and the appearance of detectable oxalate concentrations. Further indication is obtained by analytical transmission electron microscopy of the small individual particles focusing on their trace element content. In addition, studies of the bulk carbonaceous content of the particles appear to provide primarily some possible indicators of the fire variability such as the isotropic composition fraction in the carbonaceous material (Cb to Ct ratio)
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The biomass burning contribution to climate–carbon-cycle feedback
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. P. Harrison
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Temperature exerts strong controls on the incidence and severity of fire. All else equal, warming is expected to increase fire-related carbon emissions, and thereby atmospheric CO2. But the magnitude of this feedback is very poorly known. We use a single-box model of the land biosphere to quantify this positive feedback from satellite-based estimates of biomass burning emissions for 2000–2014 CE and from sedimentary charcoal records for the millennium before the industrial period. We derive an estimate of the centennial-scale feedback strength of 6.5 ± 3.4 ppm CO2 per degree of land temperature increase, based on the satellite data. However, this estimate is poorly constrained, and is largely driven by the well-documented dependence of tropical deforestation and peat fires (primarily anthropogenic on climate variability patterns linked to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Palaeo-data from pre-industrial times provide the opportunity to assess the fire-related climate–carbon-cycle feedback over a longer period, with less pervasive human impacts. Past biomass burning can be quantified based on variations in either the concentration and isotopic composition of methane in ice cores (with assumptions about the isotopic signatures of different methane sources or the abundances of charcoal preserved in sediments, which reflect landscape-scale changes in burnt biomass. These two data sources are shown here to be coherent with one another. The more numerous data from sedimentary charcoal, expressed as normalized anomalies (fractional deviations from the long-term mean, are then used – together with an estimate of mean biomass burning derived from methane isotope data – to infer a feedback strength of 5.6 ± 3.2 ppm CO2 per degree of land temperature and (for a climate sensitivity of 2.8 K a gain of 0.09 ± 0.05. This finding indicates that the positive carbon cycle feedback from increased fire provides a substantial
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Pre-Harvest Sugarcane Burning: Determination of Emission Factors through Laboratory Measurements
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
João Andrade Carvalho
2012-02-01
Full Text Available Sugarcane is an important crop for the Brazilian economy and roughly 50% of its production is used to produce ethanol. However, the common practice of pre-harvest burning of sugarcane straw emits particulate material, greenhouse gases, and tropospheric ozone precursors to the atmosphere. Even with policies to eliminate the practice of pre-harvest sugarcane burning in the near future, there is still significant environmental damage. Thus, the generation of reliable inventories of emissions due to this activity is crucial in order to assess their environmental impact. Nevertheless, the official Brazilian emissions inventory does not presently include the contribution from pre-harvest sugarcane burning. In this context, this work aims to determine sugarcane straw burning emission factors for some trace gases and particulate material smaller than 2.5 μm in the laboratory. Excess mixing ratios for CO2, CO, NOX, UHC (unburned hydrocarbons, and PM2.5 were measured, allowing the estimation of their respective emission factors. Average estimated values for emission factors (g kg−1 of burned dry biomass were 1,303 ± 218 for CO2, 65 ± 14 for CO, 1.5 ± 0.4 for NOX, 16 ± 6 for UHC, and 2.6 ± 1.6 for PM2.5. These emission factors can be used to generate more realistic emission inventories and therefore improve the results of air quality models.
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dos Santos, F. C.; Longo, K.; Guenther, A. B.; Gu, D.; Kim, S.; Freitas, S.; Moreira, D. S.; Flávio, L.; Braz, R.; Brito, J.; Oram, D.; Foster, G.; Lee, J. D.
2017-12-01
Emitted by vegetation, isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is the most abundant non-methane hydrocarbons, with an annual global emission calculated ranging from 440 to 660Tg carbon, depending on the driving variables like temperature, solar radiation, LAI and PFT. The natural compounds like isoprene and terpenes present in the troposphere are about 90% and 50%, respectively, removed from the atmosphere by oxidation performed by hydroxyl radical (OH). Considering the importance of these emissions and the hydroxyl radical reaction in the atmosphere, the SAMBBA (South American Biomass Burning Analysis) experiment, which occurred during the dry season (September 2012) in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, provided information about the chemical composition of the atmosphere through airborne observations. Although primarily focused on biomass burning flights, the SAMBBA project carried out flights in pristine environment. In this study, we determine the ambient distribution of CO, NOx and O3, and evaluate the oxidative capacity of the Amazon rainforest in different chemical regimes, using the ratio [MVK + MACR]/[Isoprene]. Beyond that, we proposed an improvement on the formulation of indirect OH density calculation, using the photochemical aging [O3]/[CO] as a parameter. Balancing numerical modeling and direct observations, the numerical model BRAMS was coupled to MEGAN emission model to get a better result for isoprene and OH in the atmosphere, representing the observations during SAMBBA field campaign. In relation to OH estimation, we observed an improvement in the concentration values using the modified sequential reaction model, for both biomass burning regimes and background environment. We also detected a long-range transport events of O3, considering the high levels of O3 in aged plumes at high altitudes (5,500 - 6,500 m), and the detection of an O3 inflow in the Amazon basin from Africa. These findings support the importance of long-range transport events as a
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Mohammad Siddique; Suhail Ahmed Soomro; Aziza Aftab; Zahid Naeem Qaisrani; Abdul Sattar Jatoi; Asadullah; Ghulamullah Khan; Ehsanullah Kakar
2016-01-01
Appropriate eco-friendly methods to mitigate the problem of emissions from combustion of fossil fuel are highly demanded. The current study was focused on the effect of using coal & coal-biomass co-combustion on the gaseous emissions. Different biomass' were used along with coal. The coal used was lignite coal and the biomass' were tree waste, cow dung and banana tree leaves. Various ratios of coal and biomass were used to investigate the combustion behavior of coal-biomass blends and their ...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Grass, S.W.; Jenkins, B.M.
1994-01-01
Fluidized bed combustors have become the technological choice for power generation from biomass fuels in California. Atmospheric emission data obtained during compliance tests are compared for five operating 18 to 32 MW fluidized bed combustion power plants. The discussion focuses on the impact of fuel properties and boiler design criteria on the emission of pollutants, the efficiency of pollution control devices, and regulations affecting atmospheric emissions. Stack NO x emission factors are shown not to vary substantially among the five plants which burn fuels with nitrogen concentrations between 0.3 and 1.1% dry weight. All facilities use at least one particular control device, but not all use limestone injection or other control techniques for sulfur and chlorine. The lack of control for chlorine suggests the potential for emission of toxic species due to favorable temperature conditions existing in the particulate control devices, particularly when burning fuels containing high concentrations of chlorine. (Author)
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Fu, J. S.; Hsu, N. C.; Gao, Y.; Huang, K.; Li, C.; Lin, N.-H.; Tsay, S.-C.
2012-05-01
To evaluate the impact of biomass burning from Southeast Asia to East Asia, this study conducted numerical simulations during NASA's 2006 Biomass-burning Aerosols in South-East Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment (BASE-ASIA). Two typical episode periods (27-28 March and 13-14 April) were examined. Two emission inventories, FLAMBE and GFED, were used in the simulations. The influences during two episodes in the source region (Southeast Asia) contributed to the surface CO, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations as high as 400 ppbv, 20 ppbv and 80 μg m-3, respectively. The perturbations with and without biomass burning of the above three species during the intense episodes were in the range of 10 to 60%, 10 to 20% and 30 to 70%, respectively. The impact due to long-range transport could spread over the southeastern parts of East Asia and could reach about 160 to 360 ppbv, 8 to 18 ppbv and 8 to 64 μg m-3 on CO, O3 and PM2.5, respectively; the percentage impact could reach 20 to 50% on CO, 10 to 30% on O3, and as high as 70% on PM2.5. In March, the impact of biomass burning mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia and southern China, while in April the impact becomes slightly broader and even could go up to the Yangtze River Delta region. Two cross-sections at 15° N and 20° N were used to compare the vertical flux of biomass burning. In the source region (Southeast Asia), CO, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations had a strong upward transport from surface to high altitudes. The eastward transport becomes strong from 2 to 8 km in the free troposphere. The subsidence process during the long-range transport contributed 60 to 70%, 20 to 50%, and 80% on CO, O3 and PM2.5, respectively to surface in the downwind area. The study reveals the significant impact of Southeastern Asia biomass burning on the air quality in both local and downwind areas, particularly during biomass burning episodes. This modeling study might provide constraints of lower limit. An additional study is underway for an active
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The light absorption of carbonaceous aerosols plays an important role in the atmospheric radiation balance. Light-absorbing organic carbon (OC), also called brown carbon (BrC), from laboratory-based biomass burning (BB) has been studied intensively to understand the contribution ...
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Fossil fuel and biomass burning effect on climate - heating or cooling
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kaufman, Y.J.; Fraser, R.S.; Mahoney, R.L. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (USA))
1991-06-01
Emission from burning of fossil fuels and biomass (associated with deforestation) generates a radiative forcing on the atmosphere and a possible climate change. Emitted trace gases heat the atmosphere through their greenhouse effect, while particulates formed from emitted SO{sub 2} cause cooling by increasing cloud albedos through alteration of droplet size distributions. This paper reviews the characteristics of the cooling effect and applies Twomey's theory to check whether the radiative balance favours heating or cooling for the cases of fossil fuel and biomass burning. It is also shown that although coal and oil emit 120 times as many CO{sub 2} molecules as SO{sub 2} molecules, each SO{sub 2} molecule is 50-1100 times more effective in cooling the atmosphere (through the effect of aerosol particles on cloud albedo) than a CO{sub 2} molecule is in heating it. Note that this ratio accounts for the large difference in the aerosol (3-10 days) and CO{sub 2} (7-100 years) lifetimes. It is concluded, that the cooling effect from coal and oil burning may presently range from 0.4 to 8 times the heating effect. Within this large uncertainty, it is presently more likely that fossil fuel burning causes cooling of the atmosphere rather than heating. Biomass burning associated with deforestation, on the other hand, is more likely to cause heating of the atmosphere than cooling since its aerosol cooling effect is only half that from fossil fuel burning and its heating effect is twice as large. Future increases in coal and oil burning, and the resultant increase in concentration of cloud condensation nuclei, may saturate the cooling effect, allowing the heating effect to dominate. For a doubling in the CO{sub 2} concentration due to fossil fuel burning, the cooling effect is expected to be 0.1 to 0.3 of the heating effect. 75 refs., 8 tabs.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. Le Breton
2013-09-01
Full Text Available A chemical ionisation mass spectrometer (CIMS was developed for measuring hydrogen cyanide (HCN from biomass burning events in Canada using I− reagent ions on board the FAAM BAe-146 research aircraft during the BORTAS campaign in 2011. The ionisation scheme enabled highly sensitive measurements at 1 Hz frequency through biomass burning plumes in the troposphere. A strong correlation between the HCN, carbon monoxide (CO and acetonitrile (CH3CN was observed, indicating the potential of HCN as a biomass burning (BB marker. A plume was defined as being 6 standard deviations above background for the flights. This method was compared with a number of alternative plume-defining techniques employing CO and CH3CN measurements. The 6-sigma technique produced the highest R2 values for correlations with CO. A normalised excess mixing ratio (NEMR of 3.68 ± 0.149 pptv ppbv−1 was calculated, which is within the range quoted in previous research (Hornbrook et al., 2011. The global tropospheric model STOCHEM-CRI incorporated both the observed ratio and extreme ratios derived from other studies to generate global emission totals of HCN via biomass burning. Using the ratio derived from this work, the emission total for HCN from BB was 0.92 Tg (N yr−1.
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Zhang, Wei; Tong, Yindong; Wang, Huanhuan; Chen, Long; Ou, Langbo; Wang, Xuejun; Liu, Guohua; Zhu, Yan
2014-07-01
Effort of reducing CO2 emissions in developing countries may require an increasing utilization of biomass fuels. Biomass pellets seem well-suited for residential biomass markets. However, there is limited quantitative information on pollutant emissions from biomass pellets burning, especially those measured in real applications. In this study, biomass pellets and raw biomass fuels were burned in a pellet burner and a conventional stove respectively, in rural households, and metal emissions were determined. Results showed that the emission factors (EFs) ranged 3.20-5.57 (Pb), 5.20-7.58 (Cu), 0.11-0.23 (Cd), 12.67-39.00 (As), 0.59-1.31 mg/kg (Ni) for pellets, and 0.73-1.34 (Pb), 0.92-4.48 (Cu), 0.08-0.14 (Cd), 7.29-13.22 (As), 0.28-0.62 (Ni) mg/kg for raw biomass. For unit energy delivered to cooking vessels, the EFs ranged 0.42-0.77 (Pb), 0.79-1.16 (Cu), 0.01-0.03 (Cd), 1.93-5.09 (As), 0.08-0.19 mg/MJ (Ni) for pellets, and 0.30-0.56 (Pb), 0.41-1.86 (Cu), 0.04-0.06 (Cd), 3.25-5.49 (As), 0.12-0.26 (Ni) mg/MJ for raw biomass. This study found that moisture, volatile matter and modified combustion efficiency were the important factors affecting metal emissions. Comparisons of the mass-based and task-based EFs found that biomass pellets produced higher metal emissions than the same amount of raw biomass. However, metal emissions from pellets were not higher in terms of unit energy delivered.
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Biomass Burning Observation Project Science Plan
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kleinman, KI [Brookhaven National Laboratory; Sedlacek, AJ [Brookhaven National Laboratory
2013-09-01
Aerosols from biomass burning perturb Earth’s climate through the direct radiative effect (both scattering and absorption) and through influences on cloud formation and precipitation and the semi-direct effect. Despite much effort, quantities important to determining radiative forcing such as the mass absorption coefficients (MAC) of light-absorbing carbon, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation rates, and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity remain in doubt. Field campaigns in northern temperate latitudes have been overwhelmingly devoted to other aerosol sources in spite of biomass burning producing about one-third of the fine particles (PM2.5) in the U.S.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
C. Wiedinmyer
2011-07-01
Full Text Available The Fire INventory from NCAR version 1.0 (FINNv1 provides daily, 1 km resolution, global estimates of the trace gas and particle emissions from open burning of biomass, which includes wildfire, agricultural fires, and prescribed burning and does not include biofuel use and trash burning. Emission factors used in the calculations have been updated with recent data, particularly for the non-methane organic compounds (NMOC. The resulting global annual NMOC emission estimates are as much as a factor of 5 greater than some prior estimates. Chemical speciation profiles, necessary to allocate the total NMOC emission estimates to lumped species for use by chemical transport models, are provided for three widely used chemical mechanisms: SAPRC99, GEOS-CHEM, and MOZART-4. Using these profiles, FINNv1 also provides global estimates of key organic compounds, including formaldehyde and methanol. Uncertainties in the emissions estimates arise from several of the method steps. The use of fire hot spots, assumed area burned, land cover maps, biomass consumption estimates, and emission factors all introduce error into the model estimates. The uncertainty in the FINNv1 emission estimates are about a factor of two; but, the global estimates agree reasonably well with other global inventories of biomass burning emissions for CO, CO2, and other species with less variable emission factors. FINNv1 emission estimates have been developed specifically for modeling atmospheric chemistry and air quality in a consistent framework at scales from local to global. The product is unique because of the high temporal and spatial resolution, global coverage, and the number of species estimated. FINNv1 can be used for both hindcast and forecast or near-real time model applications and the results are being critically evaluated with models and observations whenever possible.
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Xu, J.; Zhang, X.; Liu, Y.; Shichang, K.; Ma, Y.
2017-12-01
An intensive measurement was conducted at a remote, background, and high-altitude site (Qomolangma station, QOMS, 4276 m a.s.l.) in the northern Himalayas, using an Aerodyne high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) along with other collocated instruments. The field measurement was performed from April 12 to May 12, 2016 to chemically characterize high time-resolved submicron particulate matter (PM1) and obtain the influence of biomass burning emissions to the Himalayas, frequently transported from south Asia during pre-monsoon season. Two high aerosol loading periods were observed during the study. Overall, the average (± 1σ) PM1 mass concentration was 4.44 (± 4.54) µg m-3 for the entire study, comparable with those observed at other remote sites worldwide. Organic aerosols (OA) was the dominant PM1 species (accounting for 54.3% of total PM1 mass on average) and its contribution increased with the increase of total PM1 mass loading. The average size distributions of PM1 species all peaked at an overlapping accumulation mode ( 500 nm), suggesting that aerosol particles were internally well-mixed and aged during long-range transportations. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis on the high-resolution organic mass spectra identified three distinct OA factors, including a biomass burning related OA (BBOA, 43.7%) and two oxygenated OA (Local-OOA and LRT-OOA; 13.9% and 42.4%) represented sources from local emissions and long-range transportations, respectively. Two polluted air mass origins (generally from the west and southwest of QOMS) and two polluted episodes with enhanced PM1 mass loadings and elevated BBOA contributions were observed, respectively, suggesting the important sources of wildfires from south Asia. One of polluted aerosol plumes was investigated in detail to illustrate the evolution of aerosol characteristics at QOMS driving by different impacts of wildfires, air mass origins, meteorological conditions and
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Brocchi, Vanessa; Krysztofiak, Gisèle; Catoire, Valéry; Zbinden, Régina; Guth, Jonathan; El Amraoui, Laaziz; Piguet, Bruno; Dulac, François; Hamonou, Eric; Ricaud, Philippe
2017-04-01
The Mediterranean Basin (MB) is at the crossroad of pollutant emissions from Western and Central Europe and of major dust sources from Sahara and Arabian deserts and thus sensitive to climate change and air quality. Several studies (Formenti et al.,J. Geophys. Res., 2002; Ancellet et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2016) also show the impact on the MB of long-range transport of polluted air masses. However, most of the studies have been dedicated to biomass burning aerosols. The aim of the present study is to show trace gases impact on the MB coming from long-range transport of biomass burning. The Gradient in Longitude of Atmospheric constituents above the Mediterranean basin (GLAM) campaign in August 2014, as part of the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment (ChArMEx) project, aimed at studying the tropospheric chemical variability of gaseous pollutants and aerosols along a West-East transect above the MB. During the GLAM campaign, several instruments onboard the Falcon-20 aircraft (SAFIRE, INSU / Météo-France) were deployed including an infrared laser spectrometer (SPIRIT, LPC2E) able to detect weak variations in the concentration of pollutants. During two flights on 6 and 10 August, increases in CO, O3 and aerosols were measured over Sardinia at 5000 and 9000 m asl, respectively. To assess the origin of the air masses, 20-day backward trajectories with a nested-grid regional scale Lagrangian particle dispersion model (FLEXPART, Stohl et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2005) were calculated. Combined with emissions coming from the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) inventory (Kaiser et al., Biogeosciences, 2012), this leads to CO biomass burning contribution to aircraft measured values. Biomass burning emissions located in Siberia in the first case and in northern America in the second case were identified as the cause of this burden of pollutants in the mid and upper troposphere over the MB. By adjusting the injection height of the model and amplifying emissions
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Torrefaction study for energy upgrading on Indonesian biomass as low emission solid fuel
Alamsyah, R.; Siregar, N. C.; Hasanah, F.
2017-05-01
Torrefaction is a pyrolysis process with low heating rate and temperature lower than 300°C in an inert condition which transforms biomass into a low emission solid fuel with relatively high energy. Through the torrefaction process biomass can be altered so that the end product is easy to grind and simple in the supply chain. The research was aimed at designing torrefaction reactor and upgrading energy content of some Indonesian biomass. The biomass used consist of empty fruit bunches of oil palm (EFB), cassava peel solid waste, and cocopeat (waste of coconut fiber). These biomass were formed into briquette and pellet form and were torrified with 300°C temperature during 1.5 hours without air. The results of terrified biomass and non-torrefied biomass were compared after burning on the stove in term of energy content and air emission quality. The result shows that energy content of biomass have increased by 1.1 up to 1.36 times. Meanwhile emission air resulted from its combustion was met with Indonesian emission regulation.
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Masalaite, Agne; Garbaras, Andrius; Garbariene, Inga; Ceburnis, Darius; Martuzevicius, Dainius; Puida, Egidijus; Kvietkus, Kestutis; Remeikis, Vidmantas
2014-05-01
Biomass burning is the largest source of primary fine fraction carbonaceous particles and the second largest source of trace gases in the global atmosphere with a strong effect not only on the regional scale but also in areas distant from the source . Many studies have often assumed no significant carbon isotope fractionation occurring between black carbon and the original vegetation during combustion. However, other studies suggested that stable carbon isotope ratios of char or BC may not reliably reflect carbon isotopic signatures of the source vegetation. Overall, the apparently conflicting results throughout the literature regarding the observed fractionation suggest that combustion conditions may be responsible for the observed effects. The purpose of the present study was to gather more quantitative information on carbonaceous aerosols produced in controlled biomass burning, thereby having a potential impact on interpreting ambient atmospheric observations. Seven different biomass fuel types were burned under controlled conditions to determine the effect of the biomass type on the emitted particulate matter mass and stable carbon isotope composition of bulk and size segregated particles. Size segregated aerosol particles were collected using the total suspended particle (TSP) sampler and a micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI). The results demonstrated that particle emissions were dominated by the submicron particles in all biomass types. However, significant differences in emissions of submicron particles and their dominant sizes were found between different biomass fuels. The largest negative fractionation was obtained for the wood pellet fuel type while the largest positive isotopic fractionation was observed during the buckwheat shells combustion. The carbon isotope composition of MOUDI samples compared very well with isotope composition of TSP samples indicating consistency of the results. The measurements of the stable carbon isotope ratio in
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Nitrogen and sulfur emissions from the burning of forest products near large urban areas
Dean A. Hegg; Lawrence F. Radke; Peter V. Hobbs; Charles A. Brock; Phillip J. Riggan
1987-01-01
Airborne measuremens of trace gases and particles in the smoke from a prescribed burn of forest products in the Los Angeles basin show significantly higher emissions of NOx, SO2, and particulate NO3 than do measurements in smokes from the burning of biomass in rural areas. It is postulated that the...
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Toxicity of Urban PM10 and Relation with Tracers of Biomass Burning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rosette Van Den Heuvel
2018-02-01
Full Text Available The chemical composition of particles varies with space and time and depends on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and weather conditions. Evidence suggesting that particles differ in toxicity depending on their chemical composition is growing. This in vitro study investigated the biological effects of PM10 in relation to PM-associated chemicals. PM10 was sampled in ambient air at an urban traffic site (Borgerhout and a rural background location (Houtem in Flanders (Belgium. To characterize the toxic potential of PM10, airway epithelial cells (Beas-2B cells were exposed to particles in vitro. Different endpoints were studied including cell damage and death (cell viability and the induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8. The mutagenic capacity was assessed using the Ames II Mutagenicity Test. The endotoxin levels in the collected samples were analyzed and the oxidative potential (OP of PM10 particles was evaluated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR spectroscopy. Chemical characteristics of PM10 included tracers for biomass burning (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan, elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs. Most samples displayed dose-dependent cytotoxicity and IL-8 induction. Spatial and temporal differences in PM10 toxicity were seen. PM10 collected at the urban site was characterized by increased pro-inflammatory and mutagenic activity as well as higher OP and elevated endotoxin levels compared to the background area. Reduced cell viability (−0.46 < rs < −0.35, p < 0.01 and IL-8 induction (−0.62 < rs < −0.67, p < 0.01 were associated with all markers for biomass burning, levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan. Furthermore, direct and indirect mutagenicity were associated with tracers for biomass burning, OC, EC and PAHs. Multiple regression analyses showed levoglucosan to explain 16% and 28% of the variance in direct and indirect mutagenicity, respectively. Markers for biomass burning were
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Cloud condensation nuclei from biomass burning
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rogers, C.F.; Hudson, J.G.; Zielinska, B.; Tanner, R.L.; Hallett, J.; Watson, J.G.
1991-01-01
In this work, the authors have analyzed biomass and crude oil smoke samples for ionic and organic species. The cloud condensation nuclei activities of the smoke particles are discussed in terms of the measured chemical compositions of the smoke samples. The implications of biomass burning to global climatic change are discussed
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Holm Christensen, B.; Evald, A.; Buelow, K.
1997-01-01
The amounts of waste wood from the Danish wood processing industry available for the energy market has been made. Furthermore a statement of residues based on biomass, including waste wood, used in 84 plants has been made. The 84 plants represent a large part of the group of purchasers of biomass. A list of biomass fuel types being used or being potential fuels in the future has been made. Conditions in design of plants of importance for the environmental impact and possibility of changing between different biomass fuels are illustrated through interview of the 84 plants. Emissions from firing with different types of residues based on biomass are illustrated by means of different investigations described in the literature of the composition of fuels, of measured emissions from small scale plants and full scale plants, and of mass balance investigations where all incoming and outgoing streams are analysed. An estimate of emissions from chosen fuels from the list of types of fuels is given. Of these fuels can be mentioned residues from particle board production with respectively 9% and 1% glue, wood pellets containing binding material with sulphur and residues from olive production. (LN)
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Modeling biomass burning and related carbon emissions during the 21st century in Europe
Migliavacca, Mirco; Dosio, Alessandro; Camia, Andrea; Hobourg, Rasmus; Houston-Durrant, Tracy; Kaiser, Johannes W.; Khabarov, Nikolay; Krasovskii, Andrey A.; Marcolla, Barbara; San Miguel-Ayanz, Jesus; Ward, Daniel S.; Cescatti, Alessandro
2013-01-01
In this study we present an assessment of the impact of future climate change on total fire probability, burned area, and carbon (C) emissions from fires in Europe. The analysis was performed with the Community Land Model (CLM) extended with a prognostic treatment of fires that was specifically refined and optimized for application over Europe. Simulations over the 21st century are forced by five different high-resolution Regional Climate Models under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A1B. Both original and bias-corrected meteorological forcings is used. Results show that the simulated C emissions over the present period are improved by using bias corrected meteorological forcing, with a reduction of the intermodel variability. In the course of the 21st century, burned area and C emissions from fires are shown to increase in Europe, in particular in the Mediterranean basins, in the Balkan regions and in Eastern Europe. However, the projected increase is lower than in other studies that did not fully account for the effect of climate on ecosystem functioning. We demonstrate that the lower sensitivity of burned area and C emissions to climate change is related to the predicted reduction of the net primary productivity, which is identified as the most important determinant of fire activity in the Mediterranean region after anthropogenic interaction. This behavior, consistent with the intermediate fire-productivity hypothesis, limits the sensitivity of future burned area and C emissions from fires on climate change, providing more conservative estimates of future fire patterns, and demonstrates the importance of coupling fire simulation with a climate driven ecosystem productivity model.
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Modeling biomass burning and related carbon emissions during the 21st century in Europe
Migliavacca, Mirco
2013-12-01
In this study we present an assessment of the impact of future climate change on total fire probability, burned area, and carbon (C) emissions from fires in Europe. The analysis was performed with the Community Land Model (CLM) extended with a prognostic treatment of fires that was specifically refined and optimized for application over Europe. Simulations over the 21st century are forced by five different high-resolution Regional Climate Models under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A1B. Both original and bias-corrected meteorological forcings is used. Results show that the simulated C emissions over the present period are improved by using bias corrected meteorological forcing, with a reduction of the intermodel variability. In the course of the 21st century, burned area and C emissions from fires are shown to increase in Europe, in particular in the Mediterranean basins, in the Balkan regions and in Eastern Europe. However, the projected increase is lower than in other studies that did not fully account for the effect of climate on ecosystem functioning. We demonstrate that the lower sensitivity of burned area and C emissions to climate change is related to the predicted reduction of the net primary productivity, which is identified as the most important determinant of fire activity in the Mediterranean region after anthropogenic interaction. This behavior, consistent with the intermediate fire-productivity hypothesis, limits the sensitivity of future burned area and C emissions from fires on climate change, providing more conservative estimates of future fire patterns, and demonstrates the importance of coupling fire simulation with a climate driven ecosystem productivity model.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Andreae, M.O.
1991-01-01
In this chapter, the following topics are discussed: global estimates of amounts of biomass burning; kinds and amounts of emissions to the atmosphere; environmental transport and atmospheric chemistry of these emissions; and environmental impacts. These impacts include acid deposition, climate changes, disruption of nutrient cycles, soil degradation, perturbation of stratospheric chemistry and the ozone layer
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Putero, Davide; Landi, Tony Christian; Cristofanelli, Paolo; Marinoni, Angela; Laj, Paolo; Duchi, Rocco; Adhikary, Bhupesh; Calzolari, Francescopiero; Bonafè, Ubaldo; Stocchi, Paolo; Vuillermoz, Elisa; Bonasoni, Paolo
2013-04-01
Black carbon (BC) and tropospheric ozone (O3) play a key role in the climate system, since they are short-lived climate forcers (SLCF) that contribute to climate change. BC and O3 precursors are emitted from several natural and anthropogenic sources; one of the most important is biomass burning, i.e. the combustion of organic matter from natural or man-made activities. Studying BC and O3 variations in connection to biomass burning is critical, mainly because of the effects that these SLCF have on the ecosystems, agriculture and human health. The issue appears urgent in several regions of the world, such as South Asia, where a vast region extending from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas is characterized by large amounts of aerosols and pollutant gases. Here we present the variability of BC and O3 concentrations observed at the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (NCO-P, 5079 m a.s.l.), the highest WMO-GAW global station, installed in the high Khumbu valley (Nepal, Everest region) since March 2006. Considering over 5 years of continuous measurements, the BC and O3 concentrations have shown an average value of 48.7 ± 12.6 ppbv and 208.1 ± 364.1 ng m-3, respectively. The possible contribution of open biomass burning to the average BC and O3 levels is investigated, using various satellite observations, such as MODIS fire products, the USGS Land Use Cover Characterization and TRMM rainfall measurements, linking these products to the air-mass back-trajectories reaching the sampling site (computed using LAGRANTO model). On 162 days (9% of the entire dataset), characterized by acute pollution events at NCO-P, 90 days (56%) were characterized by the transport of pollutants originated by agricultural and forest fires located in regions very close to the Himalayan sampling site. These analyses have shown that biomass burning emissions, especially at regional scale, are likely to play a key role in BC and O3 variations at NCO-P, particularly concerning the development of acute
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SPECIFIC EMISSIONS FROM BIOMASS COMBUSTION
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pavel Skopec
2014-02-01
Full Text Available This paper deals with determining the specific emissions from the combustion of two kinds of biomass fuels in a small-scale boiler. The tested fuels were pellets made of wood and pellets made of rape plant straw. In order to evaluate the specific emissions, several combustion experiments were carried out using a commercial 25 kW pellet-fired boiler. The specific emissions of CO, SO2 and NOx were evaluated in relation to a unit of burned fuel, a unit of calorific value and a unit of produced heat. The specific emissions were compared with some data acquired from the reference literature, with relatively different results. The differences depend mainly on the procedure used for determining the values, and references provide no information about this. Although some of our experimental results may fit with one of the reference sources, they do not fit with the other. The reliability of the references is therefore disputable.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sharma, D.; Srivastava, A.K.; Ram, K.; Singh, A.; Singh, D.
2017-01-01
A comprehensive measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD), particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC) mass concentrations have been carried out over Patiala, a semi-urban site in northwest India during October 2008 to September 2010. The measured aerosol data was incorporated in an aerosol optical model to estimate various aerosol optical parameters, which were subsequently used for radiative forcing estimation. The measured AOD at 500 nm (AOD 500 ) shows a significant seasonal variability, with maximum value of 0.81 during post-monsoon (PoM) and minimum of 0.56 during winter season. The Ångström exponent (α) has higher values (i.e. more fine-mode fraction) during the PoM/winter periods, and lower (i.e. more coarse-mode fraction) during pre-monsoon (PrM). In contrast, turbidity coefficient (β) exhibits an opposite trend to α during the study period. BC mass concentration varies from 2.8 to 13.9 μg m −3 (mean: 6.5 ± 3.2 μg m −3 ) during the entire study period, with higher concentrations during PoM/winter and lower during PrM/monsoon seasons. The average single scattering albedo (SSA at 500 nm) values are 0.70, 0.72, 0.82 and 0.75 during PoM, winter, PrM and monsoon seasons, respectively. However, inter-seasonal and inter-annual variability in measured aerosol parameters are statistically insignificant at Patiala. These results suggest strong changes in emission sources, aerosol composition, meteorological parameters as well as transport of aerosols over the station. Higher values of AOD, α and BC, along with lower SSA during PoM season are attributed to agriculture biomass burning emissions over and around the station. The estimated aerosol radiative forcing within the atmosphere is positive (i.e. warming) during all the seasons with higher values (∼60 Wm −2 ) during PoM–08/PoM–09 and lower (∼40 Wm −2 ) during winter–09/PrM–10. The present study highlights the role of BC aerosols from agricultural biomass burning
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mohammad Siddique
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Appropriate eco-friendly methods to mitigate the problem of emissions from combustion of fossil fuel are highly demanded. The current study was focused on the effect of using coal & coal-biomass co-combustion on the gaseous emissions. Different biomass' were used along with coal. The coal used was lignite coal and the biomass' were tree waste, cow dung and banana tree leaves. Various ratios of coal and biomass were used to investigate the combustion behavior of coal-biomass blends and their emissions. The study revealed that the ratio of 80:20 of coal (lignite-cow dung and 100% banana tree leaves emits less emissions of CO, CO2, NOx and SO2 as compared to 100% coal. Maximum amount of CO emissions were 1510.5 ppm for banana tree waste and minimum amount obtained for lakhra coal and cow dung manure (70:30 of 684.667 ppm. Maximum percentage of SO2 (345.33 ppm was released from blend of lakhra coal and tree leaves (90:10 and minimum amount of SO2 present in samples is in lakhra coal-banana tree waste (80:20. The maximum amount of NO obtained for banana tree waste were 68 ppm whereas maximum amount of NOx was liberated from lakhra coal-tree leaves (60:40 and minimum amount from cow dung manure (30.83 ppm. The study concludes that utilization of biomass with coal could make remedial action against environment pollution.
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Jaegle, Lyatt; Steinberger, Linda; Martin, Randall V.; Chance, Kelly
2005-01-01
This document contains the following abstract for the paper "Global partitioning of NOx sources using satellite observations: Relative roles of fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and soil emissions." Satellite observations have been used to provide important new information about emissions of nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are significant in atmospheric chemistry, having a role in ozone air pollution, acid deposition and climate change. We know that human activities have led to a three- to six-fold increase in NOx emissions since pre-industrial times, and that there are three main surface sources of NOx: fuel combustion, large-scale fires, and microbial soil processes. How each of these sources contributes to the total NOx emissions is subject to some doubt, however. The problem is that current NOx emission inventories rely on bottom-up approaches, compiling large quantities of statistical information from diverse sources such as fuel and land use, agricultural data, and estimates of burned areas. This results in inherently large uncertainties. To overcome this, Lyatt Jaegle and colleagues from the University of Washington, USA, used new satellite observations from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) instrument. As the spatial and seasonal distribution of each of the sources of NOx can be clearly mapped from space, the team could provide independent topdown constraints on the individual strengths of NOx sources, and thus help resolve discrepancies in existing inventories. Jaegle's analysis of the satellite observations, presented at the recent Faraday Discussion on "Atmospheric Chemistry", shows that fuel combustion dominates emissions at northern mid-latitudes, while fires are a significant source in the Tropics. Additionally, she discovered a larger than expected role for soil emissions, especially over agricultural regions with heavy fertilizer use. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Siddique, M.; Asadullah, A.; Khan, G.; Soomro, S.A.
2016-01-01
Appropriate eco-friendly methos to mitigate the problem of emissions from combustion of fossil fuel are highly demanded. The current study was focused on the effect of using coal and coal biomass co-combustion on the gaseous emissions. Different biomass were used along with coal. The coal used was lignite coal and the biomass' were tree waste, cow dung and banana tree leaves Various ratios of coal and biomass were used to investigate the combustion behavior of coal cow dung and 100% banana tree leaves emits less emission of CO, CO/sub 2/, NOx and SO/sub 2/ as compared to 100% coal, Maximum amount of CO emission were 1510.5 ppm for bannana tree waste and minimum amount obtained for lakhra coal and cow dung manure (70:30) of 684.667 leaves (90:10) and minimum amount of SO/sub 2/ present in samples is in lakhra coal-banana tree waste (80:20). The maximum amount of NO obtained for banana tree waste were 68 ppm whereas amount from cow dung manure (30.83 ppm). The study concludes that utilization of biomass with coal could make remedial action against environment pollution. (author)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. J. E. van Marle
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Fires have influenced atmospheric composition and climate since the rise of vascular plants, and satellite data have shown the overall global extent of fires. Our knowledge of historic fire emissions has progressively improved over the past decades due mostly to the development of new proxies and the improvement of fire models. Currently, there is a suite of proxies including sedimentary charcoal records, measurements of fire-emitted trace gases and black carbon stored in ice and firn, and visibility observations. These proxies provide opportunities to extrapolate emission estimates back in time based on satellite data starting in 1997, but each proxy has strengths and weaknesses regarding, for example, the spatial and temporal extents over which they are representative. We developed a new historic biomass burning emissions dataset starting in 1750 that merges the satellite record with several existing proxies and uses the average of six models from the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP protocol to estimate emissions when the available proxies had limited coverage. According to our approach, global biomass burning emissions were relatively constant, with 10-year averages varying between 1.8 and 2.3 Pg C yr−1. Carbon emissions increased only slightly over the full time period and peaked during the 1990s after which they decreased gradually. There is substantial uncertainty in these estimates, and patterns varied depending on choices regarding data representation, especially on regional scales. The observed pattern in fire carbon emissions is for a large part driven by African fires, which accounted for 58 % of global fire carbon emissions. African fire emissions declined since about 1950 due to conversion of savanna to cropland, and this decrease is partially compensated for by increasing emissions in deforestation zones of South America and Asia. These global fire emission estimates are mostly suited for global analyses and
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wilaiwan Sornpoon
2014-09-01
Full Text Available Open burning in sugarcane fields is recognized as a major source of air pollution. However, the assessment of its emission intensity in many regions of the world still lacks information, especially regarding country-specific activity data including biomass fuel load and combustion factor. A site survey was conducted covering 13 sugarcane plantations subject to different farm management practices and climatic conditions. The results showed that pre-harvest and post-harvest burnings are the two main practices followed in Thailand. In 2012, the total production of sugarcane biomass fuel, i.e., dead, dry and fresh leaves, amounted to 10.15 million tonnes, which is equivalent to a fuel density of 0.79 kg∙m−2. The average combustion factor for the pre-harvest and post-harvest burning systems was determined to be 0.64 and 0.83, respectively. Emissions from sugarcane field burning were estimated using the bottom-up country-specific values from the site survey of this study and the results compared with those obtained using default values from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. The comparison showed that the use of default values lead to underestimating the overall emissions by up to 30% as emissions from post-harvest burning are not accounted for, but it is the second most common practice followed in Thailand.
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Overview of the South American biomass burning analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment
Morgan, W. T.; Allan, J. D.; Flynn, M.; Darbyshire, E.; Hodgson, A.; Johnson, B. T.; Haywood, J. M.; Freitas, S.; Longo, K.; Artaxo, P.; Coe, H.
2013-05-01
Biomass burning represents one of the largest sources of particulate matter to the atmosphere, which results in a significant perturbation to the Earth's radiative balance coupled with serious negative impacts on public health. Globally, biomass burning aerosols are thought to exert a small warming effect of 0.03 Wm-2, however the uncertainty is 4 times greater than the central estimate. On regional scales, the impact is substantially greater, particularly in areas such as the Amazon Basin where large, intense and frequent burning occurs on an annual basis for several months (usually from August-October). Furthermore, a growing number of people live within the Amazon region, which means that they are subject to the deleterious effects on their health from exposure to substantial volumes of polluted air. Initial results from the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which took place during September and October 2012 over Brazil, are presented here. A suite of instrumentation was flown on-board the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft and was supported by ground based measurements, with extensive measurements made in Porto Velho, Rondonia. The aircraft sampled a range of conditions with sampling of fresh biomass burning plumes, regional haze and elevated biomass burning layers within the free troposphere. The physical, chemical and optical properties of the aerosols across the region will be characterized in order to establish the impact of biomass burning on regional air quality, weather and climate.
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Hu, Zhaofu; Kang, Shichang; Li, Chaoliu; Yan, Fangping; Chen, Pengfei; Gao, Shaopeng; Wang, Zhiyong; Zhang, Yulan; Sillanpää, Mika
2017-06-01
Carbonaceous aerosols over the Tibetan Plateau originate primarily from biomass burning and vehicle emissions (BB and VEs, respectively). The light absorption characteristics of these carbonaceous aerosols are closely correlated with the burning conditions and represent key factors that influence climate forcing. In this study, the light absorption characteristics of elemental carbon (EC) and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm) generated from BB and VEs were investigated over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results showed that the organic carbon (OC)/EC ratios from BB- and VE-sourced PM 2.5 were 17.62 ± 10.19 and 1.19 ± 0.36, respectively. These values were higher than the ratios in other regions, which was primarily because of the diminished amount of oxygen over the TP. The mass absorption cross section of EC (MAC EC ) at 632 nm for the BB-sourced PM 2.5 (6.10 ± 1.21 m 2 .g -1 ) was lower than that of the VE-sourced PM 2.5 (8.10 ± 0.98 m 2 .g -1 ), indicating that the EC content of the BB-sourced PM 2.5 was overestimated because of the high OC/EC ratio. The respective absorption per mass (α/ρ) values at 365 nm for the VE- and BB-sourced PM 2.5 were 0.71 ± 0.17 m 2 .g -1 and 0.91 ± 0.18 m 2 .g -1 . The α/ρ value of the VEs was loaded between that of gasoline and diesel emissions, indicating that the VE-sourced PM 2.5 originated from both types of emissions. Because OC and WSOC accounts for most of the carbonaceous aerosols at remote area of the TP, the radiative forcing contributed by the WSOC should be high, and requires further investigation.
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Airborne measurements of CO2, CH4 and HCN in boreal biomass burning plumes
O'Shea, Sebastian J.; Bauguitte, Stephane; Muller, Jennifer B. A.; Le Breton, Michael; Archibald, Alex; Gallagher, Martin W.; Allen, Grant; Percival, Carl J.
2013-04-01
Biomass burning plays an important role in the budgets of a variety of atmospheric trace gases and particles. For example, fires in boreal Russia have been linked with large growths in the global concentrations of trace gases such as CO2, CH4 and CO (Langenfelds et al., 2002; Simpson et al., 2006). High resolution airborne measurements of CO2, CH4 and HCN were made over Eastern Canada onboard the UK Atmospheric Research Aircraft FAAM BAe-146 from 12 July to 4 August 2011. These observations were made as part of the BORTAS project (Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites). Flights were aimed at transecting and sampling the outflow from the commonly occurring North American boreal forest fires during the summer months and to investigate and identify the chemical composition and evolution of these plumes. CO2 and CH4 dry air mole fractions were determined using an adapted system based on a Fast Greenhouse Gas Analyser (FGGA, Model RMT-200) from Los Gatos Research Inc, which uses the cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy technique. In-flight calibrations revealed a mean accuracy of 0.57 ppmv and 2.31 ppbv for 1 Hz observations of CO2 and CH4, respectively, during the BORTAS project. During these flights a number of fresh and photochemically-aged plumes were identified using simultaneous HCN measurements. HCN is a distinctive and useful marker for forest fire emissions and it was detected using chemical ionisation mass spectrometry (CIMS). In the freshest plumes, strong relationships were found between CH4, CO2 and other tracers for biomass burning. From this we were able to estimate that 8.5 ± 0.9 g of CH4 and 1512 ± 185 g of CO2 were released into the atmosphere per kg of dry matter burnt. These emission factors are in good agreement with estimates from previous studies and can be used to calculate budgets for the region. However for aged plumes the correlations between CH4 and other
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Impact of biomass burning on nutrient deposition to the global ocean
Kanakidou, Maria; Myriokefalitakis, Stelios; Daskalakis, Nikos; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos; Nenes, Athanasios
2017-04-01
Atmospheric deposition of trace constituents, both of natural and anthropogenic origin, can act as a nutrient source into the open ocean and affect marine ecosystem functioning and subsequently the exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and the global ocean. Dust is known as a major source of nutrients (Fe and P) into the atmosphere, but only a fraction of these nutrients is released in soluble form that can be assimilated by the ecosystems. Dust is also known to enhance N deposition by interacting with anthropogenic pollutants and neutralisation of part of the acidity of the atmosphere by crustal alkaline species. These nutrients have also primary anthropogenic sources including combustion emissions. The global atmospheric N [1], Fe [2] and P [3] cycles have been parameterized in the global 3-D chemical transport model TM4-ECPL, accounting for inorganic and organic forms of these nutrients, for all natural and anthropogenic sources of these nutrients including biomass burning, as well as for the link between the soluble forms of Fe and P atmospheric deposition and atmospheric acidity. The impact of atmospheric acidity on nutrient solubility has been parameterised based on experimental findings and the model results have been evaluated by extensive comparison with available observations. In the present study we isolate the significant impact of biomass burning emissions on these nutrients deposition by comparing global simulations that consider or neglect biomass burning emissions. The investigated impact integrates changes in the emissions of the nutrients as well as in atmospheric oxidants and acidity and thus in atmospheric processing and secondary sources of these nutrients. The results are presented and thoroughly discussed. References [1] Kanakidou M, S. Myriokefalitakis, N. Daskalakis, G. Fanourgakis, A. Nenes, A. Baker, K. Tsigaridis, N. Mihalopoulos, Past, Present and Future Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition, Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (JAS-D-15
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A five-century sedimentary geochronology of biomass burning in Nicaragua and Central America
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Suman, D.O.
1991-01-01
In spite of the extensive use of fire as an agricultural agent in Central America today, little is known of its history of biomass burning or agriculture. As an indicator of the burning practices on the adjacent land, a sedimentary record of carbonized particles sheds light on the trends in frequency and areal extent of biomass burning. This research focuses on a sediment core recovered from an anoxic site in the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Central American Isthmus and reports a five-century record of charcoal deposition. The research illustrates that biomass burning has been an important ecological factor in the Pacific watershed of Central America at least during the past five centuries. Fluxes of charcoal have generally decreased toward the present suggesting a reduction in the charcoal source function. Perhaps, five centuries ago, the frequency of biomass burning was greater than it is today, larger areas were burned, or biomass per unit area of burned grassland was greater. The major type of biomass burned throughout this five-century period has been grass, as opposed to woods, indicating that any major deforestation of the Pacific watershed of Central America occurred prior to the Conquest
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Quantifying emissions of NH3 and NOx from Agricultural Sources and Biomass Burning using SOF
Kille, N.; Volkamer, R. M.; Dix, B. K.
2017-12-01
Column measurements of trace gas absorption along the direct solar beam present a powerful yet underused approach to quantify emission fluxes from area sources. The University of Colorado Solar Occultation Flux (CU SOF) instrument (Kille et al., 2017, AMT, doi:10.5194/amt-10-373-2017) features a solar tracker that is self-positioning for use from mobile platforms that are in motion (Baidar et al., 2016, AMT, doi: 10.5194/amt-9-963-2016). This enables the use from research aircraft, as well as the deployment under broken cloud conditions, while making efficient use of aircraft time. First airborne SOF measurements have been demonstrated recently, and we discuss applications to study emissions from biomass burning using aircraft, and to study primary emissions of ammonia and nitrogen oxides (= NO + NO2) from area sources such as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO). SOF detects gases in the open atmosphere (no inlets), does not require access to the source, and provides results in units that can be directly compared with emission inventories. The method of emission quantification is relatively straightforward. During FRAPPE (Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Experiment) in Colorado in 2014, we measured emission fluxes of NH3, and NOx from CAFO, quantifying the emissions from 61400 of the 535766 cattle in Weld County, CO (11.4% of the cattle population). We find that NH3 emissions from dairy and cattle farms are similar after normalization by the number of cattle, i.e., we find emission factors, EF, of 11.8 ± 2.0 gNH3/h/head for the studied CAFOs; these EFs are at the upper end of reported values. Results are compared to daytime NEI emissions for case study days. Furthermore, biologically active soils are found to be a strong source of NOx. The NOx sources account for 1.2% of the N-flux (i.e., NH3), and can be competitive with other NOx sources in Weld, CO. The added NOx is particularly relevant in remote regions, where O3 formation and oxidative
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
N. C. Hsu
2012-05-01
Full Text Available To evaluate the impact of biomass burning from Southeast Asia to East Asia, this study conducted numerical simulations during NASA's 2006 Biomass-burning Aerosols in South-East Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment (BASE-ASIA. Two typical episode periods (27–28 March and 13–14 April were examined. Two emission inventories, FLAMBE and GFED, were used in the simulations. The influences during two episodes in the source region (Southeast Asia contributed to the surface CO, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations as high as 400 ppbv, 20 ppbv and 80 μg m−3, respectively. The perturbations with and without biomass burning of the above three species during the intense episodes were in the range of 10 to 60%, 10 to 20% and 30 to 70%, respectively. The impact due to long-range transport could spread over the southeastern parts of East Asia and could reach about 160 to 360 ppbv, 8 to 18 ppbv and 8 to 64 μg m−3 on CO, O3 and PM2.5, respectively; the percentage impact could reach 20 to 50% on CO, 10 to 30% on O3, and as high as 70% on PM2.5. In March, the impact of biomass burning mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia and southern China, while in April the impact becomes slightly broader and even could go up to the Yangtze River Delta region.
Two cross-sections at 15° N and 20° N were used to compare the vertical flux of biomass burning. In the source region (Southeast Asia, CO, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations had a strong upward transport from surface to high altitudes. The eastward transport becomes strong from 2 to 8 km in the free troposphere. The subsidence process during the long-range transport contributed 60 to 70%, 20 to 50%, and 80% on CO, O3 and PM2.5, respectively to surface in the downwind area. The study reveals the significant impact of Southeastern Asia biomass burning on the air quality in both local and downwind -
Ichoku, Charles
2012-01-01
The northern sub-Saharan African (NSSA) region, bounded on the north and south by the Sahara and the Equator, respectively, and stretching from the West to the East African coastlines, has one of the highest biomass-burning rates per unit land area among all regions of the world. Because of the high concentration and frequency of fires in this region, with the associated abundance of heat release and gaseous and particulate smoke emissions, biomass-burning activity is believed to be one of the drivers of the regional carbon and energy cycles, with serious implications for the water cycle. A new interdisciplinary research effort sponsored by NASA is presently being focused on the NSSA region, to better understand the possible connection between the intense biomass burning observed from satellite year after year across the region and the rapid depletion of the regional water resources, as exemplified by the dramatic drying of Lake Chad. A combination of remote sensing and modeling approaches is being utilized in investigating multiple regional surface, atmospheric, and water-cycle processes, and inferring possible links between them. In this presentation, we will discuss preliminary results as well as the path toward improved understanding of the interrelationships and feedbacks between the biomass burning and the environmental change dynamics in the NSSA region.
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Chemical characterization of biomass burning deposits from cooking stoves in Bangladesh
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Salam, Abdus; Hasan, Mahmodul; Begum, Bilkis A.; Begum, Monira; Biswas, Swapan K.
2013-01-01
Biomass burning smoke deposits were characterized from cooking stoves in Brahmondi, Narsingdi, Bangladesh. Arjun, bamboo, coconut, madhabilata, mahogany, mango, rice husk coil, plum and mixed dried leaves were used as biomasses. Smoke deposits were collected from the ceiling (above the stove) of the kitchen on aluminum foil. Deposits samples were analyzed with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy for trace elements determination. UV–visible spectrophotometer was used for ions analysis. The surface morphology of the smoke deposits was studied with scanning electron microscope (SEM). Elevated concentrations of the trace elements were observed, especially for toxic metals (Pb, Co, Cu). The highest concentration of lead was observed in rice husk coil among the determined biomasses followed by mahogany and arjun, whereas the lowest concentration was observed in bamboo. Potassium has the highest concentration among the determined trace elements followed by calcium, iron and titanium. Trace elements such as potassium, calcium, iron showed significant variation among different biomass burning smoke deposits. The average concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and phosphate were 38.0, 0.60, 0.73 mg kg −1 , respectively. The surface morphology was almost similar for these biomass burning deposit samples. The Southeast Asian biomass burning smoke deposits had distinct behavior from European and USA wood fuels combustion. -- Highlights: •Elevated concentrations of trace elements were observed in biomass burning deposits. •Very high concentration of lead was observed in biomasses burring deposits •Elevated toxic trace elements concentrations in kitchens need further surveillance
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Aouizerats, B.; van der Werf, G.; Balasubramanian, R.; Betha, R.
2014-12-01
Smoke from biomass and peat burning has a notable impact on ambient air quality and climate in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. We modeled the largest fire-induced haze episode in the past decade (2006) that originated in Indonesia using WRF-Chem. Our study addressed 3 research questions: (1) Can the WRF-Chem model reproduce observations of both aerosol and CO concentrations in this complex region? (2) What is the evolution in the chemical composition of the aerosol fire plume during its atmospheric transport? and (3) What is the relative contribution of these fires to air quality in the urbanized area of the city-state of Singapore? To test model performance, we used three independent datasets for comparison (PM10 in Singapore, CO measurements in Sumatra, and AOD column observations from 4 satellite-based sensors). We found reasonable agreement of the model runs with ground-based measurements of both CO and PM10. However, the comparison with AOD was less favorable and indicated the model underestimated AOD. In the past, modeling studies using only AOD as a constraint have often boosted fire emissions to get a better agreement with observations. In our case, this approach would seriously deteriorate the difference with ground-based observations. Finally, our results show that about 21% of the total mass loading of ambient PM10 during the July-October study period in Singapore was due to the influence of biomass and peat burning in Sumatra, with an increased contribution during high burning periods. The composition of this biomass burning plume was largely dominated by primary organic carbon. In total, our model results indicated that during 35 days aerosol concentrations in Singapore were above the threshold of 50 μg m-3 day-1 (WHO threshold). During 17 days this deterioration was due to Indonesian fires, based on the difference between the simulations with and without fires. Local air pollution in combination with recirculation of air masses was probably the main
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Fu, J. S.; Hsu, N. C.; Gao, Y.; Huang, K.; Li, C.; Lin, N.-H.; Tsay, S.-C.
2011-01-01
To evaluate the impact of biomass burning from Southeast Asia to East Asia, this study conducted numerical simulations during NASA's 2006 Biomass-burning Aerosols in South-East Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment (BASE-ASIA). Two typical episode periods (27-28 March and 13-14 April) were examined. Two emission inventories, FLAMBE and GFED, were used in the simulations. The influences during two episodes in the source region (Southeast Asia) contributed to CO, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations as high as 400 ppbv, 20 ppbv and 80 μg/m3, respectively. The perturbations with and without biomass burning of the above three species were in the range of 10 to 60%, 10 to 20% and 30 to 70%, respectively. The impact due to long-range transport could spread over the southeastern parts of East Asia and could reach about 160 to 360 ppbv, 8 to 18 ppbv and 8 to 64 μg/m3 on CO, O3 and PM2.5, respectively; the percentage impact could reach 20 to 50% on CO, 10 to 30% on O3, and as high as 70% on PM2.5. An impact pattern can be found in April, while the impact becomes slightly broader and goes up to Yangtze River Delta. Two cross-sections at 15° N and 20° N were used to compare the vertical flux of biomass burning. In the source region (Southeast Asia), CO, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations had a strong upward tendency from surface to high altitudes. The eastward transport becomes strong from 2 to 8 km in the free troposphere. The subsidence contributed 60 to 70%, 20 to 50%, and 80% on CO, O3 and PM2.5, respectively to surface in the downwind area. The study reveals the significant impact of Southeastern Asia biomass burning on the air quality in both local and downwind areas, particularly during biomass burning episodes. This modeling study might provide constraints of lower limit. An additional study is underway for an active biomass burning year to obtain an upper limit and climate effects.
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Holden, Amanda S.; Sullivan, Amy P.; Munchak, Leigh A.; Kreidenweis, Sonia M.; Schichtel, Bret A.; Malm, William C.; Collett, Jeffrey L., Jr.
2011-02-01
Six-day integrated fine particle samples were collected at urban and rural sampling sites using Hi-Volume samplers during winter and summer 2004-2005 as part of the IMPROVE (Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environments) Radiocarbon Study. Filter samples from six sites (Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Phoenix, Puget Sound, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Tonto National Monument) were analyzed for levoglucosan, a tracer for biomass combustion, and other species by High-Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection (HPAEC-PAD). Contemporary carbon concentrations were available from previous carbon isotope measurements at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Primary contributions of biomass burning to measured fine particle contemporary carbon were estimated for residential wood burning (winter) and wild/prescribed fires (summer). Calculated contributions ranged from below detection limit to more than 100% and were typically higher at rural sites and during winter. Mannitol, a sugar alcohol emitted by fungal spores, was analyzed and used to determine contributions of fungal spores to fine particle contemporary carbon. Contributions reached up to 13% in summer samples, with higher contributions at rural sites. Concentrations of methyltetrols, oxidation products of isoprene, were also measured by HPAEC-PAD. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from isoprene oxidation was estimated to contribute up to 22% of measured contemporary carbon. For each sampling site, a substantial portion of the contemporary carbon was unexplained by primary biomass combustion, fungal spores, or SOA from isoprene oxidation. This unexplained fraction likely contains contributions from other SOA sources, including oxidation products of primary smoke emissions and plant emissions other than isoprene, as well as other primary particle emissions from meat cooking, plant debris, other biological aerosol particles, bio-diesel combustion, and other sources. Loss
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Recent Biomass Burning in the Tropics and Related Changes in Tropospheric Ozone
Ziemke; Chandra, J. R. S.; Duncan, B. N.; Schoeberl, M. R.; Torres, O.; Damon, M. R.; Bhartia, P. K.
2009-01-01
Biomass burning is an important source of chemical precursors of tropospheric ozone. In the tropics, biomass burning produces ozone enhancements over broad regions of Indonesia, Africa, and South America including Brazil. Fires are intentionally set in these regions during the dry season each year to clear cropland and to clear land for human/industrial expansion. In Indonesia enhanced burning occurs during dry El Nino conditions such as in 1997 and 2006. These burning activities cause enhancement in atmospheric particulates and trace gases which are harmful to human health. Measurements from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) from October 2004-November 2008 are used to evaluate the effects of biomass burning on tropical tropospheric ozone. These measurements show sizeable decreases approx.15-20% in ozone in Brazil during 2008 compared to 2007 which we attribute to the reduction in biomass burning. Three broad biomass burning regions in the tropics (South America including Brazil, western Africa, and Indonesia) were analyzed in the context of OMI/MLS measurements and the Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) chemical transport model developed at Goddard Space Flight Center. The results indicate that the impact of biomass burning on ozone is significant within and near the burning regions with increases of approx.10-25% in tropospheric column ozone relative to average background concentrations. The model suggests that about half of the increases in ozone from these burning events come from altitudes below 3 km. Globally the model indicates increases of approx.4-5% in ozone, approx.7-9% in NO, (NO+NO2), and approx.30-40% in CO.
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Tsai, Ying I.; Sopajaree, Khajornsak; Chotruksa, Auranee; Wu, Hsin-Ching; Kuo, Su-Ching
2013-10-01
PM10 aerosol was collected between February and April 2010 at an urban site (CMU) and an industrial site (TOT) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and characteristics and provenance of water-soluble inorganic species, carboxylates, anhydrosugars and sugar alcohols were investigated with particular reference to air quality, framed as episodic or non-episodic pollution. Sulfate, a product of secondary photochemical reactions, was the major inorganic salt in PM10, comprising 25.9% and 22.3% of inorganic species at CMU and TOT, respectively. Acetate was the most abundant monocarboxylate, followed by formate. Oxalate was the dominant dicarboxylate. A high acetate/formate mass ratio indicated that primary traffic-related and biomass-burning emissions contributed to Chiang Mai aerosols during episodic and non-episodic pollution. During episodic pollution carboxylate peaks indicated sourcing from photochemical reactions and/or directly from traffic-related and biomass burning processes and concentrations of specific biomarkers of biomass burning including water-soluble potassium, glutarate, oxalate and levoglucosan dramatically increased. Levoglucosan, the dominant anhydrosugar, was highly associated with water-soluble potassium (r = 0.75-0.79) and accounted for 93.4% and 93.7% of anhydrosugars at CMU and TOT, respectively, during episodic pollution. Moreover, levoglucosan during episodic pollution was 14.2-21.8 times non-episodic lows, showing clearly that emissions from biomass burning are the major cause of PM10 episodic pollution in Chiang Mai. Additionally, the average levoglucosan/mannosan mass ratio during episodic pollution was 14.1-14.9, higher than the 5.73-7.69 during non-episodic pollution, indicating that there was more hardwood burning during episodic pollution. Higher concentrations of glycerol and erythritol during episodic pollution further indicate that biomass burning activities released soil biota from forest and farmland soils.
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Biomass burning aerosol over Romania using dispersion model and Calipso data
Nicolae, Victor; Dandocsi, Alexandru; Marmureanu, Luminita; Talianu, Camelia
2018-04-01
The purpose of the study is to analyze the seasonal variability, for the hot and cold seasons, of biomass burning aerosol observed over Romania using forward dispersion calculations based on FLEXPART model. The model was set up to use as input the MODIS fire data with a degree of confidence over 25% after transforming the emitted power in emission rate. The modelled aerosols in this setup was black carbon coated by organics. Distribution in the upper layers were compared to Calipso retrieval.
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Biomass Burning, Land-Cover Change, and the Hydrological Cycle in Northern Sub-Saharan Africa
Ichoku, Charles; Ellison, Luke T.; Willmot, K. Elena; Matsui, Toshihisa; Dezfuli, Amin K.; Gatebe, Charles K.; Wang, Jun; Wilcox, Eric M.; Lee, Jejung; Adegoke, Jimmy;
2016-01-01
The Northern Sub-Saharan African (NSSA) region, which accounts for 20%-25%of the global carbon emissions from biomass burning, also suffers from frequent drought episodes and other disruptions to the hydrological cycle whose adverse societal impacts have been widely reported during the last several decades. This paper presents a conceptual framework of the NSSA regional climate system components that may be linked to biomass burning, as well as detailed analyses of a variety of satellite data for 2001-2014 in conjunction with relevant model-assimilated variables. Satellite fire detections in NSSA show that the vast majority (greater than 75%) occurs in the savanna and woody savanna land-cover types. Starting in the 2006-2007 burning season through the end of the analyzed data in 2014, peak burning activity showed a net decrease of 2-7% /yr in different parts of NSSA, especially in the savanna regions. However, fire distribution shows appreciable coincidence with land-cover change. Although there is variable mutual exchange of different land cover types, during 2003-2013, cropland increased at an estimated rate of 0.28% /yr of the total NSSA land area, with most of it (0.18% /yr) coming from savanna.During the last decade, conversion to croplands increased in some areas classified as forests and wetlands, posing a threat to these vital and vulnerable ecosystems. Seasonal peak burning is anti-correlated with annual water-cycle indicators such as precipitation, soil moisture, vegetation greenness, and evapotranspiration, except in humid West Africa (5 deg-10 deg latitude),where this anti-correlation occurs exclusively in the dry season and burning virtually stops when monthly mean precipitation reaches 4 mm/d. These results provide observational evidence of changes in land-cover and hydrological variables that are consistent with feedbacks from biomass burning in NSSA, and encourage more synergistic modeling and observational studies that can elaborate this feedback
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Inclusion of biomass burning in WRF-Chem: impact of wildfires on weather forecasts
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
G. Grell
2011-06-01
Full Text Available A plume rise algorithm for wildfires was included in WRF-Chem, and applied to look at the impact of intense wildfires during the 2004 Alaska wildfire season on weather simulations using model resolutions of 10 km and 2 km. Biomass burning emissions were estimated using a biomass burning emissions model. In addition, a 1-D, time-dependent cloud model was used online in WRF-Chem to estimate injection heights as well as the vertical distribution of the emission rates. It was shown that with the inclusion of the intense wildfires of the 2004 fire season in the model simulations, the interaction of the aerosols with the atmospheric radiation led to significant modifications of vertical profiles of temperature and moisture in cloud-free areas. On the other hand, when clouds were present, the high concentrations of fine aerosol (PM2.5 and the resulting large numbers of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN had a strong impact on clouds and cloud microphysics, with decreased precipitation coverage and precipitation amounts during the first 12 h of the integration. During the afternoon, storms were of convective nature and appeared significantly stronger, probably as a result of both the interaction of aerosols with radiation (through an increase in CAPE as well as the interaction with cloud microphysics.
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Enhanced light absorption due to the mixing state of black carbon in fresh biomass burning emissions
Wang, Qiyuan; Cao, Junji; Han, Yongming; Tian, Jie; Zhang, Yue; Pongpiachan, Siwatt; Zhang, Yonggang; Li, Li; Niu, Xinyi; Shen, Zhenxing; Zhao, Zhuzi; Tipmanee, Danai; Bunsomboonsakul, Suratta; Chen, Yang; Sun, Jian
2018-05-01
A lack of information on the radiative effects of refractory black carbon (rBC) emitted from biomass burning is a significant gap in our understanding of climate change. A custom-made combustion chamber was used to simulate the open burning of crop residues and investigate the impacts of rBC size and mixing state on the particles' optical properties. Average rBC mass median diameters ranged from 141 to 162 nm for the rBC produced from different types of crop residues. The number fraction of thickly-coated rBC varied from 53 to 64%, suggesting that a majority of the freshly emitted rBC were internally mixed. By comparing the result of observed mass absorption cross-section to that calculated with Mie theory, large light absorption enhancement factors (1.7-1.9) were found for coated particles relative to uncoated cores. These effects were strongly positively correlated with the percentage of coated particles but independent of rBC core size. We suggest that rBC from open biomass burning may have strong impact on air pollution and radiative forcing immediately after their production.
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Functional Group Analysis of Biomass Burning Particles Using Infrared Spectroscopy
Horrell, K.; Lau, A.; Bond, T.; Iraci, L. T.
2008-12-01
Biomass burning is a significant source of particulate organic carbon in the atmosphere. These particles affect the energy balance of the atmosphere directly by absorbing and scattering solar radiation, and indirectly through their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The chemical composition of biomass burning particles influences their ability to act as CCN, thus understanding the chemistry of these particles is required for understanding their effects on climate and air quality. As climate change influences the frequency and severity of boreal forest fires, the influence of biomass burning aerosols on the atmosphere may become significantly greater. Only a small portion of the organic carbon (OC) fraction of these particles has been identified at the molecular level, although several studies have explored the general chemical classes found in biomass burning smoke. To complement those studies and provide additional information about the reactive functional groups present, we are developing a method for polarity-based separation of compound classes found in the OC fraction, followed by infrared (IR) spectroscopic analysis of each polarity fraction. It is our goal to find a simple, relatively low-tech method which will provide a moderate chemical understanding of the entire suite of compounds present in the OC fraction of biomass burning particles. Here we present preliminary results from pine and oak samples representative of Midwestern United States forests burned at several different temperatures. Wood type and combustion temperature are both seen to affect the composition of the particles. The latter seems to affect relative contributions of certain functional groups, while oak demonstrates at least one additional chemical class of compounds, particularly at lower burning temperatures, where gradual solid-gas phase reactions can produce relatively large amounts of incompletely oxidized products.
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Tracking nitrogen oxides, nitrous acid, and nitric acid from biomass burning
Chai, J.; Miller, D. J.; Scheuer, E. M.; Dibb, J. E.; Hastings, M. G.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning emissions are an important source of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) and nitrous acid (HONO), which play important roles in atmosphere oxidation capacity (hydroxyl radical and ozone formation) and have severe impacts on air quality and climate in the presence of sunlight and volatile organic compounds. However, tracking NOx and HONO and their chemistry in the atmosphere based on concentration alone is challenging. Isotopic analysis provides a potential tracking tool. In this study, we measured the nitrogen isotopic composition (δ15N) of NOx (NO + NO2) and HONO, and soluble HONO and HNO3 during the Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX) laboratory experiments at the Missoula Fire Laboratory. Our newly developed and validated annular denuder system (ADS) enabled us to effectively trap HONO prior to a NOx collection system in series for isotopic analysis. In total we investigated 25 "stack" fires of various biomass materials where the emissions were measured within a few seconds of production by the fire. HONO concentration was measured in parallel using mist chamber/ion chromatography (MC/IC). The recovered mean HONO concentrations from ADS during the burn of each fire agree well with that measured via MC/IC. δ15N-NOx ranged from -4.3 ‰ to + 7.0 ‰ with a median of 0.7 ‰. Combined with a similar, recent study by our group [Fibiger et al., ES&T, 2017] the δ15N-NOx follows a linear relationship with δ15N-biomass (δ15N-NOx =0.94 x δ15N-biomass +1.98; R2=0.72). δ15N-HONO ranged from -5.3 to +8.3 ‰ with a median of 1.4 ‰. While both HONO and NOx are sourced from N in the biomass fuel, the secondary formation of HONO likely induces fractionation of the N that leads to the difference between δ15N-NOx and δ15N-HONO. We found a correlation of δ15N-HONO= 0.86 x δ15N-NOx + 0.52 (R2=0.55), which can potentially be used to track the chemistry of HONO formation following fire emissions. The methods
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Annual and diurnal african biomass burning temporal dynamics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
G. Roberts
2009-05-01
Full Text Available Africa is the single largest continental source of biomass burning emissions. Here we conduct the first analysis of one full year of geostationary active fire detections and fire radiative power data recorded over Africa at 15-min temporal interval and a 3 km sub-satellite spatial resolution by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI imaging radiometer onboard the Meteosat-8 satellite. We use these data to provide new insights into the rates and totals of open biomass burning over Africa, particularly into the extremely strong seasonal and diurnal cycles that exist across the continent. We estimate peak daily biomass combustion totals to be 9 and 6 million tonnes of fuel per day in the northern and southern hemispheres respectively, and total fuel consumption between February 2004 and January 2005 is estimated to be at least 855 million tonnes. Analysis is carried out with regard to fire pixel temporal persistence, and we note that the majority of African fires are detected only once in consecutive 15 min imaging slots. An investigation of the variability of the diurnal fire cycle is carried out with respect to 20 different land cover types, and whilst differences are noted between land covers, the fire diurnal cycle characteristics for most land cover type are very similar in both African hemispheres. We compare the Fire Radiative Power (FRP derived biomass combustion estimates to burned-areas, both at the scale of individual fires and over the entire continent at a 1-degree scale. Fuel consumption estimates are found to be less than 2 kg/m2 for all land cover types noted to be subject to significant fire activity, and for savanna grasslands where literature values are commonly reported the FRP-derived median fuel consumption estimate of 300 g/m2 is well within commonly quoted values. Meteosat-derived FRP data of the type presented here is now available freely to interested users continuously and in near
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Effects of aerosol from biomass burning on the global radiation budget
Penner, Joyce E.; Dickinson, Robert E.; O'Neill, Christine A.
1992-01-01
An analysis is made of the likely contribution of smoke particles from biomass burning to the global radiation balance. These particles act to reflect solar radiation directly; they also can act as cloud condensation nuclei, increasing the reflectivity of clouds. Together these effects, although uncertain, may add up globally to a cooling effect as large as 2 watts per square meter, comparable to the estimated contribution to sulfate aerosols. Anthropogenic increases of smoke emission thus may have helped weaken the net greenhouse warming from anthropogenic trace gases.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Fast, Jerome D.; Aiken, Allison; Allan, James D.; Alexander, M. L.; Campos, Teresa; Canagaratna, Manjula R.; Chapman, Elaine G.; DeCarlo, Peter; de Foy, B.; Gaffney, Jeffrey; de Gouw, Joost A.; Doran, J. C.; Emmons, L.; Hodzic, Alma; Herndon, Scott C.; Huey, L. G.; Jayne, John T.; Jimenez, Jose L.; Kleinman, Lawrence I.; Kuster, W. C.; Marley, Nancy A.; Russell, Lynn M.; Ochoa, Carlos; Onasch, Timothy B.; Pekour, Mikhail S.; Song, Chen; Ulbrich, Ingrid M.; Warneke, Carsten; Welsh-Bon, Daniel; Wiedinmyer, Christine; Worsnop, Douglas R.; Yu, Xiao-Ying; Zaveri, Rahul A.
2009-08-31
Simulated primary organic aerosols (POA), as well as other particulates and trace gases, in the vicinity of Mexico City are evaluated using measurements collected during the 2006 Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO) field campaigns. Since the emission inventories and dilution will affect predictions of total organic matter and consequently total particulate matter, our objective is to assess the uncertainties in predicted POA before testing and evaluating the performance of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) treatments. Carbon monoxide (CO) is well simulated on most days both over the city and downwind, indicating that transport and mixing processes were usually consistent with the meteorological conditions observed during MILAGRO. Predicted and observed elemental carbon (EC) in the city was similar, but larger errors occurred at remote locations since the CO/EC emission ratios in the national emission inventory were lower than in the metropolitan emission inventory. Components of organic aerosols derived from Positive Matrix Factorization and data from several Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer instruments deployed both at ground sites and on research aircraft are used to evaluate the model. Predicted POA was consistently lower than the measured organic matter at the ground sites, which is consistent with the expectation that SOA should be a large fraction of the total organic matter mass. A much better agreement was found when predicted POA was compared with the sum of "primary anthropogenic" and "primary biomass burning" components on days with relatively low biomass burning, suggesting that the overall magnitude of primary organic particulates released was reasonable. The predicted POA was greater than the total observed organic matter when the aircraft flew directly downwind of large fires, suggesting that biomass burning emission estimates from some large fires may be too high. Predicted total observed organic carbon (TOOC) was
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AIRS Views of Anthropogenic and Biomass Burning CO: INTEX-B/MILAGRO and TEXAQS/GoMACCS
McMillan, W. W.; Warner, J.; Wicks, D.; Barnet, C.; Sachse, G.; Chu, A.; Sparling, L.
2006-12-01
Utilizing the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder's (AIRS) unique spatial and temporal coverage, we present observations of anthropogenic and biomass burning CO emissions as observed by AIRS during the 2006 field experiments INTEX-B/MILAGRO and TEXAQS/GoMACCS. AIRS daily CO maps covering more than 75% of the planet demonstrate the near global transport of these emissions. AIRS day/night coverage of significant portions of the Earth often show substantial changes in 12 hours or less. However, the coarse vertical resolution of AIRS retrieved CO complicates its interpretation. For example, extensive CO emissions are evident from Asia during April and May 2006, but it is difficult to determine the relative contributions of biomass burning in Thailand vs. domestic and industrial emissions from China. Similarly, sometimes AIRS sees enhanced CO over and downwind of Mexico City and other populated areas. AIRS low information content and decreasing sensitivity in the boundary layer can result in underestimates of CO total columns and free tropospheric abundances. Building on our analyses of INTEX-A/ICARTT data from 2004, we present comparisons with INTEX-B/MILAGRO and TEXAQS/GoMACCS in situ aircraft measurements and other satellite CO observations. The combined analysis of AIRS CO, water vapor and O3 retrievals; MODIS aerosol optical depths; and forward trajectory computations illuminate a variety of dynamical processes in the troposphere.
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Forest biomass diversion in the Sierra Nevada: Energy, economics and emissions
Bruce Springsteen; Thomas Christofk; Robert A. York; Tad Mason; Stephen Baker; Emily Lincoln; Bruce Hartsough; Takuyuki Yoshioka
2015-01-01
As an alternative to open pile burning, use of forest wastes from fuel hazard reduction projects at Blodgett Forest Research Station for electricity production was shown to produce energy and emission benefits: energy (diesel fuel) expended for processing and transport was 2.5% of the biomass fuel (energy equivalent); based on measurements from a large pile...
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Ito, A.; Akimoto, H.
2006-12-01
We estimate the emissions of black carbon (BC) from open vegetation fires in southern hemisphere Africa from 1998 to 2005 using satellite information in conjunction with a biogeochemical model. Monthly burned areas at a 0.5-degree resolution are estimated from the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) fire count product and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burned area data set associated with the MODIS tree cover imagery in grasslands and woodlands. The monthly fuel load distribution is derived from a 0.5- degree terrestrial carbon cycle model in conjunction with satellite data. The monthly maps of combustion factor and emission factor are estimated using empirical models that predict the effects of fuel conditions on these factors in grasslands and woodlands. Our annual averaged BC emitted per unit area burned is 0.17 g BC m-2 which is consistent with the product of fuel consumption and emission factor typically measured in southern Africa. The BC emissions from open vegetation burning in southern Africa ranged from 0.26 Tg BC yr-1 for 2002 to 0.42 Tg BC yr-1 for 1998. The peak in BC emissions is identical to that from previous top-down estimate using the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Aerosol Index (AI) data. The sum of monthly emissions during the burning season in 2000 is in good agreement between our estimate (0.38 Tg) and previous estimate constrained by numerical model and measurements (0.47 Tg).
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Hennigan, Christopher J.; Westervelt, Daniel M.; Riipinen, Ilona; Engelhart, Gabriella J.; Lee, Taehyoung; Collett, Jeffrey L., Jr.; Pandis, Spyros N.; Adams, Peter J.; Robinson, Allen L.
2012-05-01
Experiments were performed in an environmental chamber to characterize the effects of photo-chemical aging on biomass burning emissions. Photo-oxidation of dilute exhaust from combustion of 12 different North American fuels induced significant new particle formation that increased the particle number concentration by a factor of four (median value). The production of secondary organic aerosol caused these new particles to grow rapidly, significantly enhancing cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. Using inputs derived from these new data, global model simulations predict that nucleation in photo-chemically aging fire plumes produces dramatically higher CCN concentrations over widespread areas of the southern hemisphere during the dry, burning season (Sept.-Oct.), improving model predictions of surface CCN concentrations. The annual indirect forcing from CCN resulting from nucleation and growth in biomass burning plumes is predicted to be -0.2 W m-2, demonstrating that this effect has a significant impact on climate that has not been previously considered.
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Particulate and trace gas emissions from large biomass fires in North America
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Radke, L.F.; Hegg, D.A.; Hobbs, P.V.; Nance, J.D.; Lyons, J.H.; Laursen, K.K.; Weiss, R.E.; Riggan, P.J.; Ward, D.E.
1991-01-01
In this chapter the authors describe the results of airborne studies of smokes from 17 biomass fuel fires, including 14 prescribed fires and 3 wildfires, burned primarily in the temperature zone of North America between 34 degree and 49 degree N latitude. The prescribed fires were in forested lands and logging debris and varied in areas burned from 10 to 700 hectares (ha) (over a few hours). One of the wildfires ultimately consumed 20,000 h a and burned over a period of weeks. The larger fires produced towering columns of smoke and capping water clouds. As an indication of scale, the prescribed fires were visible only as small features in meteorological satellite imagery, but one of the wildfires studied produced a persistent, visible plume more than 1,000 kilometers (km) long. The studies have focused on factors that could impact global climate through alteration of the earth's radiation balance. These include emissions of trace gases and smoke particles from biomass burning, the optical properties of the smoke, and the interaction of the smoke particles with clouds
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Laboratory characterization of PM emissions from combustion of wildland biomass fuels
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hosseini, SeyedEhsan; Urbanski, Shawn; Dixit, P.; Qi, L.; Burling, Ian R.; Yokelson, Robert; Johnson, Timothy J.; Shrivastava, ManishKumar B.; Jung, H.; Weise, David; Miller, J. Wayne; Cocker, David R.
2013-09-09
Particle emissions from open burning of southwestern (SW) and southeastern (SE) U.S. 17 fuel types during 77 controlled laboratory burns are presented. The fuels include SW 18 vegetation types: ceanothus, chamise/scrub oak, coastal sage scrub, California sagebrush, 19 manzanita, maritime chaparral, masticated mesquite, oak savanna, and oak woodland as 20 well as SE vegetation types: 1-year, 2-year rough, pocosin, chipped understory, 21 understory hardwood, and pine litter. The SW fuels burned at a higher Modified 22 Combustion Efficiency (MCE) than the SE fuels resulting in lower particulate matter 23 (PM) mass emission factor (EF). Particle size distributions for six fuels and particle 24 number emission or all fuels are reported. Excellent mass closure (slope = 1.00, r2=0.94) 25 between ions, metals, and carbon with total weight was obtained. Organic carbon 26 emission factors inversely correlated (= 0.72) with MCE, while elemental carbon (EC) 27 had little correlation with MCE (=0.10). The EC/total carbon (TC) ratio sharply 28 increased with MCE for MCEs exceeding 0.94. The average levoglucosan and total Poly 29 Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) emissions factors ranged from 25-1272 mg/kg fuel and 30 1790-11300 μg/kg fuel, respectively. No correlation between MCE and emissions of 31 PAHs/levoglucosan was found. Additionally, PAH diagnostic ratios were observed to be 32 poor indicators of biomass burning. Large fuel-type and regional dependency was 33 observed in the emission rates of ammonium, nitrate, fluoride, chloride, sodium, and
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Burning characteristics of chemically isolated biomass ingredients
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Haykiri-Acma, H.; Yaman, S.; Kucukbayrak, S.
2011-01-01
This study was performed to investigate the burning characteristics of isolated fractions of a biomass species. So, woody shells of hazelnut were chemically treated to obtain the fractions of extractives-free bulk, lignin, and holocellulose. Physical characterization of these fractions were determined by SEM technique, and the burning runs were carried out from ambient to 900 o C applying thermal analysis techniques of TGA, DTG, DTA, and DSC. The non-isothermal model of Borchardt-Daniels was used to DSC data to find the kinetic parameters. Burning properties of each fraction were compared to those of the raw material to describe their effects on burning, and to interpret the synergistic interactions between the fractions in the raw material. It was found that each of the fractions has its own characteristic physical and thermal features. Some of the characteristic points on the thermograms of the fractions could be followed definitely on those of the raw material, while some of them seriously shifted to other temperatures or disappeared as a result of the co-existence of the ingredients. Also, it is concluded that the presence of hemicellulosics and celluloses makes the burning of lignin easier in the raw material compared to the isolated lignin. The activation energies can be arranged in the order of holocellulose < extractives-free biomass < raw material < lignin.
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DeWitt, L.; Gasore, J.; Rupakheti, M.; Potter, K. E.; Prinn, R. G.
2017-12-01
Air pollution is largely unstudied in sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in a large gap in scientific understanding of emissions, atmospheric processes and impacts of air pollutants in this region. The Rwanda Climate Observatory, a joint partnership between MIT and the government of Rwanda, has been measuring ambient concentrations of key long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived climate-forcing pollutants (CO2, CO, CH4, BC, O3) on the summit of Mt. Mugogo (1.586°S, 29.566°E, 2500 m above sea level) since May 2015. Rwanda is a small, mountainous, and densely populated country in equatorial East Africa currently undergoing rapid development. The location and meteorology of Rwanda is such that emissions transported from both the northern and southern African biomass burning seasons affect BC, CO, and O3 concentrations in Rwanda. Black carbon concentrations during Rwanda's two dry seasons are higher at Mt. Mugogo, a rural site, than in major European cities. Higher BC baseline concentrations at Mugogo are correlated with fire radiative power data for the region acquired with MODIS satellite instrument. Spectral absorption of aerosol measured with a dual-spot aethalometer also varies seasonally, likely due to change in fuel burned and direction of pollution transport to the site. Ozone concentration was found to be higher in air masses from southern Africa than from northern Africa during their respective biomass burning seasons. The higher ozone concentration in air masses from the south could be indicative of more anthropogenic influence as Rwanda is downwind of major East African capitals in this season. During the rainy seasons, local emitting activities (e.g., cooking, driving, trash burning) remain steady, regional biomass burning is low, and transport distances are shorter as rainout of pollution occurs regularly, which allows estimation of local pollution during this time period. Urban PM2.5 measurements in the capital city of Kigali and from the neighboring
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
R. J. Parker
2016-08-01
Full Text Available The 2015–2016 strong El Niño event has had a dramatic impact on the amount of Indonesian biomass burning, with the El Niño-driven drought further desiccating the already-drier-than-normal landscapes that are the result of decades of peatland draining, widespread deforestation, anthropogenically driven forest degradation and previous large fire events. It is expected that the 2015–2016 Indonesian fires will have emitted globally significant quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs to the atmosphere, as did previous El Niño-driven fires in the region. The form which the carbon released from the combustion of the vegetation and peat soils takes has a strong bearing on its atmospheric chemistry and climatological impacts. Typically, burning in tropical forests and especially in peatlands is expected to involve a much higher proportion of smouldering combustion than the more flaming-characterised fires that occur in fine-fuel-dominated environments such as grasslands, consequently producing significantly more CH4 (and CO per unit of fuel burned. However, currently there have been no aircraft campaigns sampling Indonesian fire plumes, and very few ground-based field campaigns (none during El Niño, so our understanding of the large-scale chemical composition of these extremely significant fire plumes is surprisingly poor compared to, for example, those of southern Africa or the Amazon.Here, for the first time, we use satellite observations of CH4 and CO2 from the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT made in large-scale plumes from the 2015 El Niño-driven Indonesian fires to probe aspects of their chemical composition. We demonstrate significant modifications in the concentration of these species in the regional atmosphere around Indonesia, due to the fire emissions.Using CO and fire radiative power (FRP data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Service, we identify fire-affected GOSAT soundings and show that peaks in fire activity are followed by
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Liu, Xiaoxi; University of Colorado, Boulder, CO; Huey, L. Gregory; Yokelson, Robert J.; Selimovic, Vanessa
2017-01-01
Wildfires emit significant amounts of pollutants that degrade air quality. Plumes from three wildfires in the western U.S. were measured from aircraft during the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) and the Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP), both in summer 2013. This study reports an extensive set of emission factors (EFs) for over 80 gases and 5 components of submicron particulate matter (PM 1 ) from these temperate wildfires. These include rarely, or never before, measured oxygenated volatile organic compounds and multifunctional organic nitrates. The observed EFs are compared with previous measurements of temperate wildfires, boreal forest fires, and temperate prescribed fires. Furthermore, the wildfires emitted high amounts of PM 1 (with organic aerosol (OA) dominating the mass) with an average EF that is more than 2 times the EFs for prescribed fires. The measured EFs were used to estimate the annual wildfire emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, total nonmethane organic compounds, and PM 1 from 11 western U.S. states. The estimated gas emissions are generally comparable with the 2011 National Emissions Inventory (NEI). However, our PM 1 emission estimate (1530 ± 570 Gg yr -1 ) is over 3 times that of the NEI PM2.5 estimate and is also higher than the PM2.5 emitted from all other sources in these states in the NEI. This study indicates that the source of OA from biomass burning in the western states is significantly underestimated. Additionally, our results indicate that prescribed burning may be an effective method to reduce fine particle emissions.
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Alvarado, M. J.; Lonsdale, C. R.; Brodowski, C. M.
2017-12-01
One of the challenges of using in situ measurements to study the air quality and climate impacts of biomass burning is correctly determining the contribution of biomass burning sources to the measured ambient concentrations. This is especially important for policy purposes, as the ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from natural wildfires should not be confused with that from controllable anthropogenic sources. We have developed a Lagrangian chemical transport model called STILT-ASP that is able to quantify the impact of wildfire events on O3 and PM2.5 measurements made at surface monitoring sites, by mobile laboratories, or by aircraft. STILT-ASP is built by coupling the Stochastic Time Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model with AER's Aerosol Simulation Program (ASP), which has been used in many studies of the gas and aerosol chemistry of biomass burning smoke. Here we present recent revisions made in STILT-ASP v2.0, including the use of more detailed chemical speciation of fire emissions and biogenic emissions calculated using the MEGAN model with meteorological inputs consistent with those used to drive STILT. We will present the results of an evaluation of the performance of STILT-ASP v2.0 using surface, mobile lab, and aircraft data from the 2013 Houston DISCOVER-AQ campaign. STILT-ASP v2.0 showed good average performance for O3 during the peak of the high O3 episodes on Sept. 25-26, 2013, with a mean bias of -4 ppbv. We will also demonstrate the use of STILT-ASP to evaluate the impact of biomass burning on O3 and PM2.5 in urban areas and to assess the impact of remote fires on the boundary conditions used in Eulerian chemical transport models like CAMx.
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PM10 emissions and PAHs: The importance of biomass type and combustion conditions.
Zosima, Angela T; Tzimou-Tsitouridou, Roxani D; Nikolaki, Spyridoula; Zikopoulos, Dimitrios; Ochsenkühn-Petropoulou, Maria Th
2016-01-01
The aim of the present work was to investigate the impact of biomass combustion with respect to conditions and fuel types on particle emissions (PM10) and their PAHs content. Special concern was on sampling, quantification and characterization of PM using different appliances, fuels and operating procedures. For this purpose different lab-scale burning conditions, two pellets stoves (8.5 and 10 kW) and one open fireplace were tested by using eight fuel types of biomass. An analytical method is described for the quantitative determination of 16 PAHs using liquid-liquid extraction and subsequent measurement by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Average PM10 emissions ranged from about 65 to 170 mg/m(3) at lab-scale combustions with flow oxygen at 13% in the exhaust gas, 85-220 mg/m(3) at 20% O2, 47-83 mg/m(3) at pellet stove of 10 kW, 34-69 mg/m(3) at pellet stove of 8.5 kW and 106-194 mg/m(3) at the open fireplace. The maximum permitted particle emission limit is 150 mg/m(3). Pellets originated from olive trees and from nonmixture trees were found to emit the lowest particulate matter in relation to the others, so they are considered healthiest and suitable for domestic heating reasons. In general, the results show that biomass open burning is an important PM10 and PAHs emission source.
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Logan, J. A.
2010-12-01
Significant progress has been made in using satellite data to provide bottom-up constraints on biomass burning (BB) emissions. However, inverse studies with CO satellite data imply that tropical emissions are underestimated by current inventories, while model simulations of the ARCTAS period imply that the FLAMBE estimates of extratropical emissions are significantly overestimated. Injection heights of emissions from BB have been quantified recently using MISR data, and these data provide some constraints on 1-d plume models. I will discuss recent results in these areas, highlighting future research needs.
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Ito, Akinori; Ito, Akihiko; Akimoto, Hajime
2007-06-01
We estimate the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and black carbon (BC) from open vegetation fires in the Southern Hemisphere Africa from 1998 to 2005 using satellite information in conjunction with a biogeochemical model. Monthly burned areas at a 0.5-degree resolution are estimated from the Visible InfraRed Scanner (VIRS) fire count product and the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burned area data set associated with the MODIS tree cover imagery in grasslands and woodlands. The monthly fuel load distributions are derived from a 0.5-degree terrestrial carbon cycle model in conjunction with satellite data. The monthly maps of combustion factors and emission factors are estimated using empirical models that predict the effects of fuel conditions on these factors in grasslands and woodlands. Our annually averaged effective CO and BC emissions per area burned are 27 g CO m-2 and 0.17 g BC m-2 which are consistent with the products of fuel consumption and emission factors typically measured in southern Africa. The CO and BC emissions from open vegetation burning in southern Africa range from 45 Tg CO yr-1 and 0.26 Tg BC yr-1 for 2002 to 75 Tg CO yr-1 and 0.42 Tg BC yr-1 for 1998. The monthly averaged burned areas from VIRS fire counts peak earlier than modeled CO emissions. This characteristic delay between burned areas and emissions is mainly explained by significant changes in combustion factors for woodlands in our model. Consequently, the peaks in CO and BC emissions from our bottom-up approach are identical to those from previous top-down estimates using the Measurement Of the Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Aerosol Index (AI) data.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yadav, Ishwar Chandra; Linthoingambi Devi, Ningombam; Li, Jun; Syed, Jabir Hussain; Zhang, Gan; Watanabe, Hirozumi
2017-01-01
Although, many biomass burning (BB) emissions products (particulate matter and trace gases) are believed to be trans-boundary pollutants that originates from India and China (the two most populous countries in Asia), the information about BB emission and related contents is limited for Indo-China Peninsula (ICP) region. This motivated us to review this region pertaining to BB emission. The main objective of the review is to document the current status of BB emission in ICP region. In order to highlight the impact of BB on regional air quality and global climate change, the role of BB emission in ICP region is also discussed. Based on the available literature and modeling simulations studies, it is evidenced that ICP is one of the hotspot regional source for aerosols in terms of BB emissions. In addition, regional emissions through BB have significant implications for regional air quality especially in the neighboring countries such as China, Taiwan and India. Our assessment highlight that there is still a general lack of reliable data and research studies addressing BB related issues in context of environmental and human health. There is therefore a critical need to improve the current knowledge base, which should build upon the research experience and further research into these issues is considered vital to help inform future policies/control strategies. - Highlights: • Forest burning is the main sources of BB emissions in the ICP region. • ICP is one of the hotspot regional source for aerosols in terms of BB emissions. • BB emission in ICP significantly affects regional air quality and global climate. - Indo-China Peninsula is one of the hotspot sources of aerosols in terms of biomass burning emissions that significantly influence regional air quality and global climate change.
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Fossil fuel and biomass burning effect on climate - Heating or cooling?
Kaufman, Yoram J.; Fraser, Robert S.; Mahoney, Robert L.
1991-01-01
The basic theory of the effect of pollution on cloud microphysics and its global implications is applied to compare the relative effect of a small increase in the consumption rate of oil, coal, or biomass burning on cooling and heating of the atmosphere. The characteristics of and evidence for the SO2 induced cooling effect are reviewed. This perturbation analysis approach permits linearization, therefore simplifying the analysis and reducing the number of uncertain parameters. For biomass burning the analysis is restricted to burning associated with deforestation. Predictions of the effect of an increase in oil or coal burning show that within the present conditions the cooling effect from oil and coal burning may range from 0.4 to 8 times the heating effect.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Prasad, Anup K.; El-Askary, Hesham; Kafatos, Menas
2010-01-01
The air over major cities and rural regions of the Nile Delta is highly polluted during autumn which is the biomass burning season, locally known as black cloud. Previous studies have attributed the increased pollution levels during the black cloud season to the biomass or open burning of agricultural waste, vehicular, industrial emissions, and secondary aerosols. However, new multi-sensor observations (column and vertical profiles) from satellites, dust transport models and associated meteorology present a different picture of the autumn pollution. Here we show, for the first time, the evidence of long range transport of dust at high altitude (2.5-6 km) from Western Sahara and its deposition over the Nile Delta region unlike current Models. The desert dust is found to be a major contributor to the local air quality which was previously considered to be due to pollution from biomass burning enhanced by the dominant northerly winds coming from Europe. - New evidence of desert dust transport from Western Sahara to Nile Delta during black cloud season and its significance for regional aerosols, dust models, and potential impact on the regional climate.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Prasad, Anup K., E-mail: aprasad@chapman.ed [School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States); Center of Excellence in Earth Observing, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States); El-Askary, Hesham [School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States); Center of Excellence in Earth Observing, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States); Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Moharem Bek, Alexandria 21522 (Egypt); National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Science (NARSS), Cairo (Egypt); Kafatos, Menas [School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States); Center of Excellence in Earth Observing, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866 (United States)
2010-11-15
The air over major cities and rural regions of the Nile Delta is highly polluted during autumn which is the biomass burning season, locally known as black cloud. Previous studies have attributed the increased pollution levels during the black cloud season to the biomass or open burning of agricultural waste, vehicular, industrial emissions, and secondary aerosols. However, new multi-sensor observations (column and vertical profiles) from satellites, dust transport models and associated meteorology present a different picture of the autumn pollution. Here we show, for the first time, the evidence of long range transport of dust at high altitude (2.5-6 km) from Western Sahara and its deposition over the Nile Delta region unlike current Models. The desert dust is found to be a major contributor to the local air quality which was previously considered to be due to pollution from biomass burning enhanced by the dominant northerly winds coming from Europe. - New evidence of desert dust transport from Western Sahara to Nile Delta during black cloud season and its significance for regional aerosols, dust models, and potential impact on the regional climate.
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Improving biomass burning pollution predictions in Singapore using AERONET and Lidar observations.
Hardacre, Catherine; Chew, Boon Ning; Gan, Christopher; Burgin, Laura; Hort, Matthew; Lee, Shao Yi; Shaw, Felicia; Witham, Claire
2016-04-01
Every year millions of people are affected by poor air quality from trans-boundary smoke haze emitted from large scale biomass burning in Asia. These fires are a particular problem in the Indonesian regions of Sumatra and Kalimantan where peat fires, lit to clear land for oil palm plantations and agriculture, typically result in high levels of particulate matter (PM) emissions. In June 2013 and from August-October 2015 the combination of widespread burning, meteorological and climatological conditions resulted in severe air pollution throughout Southeast Asia. The Met Office of the United Kingdom (UKMO) and the Hazard and Risk Impact Assessment Unit of the Meteorological Service of Singapore (MSS) have developed a quantitative haze forecast to provide a reliable, routine warning of haze events in the Singapore region. The forecast system uses the UKMO's Lagrangian particle dispersion model NAME (Numerical Atmosphere-dispersion Modelling Environment) in combination with high resolution, satellite based emission data from the Global Fire Emissions System (GFAS). The buoyancy of biomass burning smoke and it's rise through the atmosphere has a large impact on the amount of air pollution at the Earth's surface. This is important in Singapore, which is affected by pollution that has travelled long distances and that will have a vertical distribution influenced by meteorology. The vertical distribution of atmospheric aerosol can be observed by Lidar which provides information about haze plume structure. NAME output from two severe haze periods that occurred in June 2013 and from August-October 2015 was compared with observations of total column aerosol optical depth (AOD) from AERONET stations in Singapore and the surrounding region, as well as vertically resolved Lidar data from a station maintained by MSS and from MPLNET. Comparing total column and vertically resolved AOD observations with NAME output indicates that the model underestimates PM concentrations throughout
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Dubey, M. K.; Bixler, S. L.; Romonosky, D.; Lam, J.; Carrico, C.; Aiken, A. C.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning aerosol emissions have substantially increased with observed warming and drying in the southwestern US. While wildfires are projected to intensify missing knowledge on the aerosols hampers assessments. Observations demonstrate that enhanced light absorption by coated black carbon and brown carbon can offset the cooling effects of organic aerosols in wildfires. However, if mixing processes that enhance this absorption reduce the aerosol lifetime it would lower their atmospheric burden. In order to elucidate mechanisms regulating this tradeoff we performed laboratory studies of smoke from biomass burning. We focus on aerosol optical properties and their hygroscopic response. Fresh emissions from burning 30 fuels under flaming and smoldering conditions were investigated. We measured aerosol absorption, scattering and extinction at multiple wavelengths, water uptake at 85% relative humidity (fRH85%) with a humidity controlled dual nephelometer, and black carbon mass with a SP2. Trace gases and the ionic content of the fuel and smoke were also measured We find that whereas the optical properties of smoke were strongly dictated by the flaming versus smoldering nature of the burn, the observed hygroscopicity was intimately linked to the chemical composition of the fuel. The mean hygroscopicity ranged from nearly hydrophobic (fRH85% = 1) to very hydrophilic (fRH85% = 2.1) values typical of pure deliquescent salts. The k values varied from 0.004 to 0.18 and correlated well with inorganic content. Inorganic fuel content was the key driver of hygroscopicity with combustion phase playing a secondary but important role ( 20%). Flaming combustion promoted hygroscopicity by generating refractory black carbon and ions. Smoldering combustion suppressed hygroscopicity by producing hydrogenated organic species. Wildfire smoke was hydrophobic since the evergreen species with low inorganic content dominated in these fires. We also quantify the mass absorption cross
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Biomass Burning Research Using DOE ARM Single-Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) Field Campaign Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Onasch, Timothy B [Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA (United States); Sedlacek, Arthur J [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Lewis, Ernie [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
2017-03-01
The focus of this laboratory study was to investigate the chemical and optical properties, and the detection efficiencies, of tar balls generated in the laboratory using the same instruments deployed on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Gulfstream-1 (G-1) aircraft during the 2013 Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) field study, during which tar balls were observed in wildland biomass burning particulate emissions. Key goals of this laboratory study were: (a) measuring the chemical composition of tar balls to provide insights into the atmospheric processes that form (evaporation/oxidation) and modify them in biomass burning plumes, (b) identifying whether tar balls contain refractory black carbon, (c) determining the collection efficiencies of tar balls impacting on the 600oC heated tungsten vaporizer in the Aerodyne Soot Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP-AMS) (i.e., given the observed low volatilities, AMS measurements might underestimate organic biomass burning plume loadings), and (d) measuring the wavelength-dependent, mass-specific absorption cross-sections of brown carbon components of tar balls. This project was funded primarily by the DOE Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program, and the ARM Facility made their single-particle soot photometer (SP2) available for September 1-September 31, 2016 in the Aerodyne laboratories. The ARM mentor (Dr. Sedlacek) requested no funds for mentorship or data reduction. All ARM SP2 data collected as part of this project are archived in the ARM Data Archive in accordance with established protocols. The main objectives of the ARM Biomass Burning Observation Period (BBOP, July-October, 2013) field campaign were to (1) assess the impact of wildland fires in the Pacific Northwest on climate, through near-field and regional intensive measurement campaigns, and (2) investigate agricultural burns to determine how those biomass burn plumes differ from
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A review of biomass burning: Emissions and impacts on air quality, health and climate in China.
Chen, Jianmin; Li, Chunlin; Ristovski, Zoran; Milic, Andelija; Gu, Yuantong; Islam, Mohammad S; Wang, Shuxiao; Hao, Jiming; Zhang, Hefeng; He, Congrong; Guo, Hai; Fu, Hongbo; Miljevic, Branka; Morawska, Lidia; Thai, Phong; Lam, Yun Fat; Pereira, Gavin; Ding, Aijun; Huang, Xin; Dumka, Umesh C
2017-02-01
Biomass burning (BB) is a significant air pollution source, with global, regional and local impacts on air quality, public health and climate. Worldwide an extensive range of studies has been conducted on almost all the aspects of BB, including its specific types, on quantification of emissions and on assessing its various impacts. China is one of the countries where the significance of BB has been recognized, and a lot of research efforts devoted to investigate it, however, so far no systematic reviews were conducted to synthesize the information which has been emerging. Therefore the aim of this work was to comprehensively review most of the studies published on this topic in China, including literature concerning field measurements, laboratory studies and the impacts of BB indoors and outdoors in China. In addition, this review provides insights into the role of wildfire and anthropogenic BB on air quality and health globally. Further, we attempted to provide a basis for formulation of policies and regulations by policy makers in China. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Trace gas emissions to the atmosphere by biomass burning in the west African savannas
Frouin, Robert J.; Iacobellis, Samuel F.; Razafimpanilo, Herisoa; Somerville, Richard C. J.
1994-01-01
Savanna fires and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) detection and estimating burned area using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer_(AVHRR) reflectance data are investigated in this two part research project. The first part involves carbon dioxide flux estimates and a three-dimensional transport model to quantify the effect of north African savanna fires on atmospheric CO2 concentration, including CO2 spatial and temporal variability patterns and their significance to global emissions. The second article describes two methods used to determine burned area from AVHRR data. The article discusses the relationship between the percentage of burned area and AVHRR channel 2 reflectance (the linear method) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (the nonlinear method). A comparative performance analysis of each method is described.
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Lan, R.; Cohen, J. B.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning over the South, South East and East Asian Monsoon regions, is a crucial contributor to the total local aerosol loading. Furthermore, the impact of the ITCZ, and Monsoonal circulation patterns coupled with complex topography also have a prominent impact on the aerosol loading throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, at the present time, biomass burning emissions are highly underestimated over this region, in part due to under-reported emissions in space and time, and in part due to an incomplete understanding of the physics and chemistry of the aerosols emitted in fires and formed downwind from them. Hence, a better understanding of the four-dimensional source distribution, plume rise, and in-situ processing, in particular in regions with significant quantities of urban air pollutants, is essential to advance our knowledge of this problem. This work uses a new modeling methodology based on the simultaneous constraints of measured AOD and some trace gasses over the region. The results of the 4-D constrained emissions are further expanded upon using different fire plume height rise and in-situ processing assumptions. Comparisons between the results and additional ground-based and remotely sensed measurements, including AERONET, CALIOP, and NOAA and other ground networks are included. The end results reveal a trio of insights into the nonlinear processes most-important to understand the impacts of biomass burning in this part of the world. Model-measurement comparisons are found to be consistent during the typical burning years of 2016. First, the model performs better under the new emissions representations, than it does using any of the standard hotspot based approaches currently employed by the community. Second, long range transport and mixing between the boundary layer and free troposphere contribute to the spatial-temporal variations. Third, we indicate some source regions that are new, either because of increased urbanization, or of
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Possible indicators for bio-mass burning in a small Swedish city as studied by EDXRF techniques
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lindgren, E.S.; Henriksson, D.; Therning, P.; Laursen, J.; Pind, N.
2005-01-01
Full text: One of the major challenges in air pollution research is to make source apportionment from different sources of pollution. Examples of anthropogenic large sources of global impact are vehicle exhaust, oil and coal fired power and heat plants, industrial emissions and bio-mass burning. The relative contributions of these sources are usually difficult to evaluate due to the complexity of the ambient aerosol. XRS is one of the most reliable methods for giving information on elemental composition and elemental ratios of the aerosol particles. If this information is combined with data on other components in the polluted air there is a better chance of identifying the relative strengths of different pollution sources to the air quality in a specific location. In the present work XRS analysis has been performed on aerosol particles, PM 2,5 and PM 2,5-10 which were sampled in the centre of the small Swedish city of Vaexjoe, with the special aim to identify the possible contribution of bio-mass burning to the air pollution. In order to identify typical indicators for bio-mass burning principle component analysis was performed on data of elemental contents, black carbon and gaseous species in the aerosol
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Aerial- and ground-sampled emissions from three prescribed forest burns in the southeastern U.S. were compared to emissions from laboratory open burn tests using biomass from the same locations. A comprehensive array of emissions, including PM2.5, black carbon (BC), brown carbon ...
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Biomass Burning 5x5 degree data in Native Format
National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The BIO_MASS_5X5_HAO_NAT data set contains data representing the geographical and temporal distribution of total amount of biomass burned. The data were collected by...
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Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
无
2010-01-01
Crop residue,animal manure and MSW are selected as representative biomass waste.Greenhouse gas emissions from treatment and disposal process of biomass waste in Hebei province are estimated for the period from 2002 to 2007,using the methodologies recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Greenhouse gas emission was about 10 Mt CO2-equivalent annually.About 6% of greenhouse gas emission came from open burning of crop residue,74% from management system of animal manure,and 20% from MSW disposal.Among all the greenhouse gas sources,landfill is the most concentrated one,and has significant potential of emission reduction.
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Equipment for biomass. Wood burners; Materiels pour la biomasse, les chaudieres bois
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Chieze, B. [SA Compte R., 63 - Arlanc (France)
1997-12-31
A review of the French classification of biomass wastes (and more especially wood and wood wastes) concerning classified burning equipment, is presented: special authorization is thus needed for burning residues from wood second transformation processes. Limits for combustion product emission levels are detailed and their impact on wood burning and process equipment is examined: feeder, combustion chamber, exchanger, fume treatment device, residue disposal. Means for reducing pollutant emissions are reviewed
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Highly-controlled, reproducible measurements of aerosol emissions from African biomass combustion
Haslett, Sophie; Thomas, J. Chris; Morgan, William; Hadden, Rory; Liu, Dantong; Allan, James; Williams, Paul; Sekou, Keïta; Liousse, Catherine; Coe, Hugh
2017-04-01
Particulate emissions from biomass burning can alter the atmosphere's radiative balance and cause significant harm to human health. However, the relationship between these emissions and fundamental combustion processes is, to date, poorly characterised. In atmospheric models, aerosol emissions are represented by emission factors based on mass loss, which are averaged over an entire combustion event for each particulate species. This approach, however, masks huge variability in emissions during different phases of the combustion period. Laboratory tests have shown that even small changes to the burning environment can lead to huge variation in observed aerosol emission factors (Akagi et al., 2011). In order to address this gap in understanding, in this study, small wood samples sourced from Côte D'Ivoire were burned in a highly-controlled laboratory environment. The shape and mass of samples, available airflow and surrounding heat were carefully regulated. Organic aerosol and refractory black carbon emissions were measured in real-time using an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer and a Single Particle Soot Photometer, respectively. Both of these instruments are used regularly to measure aerosol concentrations in the field. This methodology produced remarkably repeatable results, allowing three different phases of combustion to be identified by their emissions. Black carbon was emitted predominantly during flaming combustion; organic aerosols were emitted during pyrolysis before ignition and from smouldering-dominated behaviour near the end of combustion. During the flaming period, there was a strong correlation between the emission of black carbon and the rate of mass loss, which suggests there is value in employing a mass-based emission factor for this species. However, very little correlation was seen between organic aerosol and mass loss throughout the tests. As such, results here suggest that emission factors averaged over an entire combustion event are unlikely to be
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Soja, A. J.; Stocks, B. J.; Carr, R.; Pierce, R. B.; Natarajan, M.; Fromm, M.
2009-05-01
Current climate change scenarios predict increases in biomass burning in terms of increases in fire frequency, area burned, fire season length and fire season severity, particularly in boreal regions. Climate and weather control fire danger, which strongly influences the severity of fire events, and these in turn, feed back to the climate system through direct and indirect emissions, modifying cloud condensation nuclei and altering albedo (affecting the energy balance) through vegetative land cover change and deposition. Additionally, fire emissions adversely influence air quality and human health downwind of burning. The boreal zone is significant because this region stores the largest reservoir of terrestrial carbon, globally, and will experience climate change impacts earliest. Boreal biomass burning is an integral component to several of the primary goals of the ARCTAS (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites) and ARCPAC (Aerosol, Radiation, and Cloud Processes affecting Arctic Climate) 2008 field campaigns, which include its implication for atmospheric composition and climate, aerosol radiative forcing, and chemical processes with a focus on ozone and aerosols. Both the spring and summer phases of ARCTAS and ARCPAC offered substantial opportunities for sampling fresh and aged biomass burning emissions. However, the extent to which spring biomass burning influenced arctic haze was unexpected, which could inform our knowledge of the formation of arctic haze and the early deposition of black carbon on the icy arctic surface. There is already evidence of increased extreme fire seasons that correlate with warming across the circumboreal zone. In this presentation, we discuss seasonal and annual fire activity and anomalies that relate to the ARCTAS and ARCPAC spring (April 1 - 20) and summer (June 18 - July 13) periods across Siberia and North America, with particular emphasis on fire danger and fire behavior as they relate
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Liu, Xiaoxi; Huey, L. Gregory; Yokelson, Robert J.; Selimovic, Vanessa; Simpson, Isobel J.; Müller, Markus; Jimenez, Jose L.; Campuzano-Jost, Pedro; Beyersdorf, Andreas J.; Blake, Donald R.; Butterfield, Zachary; Choi, Yonghoon; Crounse, John D.; Day, Douglas A.; Diskin, Glenn S.; Dubey, Manvendra K.; Fortner, Edward; Hanisco, Thomas F.; Hu, Weiwei; King, Laura E.; Kleinman, Lawrence; Meinardi, Simone; Mikoviny, Tomas; Onasch, Timothy B.; Palm, Brett B.; Peischl, Jeff; Pollack, Ilana B.; Ryerson, Thomas B.; Sachse, Glen W.; Sedlacek, Arthur J.; Shilling, John E.; Springston, Stephen; St. Clair, Jason M.; Tanner, David J.; Teng, Alexander P.; Wennberg, Paul O.; Wisthaler, Armin; Wolfe, Glenn M.
2017-06-01
Wildfires emit significant amounts of pollutants that degrade air quality. Plumes from three wildfires in the western U.S. were measured from aircraft during the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) and the Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP), both in summer 2013. This study reports an extensive set of emission factors (EFs) for over 80 gases and 5 components of submicron particulate matter (PM1) from these temperate wildfires. These include rarely, or never before, measured oxygenated volatile organic compounds and multifunctional organic nitrates. The observed EFs are compared with previous measurements of temperate wildfires, boreal forest fires, and temperate prescribed fires. The wildfires emitted high amounts of PM1 (with organic aerosol (OA) dominating the mass) with an average EF that is more than 2 times the EFs for prescribed fires. The measured EFs were used to estimate the annual wildfire emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, total nonmethane organic compounds, and PM1 from 11 western U.S. states. The estimated gas emissions are generally comparable with the 2011 National Emissions Inventory (NEI). However, our PM1 emission estimate (1530 ± 570 Gg yr-1) is over 3 times that of the NEI PM2.5 estimate and is also higher than the PM2.5 emitted from all other sources in these states in the NEI. This study indicates that the source of OA from biomass burning in the western states is significantly underestimated. In addition, our results indicate that prescribed burning may be an effective method to reduce fine particle emissions.
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Research on burning of biomass fuels, KTH
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hagstroem, U.; Zoukatas, N.; Kutscher, E.; Megas, L.
1983-05-01
The three main principles of combustion, namely burning over the fuel bed, under the bed, and the inverted flame have been investigated. Combustion under the fuel bed rendered the lowest emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, benzopyrene, particulates and tar. Emission is also reduced by preheating the primary incoming air. Burning of pine gives variable emissions whereas birch tree and lying log gives satisfactory combustion. High flame intensity and Reynolds number of the flame zone in the interval 5 to 8 x 10/sup 3/ also give low emission. A conventional wood burner with its flame over the fuel bed and with a water cooled combustion chamber produces 100 times more carbon monoxide than an advanced construction.
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Kelly, Jamie M.; Doherty, Ruth M.; O'Connor, Fiona M.; Mann, Graham W.
2018-05-01
yield, corresponding to an annual global SOA production rate of 70.0 Tg (SOA) a-1. Whilst simulated SOA concentrations improved relative to observations, they were still underestimated in urban environments and overestimated further downwind and in remote environments. In contrast, the inclusion of SOA from isoprene and biomass burning did not improve model-observations biases substantially except at one out of two tropical locations. However, these findings may reflect the very limited availability of observations to evaluate the model, which are primarily located in the NH mid-latitudes where anthropogenic emissions are high. Our results highlight that, within the current uncertainty limits in SOA sources and reaction yields, over the NH mid-latitudes, a large anthropogenic SOA source results in good agreement with observations. However, more observations are needed to establish the importance of biomass burning and biogenic sources of SOA in model agreement with observations.
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Sharma, D; Srivastava, A K; Ram, K; Singh, A; Singh, D
2017-12-01
A comprehensive measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD), particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC) mass concentrations have been carried out over Patiala, a semi-urban site in northwest India during October 2008 to September 2010. The measured aerosol data was incorporated in an aerosol optical model to estimate various aerosol optical parameters, which were subsequently used for radiative forcing estimation. The measured AOD at 500 nm (AOD 500 ) shows a significant seasonal variability, with maximum value of 0.81 during post-monsoon (PoM) and minimum of 0.56 during winter season. The Ångström exponent (α) has higher values (i.e. more fine-mode fraction) during the PoM/winter periods, and lower (i.e. more coarse-mode fraction) during pre-monsoon (PrM). In contrast, turbidity coefficient (β) exhibits an opposite trend to α during the study period. BC mass concentration varies from 2.8 to 13.9 μg m -3 (mean: 6.5 ± 3.2 μg m -3 ) during the entire study period, with higher concentrations during PoM/winter and lower during PrM/monsoon seasons. The average single scattering albedo (SSA at 500 nm) values are 0.70, 0.72, 0.82 and 0.75 during PoM, winter, PrM and monsoon seasons, respectively. However, inter-seasonal and inter-annual variability in measured aerosol parameters are statistically insignificant at Patiala. These results suggest strong changes in emission sources, aerosol composition, meteorological parameters as well as transport of aerosols over the station. Higher values of AOD, α and BC, along with lower SSA during PoM season are attributed to agriculture biomass burning emissions over and around the station. The estimated aerosol radiative forcing within the atmosphere is positive (i.e. warming) during all the seasons with higher values (∼60 Wm -2 ) during PoM-08/PoM-09 and lower (∼40 Wm -2 ) during winter-09/PrM-10. The present study highlights the role of BC aerosols from agricultural biomass burning emissions during post
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Akagi, S. K.; Yokelson, R. J.; Burling, I. R.; Meinardi, S.; Simpson, I.; Blake, D. R.; McMeeking, G. R.; Sullivan, A.; Lee, T.; Kreidenweis, S.; Urbanski, S.; Reardon, J.; Griffith, D. W. T.; Johnson, T. J.; Weise, D. R.
2013-02-01
In October-November 2011 we measured trace gas emission factors from seven prescribed fires in South Carolina (SC), US, using two Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) systems and whole air sampling (WAS) into canisters followed by gas-chromatographic analysis. A total of 97 trace gas species were quantified from both airborne and ground-based sampling platforms, making this one of the most detailed field studies of fire emissions to date. The measurements include the first emission factors for a suite of monoterpenes produced by heating vegetative fuels during field fires. The first quantitative FTIR observations of limonene in smoke are reported along with an expanded suite of monoterpenes measured by WAS including α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, camphene, 4-carene, and myrcene. The known chemistry of the monoterpenes and their measured abundance of 0.4-27.9% of non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs) and ~ 21% of organic aerosol (mass basis) suggests that they impacted secondary formation of ozone (O3), aerosols, and small organic trace gases such as methanol and formaldehyde in the sampled plumes in the first few hours after emission. The variability in the initial terpene emissions in the SC fire plumes was high and, in general, the speciation of the initially emitted gas-phase NMOCs was 13-195% different from that observed in a similar study in nominally similar pine forests in North Carolina ~ 20 months earlier. It is likely that differences in stand structure and environmental conditions contributed to the high variability observed within and between these studies. Similar factors may explain much of the variability in initial emissions in the literature. The ΔHCN/ΔCO emission ratio, however, was found to be fairly consistent with previous airborne fire measurements in other coniferous-dominated ecosystems, with the mean for these studies being 0.90 ± 0.06%, further confirming the value of HCN as a biomass burning tracer. The SC results also
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Qiaoqiao Wang; Min Shao; Ying Liu; Kuster, William; Goldan, Paul; Xiaohua Li; Yuan Liu; Sihua Lu
2007-01-01
The impacts of biomass burning have not been adequately studied in China. In this work, chemical compositions of volatile organic compounds and particulate organic matters were measured in August 2005 in Beijing and in October 2004 in Guangzhou city. The performance of several possible tracers for biomass burning is compared by using acetonitrile as a reference compound. The correlations between the possible tracers and acetonitrile show that the use of K + as a tracer could result in bias because of the existence of other K+ sources in urban areas, while chloromethane is not reliable due to its wide use as industrial chemical. The impact of biomass burning on air quality is estimated using acetonitrile and levoglucosan as tracers. The results show that the impact of biomass burning is ubiquitous in both suburban and urban Guangzhou, and the frequencies of air pollution episodes significantly influenced by biomass burning were 100% for Xinken and 58% for downtown Guangzhou city. Fortunately, the air quality in only 2 out of 22 days was partly impacted by biomass burning in August in Beijing, the month that 2008 Olympic games will take place. The quantitative contribution of biomass burning to ambient PM 2.5 concentrations in Guangzhou city was also estimated by the ratio of levoglocusan to PM 2.5 in both the ambient air and biomass burning plumes. The results show that biomass burning contributes 3.02013;16.8% and 4.02013;19.0% of PM 2.5 concentrations in Xinken and Guangzhou downtown, respectively. (Author)
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Qiaoqiao Wang; Min Shao; Ying Liu [State Joint Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, (China); Kuster, William; Goldan, Paul [Earth System Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Commerce, Boulder, CO 80305, (United States); Xiaohua Li; Yuan Liu; Sihua Lu [State Joint Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, (China)
2007-12-15
The impacts of biomass burning have not been adequately studied in China. In this work, chemical compositions of volatile organic compounds and particulate organic matters were measured in August 2005 in Beijing and in October 2004 in Guangzhou city. The performance of several possible tracers for biomass burning is compared by using acetonitrile as a reference compound. The correlations between the possible tracers and acetonitrile show that the use of K{sup +} as a tracer could result in bias because of the existence of other K+ sources in urban areas, while chloromethane is not reliable due to its wide use as industrial chemical. The impact of biomass burning on air quality is estimated using acetonitrile and levoglucosan as tracers. The results show that the impact of biomass burning is ubiquitous in both suburban and urban Guangzhou, and the frequencies of air pollution episodes significantly influenced by biomass burning were 100% for Xinken and 58% for downtown Guangzhou city. Fortunately, the air quality in only 2 out of 22 days was partly impacted by biomass burning in August in Beijing, the month that 2008 Olympic games will take place. The quantitative contribution of biomass burning to ambient PM{sub 2.5} concentrations in Guangzhou city was also estimated by the ratio of levoglocusan to PM{sub 2.5} in both the ambient air and biomass burning plumes. The results show that biomass burning contributes 3.02013;16.8% and 4.02013;19.0% of PM{sub 2.5} concentrations in Xinken and Guangzhou downtown, respectively. (Author)
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Qiaoqiao Wang; Min Shao; Ying Liu [State Joint Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, (China); Kuster, William; Goldan, Paul [Earth System Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Commerce, Boulder, CO 80305, (United States); Xiaohua Li; Yuan Liu; Sihua Lu [State Joint Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, (China)
2007-12-15
The impacts of biomass burning have not been adequately studied in China. In this work, chemical compositions of volatile organic compounds and particulate organic matters were measured in August 2005 in Beijing and in October 2004 in Guangzhou city. The performance of several possible tracers for biomass burning is compared by using acetonitrile as a reference compound. The correlations between the possible tracers and acetonitrile show that the use of K{sup +} as a tracer could result in bias because of the existence of other K+ sources in urban areas, while chloromethane is not reliable due to its wide use as industrial chemical. The impact of biomass burning on air quality is estimated using acetonitrile and levoglucosan as tracers. The results show that the impact of biomass burning is ubiquitous in both suburban and urban Guangzhou, and the frequencies of air pollution episodes significantly influenced by biomass burning were 100% for Xinken and 58% for downtown Guangzhou city. Fortunately, the air quality in only 2 out of 22 days was partly impacted by biomass burning in August in Beijing, the month that 2008 Olympic games will take place. The quantitative contribution of biomass burning to ambient PM{sub 2.5} concentrations in Guangzhou city was also estimated by the ratio of levoglocusan to PM{sub 2.5} in both the ambient air and biomass burning plumes. The results show that biomass burning contributes 3.02013;16.8% and 4.02013;19.0% of PM{sub 2.5} concentrations in Xinken and Guangzhou downtown, respectively. (Author).
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Impact of Biomass Burning Aerosols on the Biosphere over Amazonia
Malavelle, F.; Haywood, J.; Mercado, L.; Folberth, G.; Bellouin, N.
2014-12-01
Biomass burning (BB) smoke from deforestation and the burning of agricultural waste emit a complex cocktail of aerosol particles and gases. BB emissions show a regional hotspot over South America on the edges of Amazonia. These major perturbations and impacts on surface temperature, surface fluxes, chemistry, radiation, rainfall, may have significant consequent impacts on the Amazon rainforest, the largest and most productive carbon store on the planet. There is therefore potential for very significant interaction and interplay between aerosols, clouds, radiation and the biosphere in the region. Terrestrial carbon production (i.e. photosynthesis) is intimately tied to the supply of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR - i.e. wavelengths between 300-690 nm). PAR in sufficient intensity and duration is critical for plant growth. However, if a decrease in total radiation is accompanied by an increase in the component of diffuse radiation, plant productivity may increase due to higher light use efficiency per unit of PAR and less photosynthetic saturation. This effect, sometimes referred as diffuse light fertilization effect, could have increased the global land carbon sink by approximately one quarter during the global dimming period and is expected to be a least as important locally. By directly interacting with radiation, BB aerosols significantly reduce the total amount of PAR available to plant canopies. In addition, BB aerosols also play a centre role in cloud formation because they provide the necessary cloud condensation nuclei, hence indirectly altering the water cycle and the components and quantity of PAR. In this presentation, we use the recent observations from the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) to explore the impact of radiation changes on the carbon cycle in the Amazon region caused by BB emissions. A parameterisation of the impact of diffuse and direct radiation upon photosynthesis rates and net primary productivity in the
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Impact of biomass burning on the atmosphere
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Dignon, J.
1993-03-01
Fire has played an important part in biogeochemical cycling throughout most of the history of our planet. Ice core studies have been very beneficial in paleoclimate studies and constraining the budgets of biogeochemical cycles through the past 160,000 years of the Vostok ice core. Although to date there has been no way of determining cause and effect, concentration of greenhouse gases directly correlates with temperature in ice core analyses. Recent ice core studies on Greenland have shown that significant climate change can be very rapid on the order of a decade. This chapter addresses the coupled evolution of our planet's atmospheric composition and biomass burning. Special attention is paid to the chemical and climatic impacts of biomass burning on the atmosphere throughout the last century, specifically looking at the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Information from ice core measurements may be useful in understanding the history of fire and its historic affect on the composition of the atmosphere and climate
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Z. Zong
2016-09-01
Full Text Available Source apportionment of fine particles (PM2.5 at a background site in North China in the winter of 2014 was done using statistical analysis, radiocarbon (14C measurement and positive matrix factorization (PMF modeling. Results showed that the concentration of PM2.5 was 77.6 ± 59.3 µg m−3, of which sulfate (SO42− concentration was the highest, followed by nitrate (NO3−, organic carbon (OC, elemental carbon (EC and ammonium (NH4+. As demonstrated by backward trajectory, more than half of the air masses during the sampling period were from the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH region, followed by Mongolia and the Shandong Peninsula. Cluster analysis of chemical species suggested an obvious signal of biomass burning in the PM2.5 from the Shandong Peninsula, while the PM2.5 from the BTH region showed a vehicle emission pattern. This finding was further confirmed by the 14C measurement of OC and EC in two merged samples. The 14C result indicated that biogenic and biomass burning emission contributed 59 ± 4 and 52 ± 2 % to OC and EC concentrations, respectively, when air masses originated from the Shandong Peninsula, while the contributions fell to 46 ± 4 and 38 ± 1 %, respectively, when the prevailing wind changed and came from the BTH region. The minimum deviation between source apportionment results from PMF and 14C measurement was adopted as the optimal choice of the model exercises. Here, two minor overestimates with the same range (3 % implied that the PMF result provided a reasonable source apportionment of the regional PM2.5 in this study. Based on the PMF modeling, eight sources were identified; of these, coal combustion, biomass burning and vehicle emission were the main contributors of PM2.5, accounting for 29.6, 19.3 and 15.9 %, respectively. Compared with overall source apportionment, the contributions of vehicle emission, mineral dust, coal combustion and biomass burning increased when air masses
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Effect of biomass burning on marine stratocumulus clouds off the California coast
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
E.-Y. Hsie
2009-11-01
Full Text Available Aerosol-cloud interactions are considered to be one of the most important and least known forcings in the climate system. Biomass burning aerosols are of special interest due to their radiative impact (direct and indirect effect and their potential to increase in the future due to climate change. Combining data from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES and MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS with passive tracers from the FLEXPART Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model, the impact of biomass burning aerosols on marine stratocumulus clouds has been examined in June and July of 2006–2008 off the California coast. Using a continental tracer, the indirect effect of biomass burning aerosols has been isolated by comparing the average cloud fraction and cloud albedo for different meteorological situations, and for clean versus polluted (in terms of biomass burning continental air masses at 14:00 local time. Within a 500 km-wide band along the coast of California, biomass burning aerosols, which tend to reside above the marine boundary layer, increased the cloud fraction by 0.143, and the cloud albedo by 0.038. Absorbing aerosols located above the marine boundary layer lead to an increase of the lower tropospheric stability and a reduction in the vertical entrainment of dry air from above, leading to increased cloud formation. The combined effect was an indirect radiative forcing of −7.5% ±1.7% (cooling effect of the outgoing radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere on average, with a bias due to meteorology of +0.9%. Further away from the coast, the biomass burning aerosols, which were located within the boundary layer, reduced the cloud fraction by 0.023 and the cloud albedo by 0.006, resulting in an indirect radiative forcing of +1.3% ±0.3% (warming effect with a bias of +0.5%. These results underscore the dual role that absorbing aerosols play in cloud radiative forcing.
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Kalnacs, J.; Bendere, R.; Murasovs, A.; Arina, D.; Antipovs, A.; Kalnacs, A.; Sprince, L.
2018-02-01
The article analyses the variations in carbon dioxide emission factor depending on parameters characterising biomass and RDF (refuse-derived fuel). The influence of moisture, ash content, heat of combustion, carbon and nitrogen content on the amount of emission factors has been reviewed, by determining their average values. The options for the improvement of the fuel to result in reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide have been analysed. Systematic measurements of biomass parameters have been performed, by determining their average values, seasonal limits of variations in these parameters and their mutual relations. Typical average values of RDF parameters and limits of variations have been determined.
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Psichoudaki, Magda; Nenes, Athanasios; Florou, Kalliopi; Kaltsonoudis, Christos; Pandis, Spyros N.
2018-04-01
This study explores the Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) activity of atmospheric particles during intense biomass burning periods in an urban environment. During a one-month campaign in the center of Athens, Greece, a CCN counter coupled with a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) and a high resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-AMS) were used to measure the size-resolved CCN activity and composition of the atmospheric aerosols. During the day, the organic fraction of the particles was more than 50%, reaching almost 80% at night, when the fireplaces were used. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis revealed 4 factors with biomass burning being the dominant source after 18:00 until the early morning. The CCN-based overall hygroscopicity parameter κ ranged from 0.15 to 0.25. During the night, when the biomass burning organic aerosol (bbOA) dominated, the hygroscopicity parameter for the mixed organic/inorganic particles was on average 0.16. The hygroscopicity of the biomass-burning organic particles was 0.09, while the corresponding average value for all organic particulate matter during the campaign was 0.12.
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When smoke comes to town - effects of biomass burning smoke on air quality down under
Keywood, Melita; Cope, Martin; (C. P) Meyer, Mick; Iinuma, Yoshi; Emmerson, Kathryn
2014-05-01
Annually, biomass burning results in the emission of quantities of trace gases and aerosol to the atmosphere. Biomass burning emissions have a significant effect on atmospheric chemistry due to the presence of reactive species. Biomass burning aerosols influence the radiative balance of the earth-atmosphere system directly through the scattering and absorption of radiation, and indirectly through their influence on cloud microphysical processes, and therefore constitute an important forcing in climate models. They also reduce visibility, influence atmospheric photochemistry and can be inhaled into the deepest parts of the lungs, so that they can have a significant effect on human health. Australia experiences bushfires on an annual basis. In most years fires are restricted to the tropical savannah forests of Northern Australia. However in the summer of 2006/2007 (December 2006 - February 2007), South Eastern Australia was affected by the longest recorded fires in its history. During this time the State of Victoria was ravaged by 690 separate bushfires, including the major Great Divide Fire, which devastated 1,048,238 hectares over 69 days. On several occasions, thick smoke haze was transported to the Melbourne central business district and PM10 concentrations at several air quality monitoring stations peaked at over 200 µg m-3 (four times the National Environment Protection Measure PM10 24 hour standard). During this period, a comprehensive suite of air quality measurements was carried out at a location 25 km south of the Melbourne CBD, including detailed aerosol microphysical and chemical composition measurements. Here we examine the chemical and physical properties of the smoke plume as it impacted Melbourne's air shed and discuss its impact on air quality over the city. We estimate the aerosol emission rates of the source fires, the age of the plumes and investigate the transformation of the smoke as it progressed from its source to the Melbourne airshed. We
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Reid, J. S.; Westphal, D. L.; Christopher, S. A.; Prins, E. M.; Gasso, S.; Reid, E.; Theisen, M.; Schmidt, C. C.; Hunter, J.; Eck, T.
2002-05-01
The Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE') project is a joint Navy, NOAA, NASA and university project to integrate satellite products with numerical aerosol models to produce a real time fire and emissions inventory. At the center of the program is the Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (WF ABBA) which provides real-time fire products and the NRL Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System to model smoke transport. In this presentation we give a brief overview of the system and methods, but emphasize new estimations of smoke coverage and emission fluxes from the South American continent. Temporal and smoke patterns compare reasonably well with AERONET and MODIS aerosol optical depth products for the 2000 and 2001 fire seasons. Fluxes are computed by relating NAAPS output fields and MODIS optical depth maps with modeled wind fields. Smoke emissions and transport fluxes out of the continent can then be estimated by perturbing the modeled emissions to gain agreement with the satellite and wind products. Regional smoke emissions are also presented for grass and forest burning.
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Volatility and mixing states of ultrafine particles from biomass burning
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Maruf Hossain, A.M.M.; Park, Seungho; Kim, Jae-Seok; Park, Kihong
2012-01-01
Highlights: ► Size distribution, volatility, and mixing states of ultrafine particles emitted from rice straw, oak, and pine burning under different burning conditions were investigated. ► Smoldering combustion emitted larger mode particles in higher numbers than smaller mode particles, while the converse was true for flaming combustion. ► While the flaming combustion and open burning results imply there is internal mixing of OC and BC, smoldering combustion in rice straw produced ultrafine particles devoid of BC. ► Mixing state of ultrafine particles from biomass burning can alter the single scattering albedo, and might even change the sign of radiative forcing. - Abstract: Fine and ultrafine carbonaceous aerosols produced from burning biomasses hold enormous importance in terms of assessing radiation balance and public health hazards. As such, volatility and mixing states of size-selected ultrafine particles (UFP) emitted from rice straw, oak, and pine burning were investigated by using volatility tandem differential mobility analyzer (VTDMA) technique in this study. Rice straw combustion produced unimodal size distributions of emitted aerosols, while bimodal size distributions from combustions of oak (hardwood) and pine (softwood) were obtained. A nearness of flue gas temperatures and a lower CO ratio of flaming combustion (FC) to smoldering combustion (SC) were characteristic differences found between softwood and hardwood. SC emitted larger mode particles in higher numbers than smaller mode particles, while the converse was true for FC. Rice straw open burning UFPs exhibited a volatilization behavior similar to that between FC and SC. In addition, internal mixing states were observed for size-selected UFPs in all biomasses for all combustion conditions, while external mixing states were only observed for rice straw combustion. Results for FC and open burning suggested there was an internal mixing of volatile organic carbon (OC) and non-volatile core (e
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Global burned area and biomass burning emissions from small fires
Randerson, J.T; Chen, Y.; van der Werf, G.R.; Rogers, B.M.; Morton, D.C.
2012-01-01
In several biomes, including croplands, wooded savannas, and tropical forests, many small fires occur each year that are well below the detection limit of the current generation of global burned area products derived from moderate resolution surface reflectance imagery. Although these fires often
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
F. G. Taupin
2002-04-01
Full Text Available In this study, we present an estimation of photochemical ozone production during free tropospheric transport between the African biomass burning area and Reunion Island (Indian Ocean by means of trajectory-chemistry model calculations. Indeed, enhanced ozone concentrations (80–100 ppbv between 5 and 8 km height over Reunion Island are encountered during September–October when African biomass burning is active. The measurements performed during flight 10 of the TRACE-A campaign (October 6, 1992 have been used to initialise the lagrangian trajectory-chemistry model and several chemical forward trajectories, which reach the area of Reunion Island some days later, are calculated. We show that the ozone burden already present in the middle and upper troposphere over Southern Africa, formed from biomass burning emissions, is further enhanced by photochemical production over the Indian Ocean at the rate of 2.5 - 3 ppbv/day. The paper presents sensitivity studies of how these photochemical ozone production rates depend on initial conditions. The rates are also compared to those obtained by other studies over the Atlantic Ocean. The importance of our results for the regional ozone budget over the Indian Ocean is briefly discussed.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (evolution of the atmosphere; troposphere – composition and chemistry; meterorology and atmospheric dynamics (tropical meteorology
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Case study of water-soluble metal containing organic constituents of biomass burning aerosol
Alexandra L. Chang-Graham; Luisa T. M. Profeta; Timothy J. Johnson; Robert J. Yokelson; Alexander Laskin; Julia Laskin
2011-01-01
Natural and prescribed biomass fires are a major source of aerosols that may persist in the atmosphere for several weeks. Biomass burning aerosols (BBA) can be associated with long-range transport of water-soluble N-, S-, P-, and metal-containing species. In this study, BBA samples were collected using a particle-into-liquid sampler (PILS) from laboratory burns of...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lacaux, J.P.; Lefeivre, B.; Delmas, R.A.; Cros, B.; Andreae, M.O.
1991-01-01
As part of the DESCAFE program (Dynamics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere in Equatorial Forest), measurements of precipitation chemistry were made at two sampling sites of the equatorial forest in the Republic of Congo. The measurements were made in order to identify and compare atmospheric sources of gases and particles (mainly biogenic sources and emissions from burning vegetation)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J. Brito
2014-11-01
Full Text Available This paper investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols at ground level at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning. The site is located near Porto Velho, Rondônia, in the southwestern part of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, and was selected for the deployment of a large suite of instruments, among them an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor. Our measurements were made during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA field experiment, which consisted of a combination of aircraft and ground-based measurements over Brazil, aimed to investigate the impacts of biomass burning emissions on climate, air quality, and numerical weather prediction over South America. The campaign took place during the dry season and the transition to the wet season in September/October 2012. During most of the campaign, the site was impacted by regional biomass burning pollution (average CO mixing ratio of 0.6 ppm, occasionally superimposed by intense (up to 2 ppm of CO, freshly emitted biomass burning plumes. Aerosol number concentrations ranged from ~1000 cm−3 to peaks of up to 35 000 cm−3 (during biomass burning (BB events, corresponding to an average submicron mass mean concentrations of 13.7 μg m−3 and peak concentrations close to 100 μg m−3. Organic aerosol strongly dominated the submicron non-refractory composition, with an average concentration of 11.4 μg m−3. The inorganic species, NH4, SO4, NO3, and Cl, were observed, on average, at concentrations of 0.44, 0.34, 0.19, and 0.01 μg m−3, respectively. Equivalent black carbon (BCe ranged from 0.2 to 5.5 μg m−3, with an average concentration of 1.3 μg m−3. During BB peaks, organics accounted for over 90% of total mass (submicron non-refractory plus BCe, among the highest values described in the literature. We examined the ageing of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA using the changes in the H : C and O : C ratios, and found that throughout most of the
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Characterization of biomass burning aerosols from forest fire in Indonesia
Fujii, Y.; Iriana, W.; Okumura, M.; Lestari, P.; Tohno, S.; Akira, M.; Okuda, T.
2012-12-01
Biomass burning (forest fire, wild fire) is a major source of pollutants, generating an estimate of 104 Tg per year of aerosol particles worldwide. These particles have adverse human health effects and can affect the radiation budget and climate directly and indirectly. Eighty percent of biomass burning aerosols are generated in the tropics and about thirty percent of them originate in the tropical regions of Asia (Andreae, 1991). Several recent studies have reported on the organic compositions of biomass burning aerosols in the tropical regions of South America and Africa, however, there is little data about forest fire aerosols in the tropical regions of Asia. It is important to characterize biomass burning aerosols in the tropical regions of Asia because the aerosol properties vary between fires depending on type and moisture of wood, combustion phase, wind conditions, and several other variables (Reid et al., 2005). We have characterized PM2.5 fractions of biomass burning aerosols emitted from forest fire in Indonesia. During the dry season in 2012, PM2.5 aerosols from several forest fires occurring in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia were collected on quartz and teflon filters with two mini-volume samplers. Background aerosols in forest were sampled during transition period of rainy season to dry season (baseline period). Samples were analyzed with several analytical instruments. The carbonaceous content (organic and elemental carbon, OC and EC) of the aerosols was analyzed by a thermal optical reflectance technique using IMPROVE protocol. The metal, inorganic ion and organic components of the aerosols were analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), ion chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively. There was a great difference of chemical composition between forest fire and non-forest fire samples. Smoke aerosols for forest fires events were composed of ~ 45 % OC and ~ 2.5 % EC. On the other hand, background aerosols for baseline periods were
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Controls upon biomass losses and char production from prescribed burning on UK moorland.
Worrall, Fred; Clay, Gareth D; May, Richard
2013-05-15
Prescribed burning is a common management technique used across many areas of the UK uplands. However, there are few data sets that assess the loss of biomass during burning and even fewer data on the effect of burning on above-ground carbon stocks and production of char. During fire the production of char occurs which represents a transfer of carbon from the short term bio-atmospheric cycle to the longer term geological cycle. However, biomass is consumed leading to the reduction in litter formation which is the principal mechanism for peat formation. This study aims to solve the problem of whether loss of biomass during a fire is ever outweighed by the production of refractory forms of carbon during the fire. This study combines both a laboratory study of char production with an assessment of biomass loss from a series of field burns from moorland in the Peak District, UK. The laboratory results show that there are significant effects due to ambient temperature but the most important control on dry mass loss is the maximum burn temperature. Burn temperature was also found to be linearly related to the production of char in the burn products. Optimisation of dry mass loss, char production and carbon content shows that the production of char from certain fires could store more carbon in the ecosystem than if there had been no fire. Field results show that approximately 75% of the biomass and carbon were lost through combustion, a figure comparable to other studies of prescribed fire in other settings. Char-C production was approximately 2.6% of the carbon consumed during the fire. This study has shown that there are conditions (fast burns at high temperatures) under which prescribed fire may increase C sequestration through char production and that these conditions are within existing management options available to practitioners. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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M. J. Alvarado; C. R. Lonsdale; R. J. Yokelson; S. K. Akagi; I. R. Burling; H. Coe; J. S. Craven; E. Fischer; G. R. McMeeking; J. H. Seinfeld; T. Soni; J. W. Taylor; D. R. Weise; C. E. Wold
2014-01-01
Within minutes after emission, rapid, complex photochemistry within a biomass burning smoke plume can cause large changes in the concentrations of ozone (O3) and organic aerosol (OA). Being able to understand and simulate this rapid chemical evolution under 5 a wide variety of conditions is a critical part of forecasting the impact of these fires...
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Zosima, Angela T; Tsakanika, Lamprini-Areti V; Ochsenkühn-Petropoulou, Maria Th
2017-05-12
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of biomass combustion with respect to burning conditions and fuel types on particulate matter emissions (PM 10 ) and their metals as well as toxic elements content. For this purpose, different lab scale burning conditions were tested (20 and 13% O 2 in the exhaust gas which simulate an incomplete and complete combustion respectively). Furthermore, two pellet stoves (8.5 and 10 kW) and one open fireplace were also tested. In all cases, 8 fuel types of biomass produced in Greece were used. Average PM 10 emissions ranged at laboratory-scale combustions from about 65 to 170 mg/m 3 with flow oxygen at 13% in the exhaust gas and from 85 to 220 mg/m 3 at 20% O 2 . At pellet stoves the emissions were found lower (35 -85 mg/m 3 ) than the open fireplace (105-195 mg/m 3 ). The maximum permitted particle emission limit is 150 mg/m 3 . Metals on the PM 10 filters were determined by several spectrometric techniques after appropriate digestion or acid leaching of the filters, and the results obtained by these two methods were compared. The concentration of PM 10 as well as the total concentration of the metals on the filters after the digestion procedure appeared higher at laboratory-scale combustions with flow oxygen at 20% in the exhaust gas and even higher at fireplace in comparison to laboratory-scale combustions with 13% O 2 and pellet stoves. Modern combustion appliances and appropriate types of biomass emit lower PM 10 emissions and lower concentration of metals than the traditional devices where incomplete combustion conditions are observed. Finally, a comparison with other studies was conducted resulting in similar results.
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CALIOP-based Biomass Burning Smoke Plume Injection Height
Soja, A. J.; Choi, H. D.; Fairlie, T. D.; Pouliot, G.; Baker, K. R.; Winker, D. M.; Trepte, C. R.; Szykman, J.
2017-12-01
Carbon and aerosols are cycled between terrestrial and atmosphere environments during fire events, and these emissions have strong feedbacks to near-field weather, air quality, and longer-term climate systems. Fire severity and burned area are under the control of weather and climate, and fire emissions have the potential to alter numerous land and atmospheric processes that, in turn, feedback to and interact with climate systems (e.g., changes in patterns of precipitation, black/brown carbon deposition on ice/snow, alteration in landscape and atmospheric/cloud albedo). If plume injection height is incorrectly estimated, then the transport and deposition of those emissions will also be incorrect. The heights to which smoke is injected governs short- or long-range transport, which influences surface pollution, cloud interaction (altered albedo), and modifies patterns of precipitation (cloud condensation nuclei). We are working with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) science team and other stakeholder agencies, primarily the Environmental Protection Agency and regional partners, to generate a biomass burning (BB) plume injection height database using multiple platforms, sensors and models (CALIOP, MODIS, NOAA HMS, Langley Trajectory Model). These data have the capacity to provide enhanced smoke plume injection height parameterization in regional, national and international scientific and air quality models. Statistics that link fire behavior and weather to plume rise are crucial for verifying and enhancing plume rise parameterization in local-, regional- and global-scale models used for air quality, chemical transport and climate. Specifically, we will present: (1) a methodology that links BB injection height and CALIOP air parcels to specific fires; (2) the daily evolution of smoke plumes for specific fires; (3) plumes transport and deposited on the Greenland Ice Sheet; and (4) compare CALIOP-derived smoke plume injection
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Saide, Pablo E.; Thompson, Gregory; Eidhammer, Trude; Da Silva, Arlindo M.; Pierce, R. Bradley; Carmichael, Gregory R.
2016-01-01
We use the WRF system to study the impacts of biomass burning smoke from Central America on several tornado outbreaks occurring in the US during spring. The model is configured with an aerosol-aware microphysics parameterization capable of resolving aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions in a cost-efficient way for numerical weather prediction (NWP) applications. Primary aerosol emissions are included and smoke emissions are constrained using an inverse modeling technique and satellite-based AOD observations. Simulations turning on and off fire emissions reveal smoke presence in all tornado outbreaks being studied and show an increase in aerosol number concentrations due to smoke. However, the likelihood of occurrence and intensification of tornadoes is higher due to smoke only in cases where cloud droplet number concentration in low level clouds increases considerably in a way that modifies the environmental conditions where the tornadoes are formed (shallower cloud bases and higher low-level wind shear). Smoke absorption and vertical extent also play a role, with smoke absorption at cloud-level tending to burn-off clouds and smoke absorption above clouds resulting in an increased capping inversion. Comparing these and WRF-Chem simulations configured with a more complex representation of aerosol size and composition and different optical properties, microphysics and activation schemes, we find similarities in terms of the simulated aerosol optical depths and aerosol impacts on near-storm environments. This provides reliability on the aerosol-aware microphysics scheme as a less computationally expensive alternative to WRFChem for its use in applications such as NWP and cloud-resolving simulations.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
C. Müller-Tautges
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Historic records of α-dicarbonyls (glyoxal, methylglyoxal, carboxylic acids (C6–C12 dicarboxylic acids, pinic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, phthalic acid, 4-methylphthalic acid, and ions (oxalate, formate, calcium were determined with annual resolution in an ice core from Grenzgletscher in the southern Swiss Alps, covering the time period from 1942 to 1993. Chemical analysis of the organic compounds was conducted using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC coupled to electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS for dicarbonyls and long-chain carboxylic acids and ion chromatography for short-chain carboxylates. Long-term records of the carboxylic acids and dicarbonyls, as well as their source apportionment, are reported for western Europe. This is the first study comprising long-term trends of dicarbonyls and long-chain dicarboxylic acids (C6–C12 in Alpine precipitation. Source assignment of the organic species present in the ice core was performed using principal component analysis. Our results suggest biomass burning, anthropogenic emissions, and transport of mineral dust to be the main parameters influencing the concentration of organic compounds. Ice core records of several highly correlated compounds (e.g., p-hydroxybenzoic acid, pinic acid, pimelic, and suberic acids can be related to the forest fire history in southern Switzerland. P-hydroxybenzoic acid was found to be the best organic fire tracer in the study area, revealing the highest correlation with the burned area from fires. Historical records of methylglyoxal, phthalic acid, and dicarboxylic acids adipic acid, sebacic acid, and dodecanedioic acid are comparable with that of anthropogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs. The small organic acids, oxalic acid and formic acid, are both highly correlated with calcium, suggesting their records to be affected by changing mineral dust transport to the drilling site.
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Aerosol Properties Downwind of Biomass Burns Field Campaign Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Buseck, Peter R [Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
2016-04-01
We determined the morphological, chemical, and thermal properties of aerosol particles generated by biomass burning during the Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) campaign during the wildland fire season in the Pacific Northwest from July to mid-September, 2013, and in October, 2013 from prescribed agricultural burns in the lower Mississippi River Valley. BBOP was a field campaign of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. The morphological information was both two-dimensional, as is typical of most microscopy images and that have many of the characteristic of shadows in that they lack depth data, and three-dimensional (3D). The electron tomographic measurements will provided 3D data, including the presence and nature of pores and interstices, and whether the individual particles are coated by or embedded within other materials. These microphysical properties were determined for particles as a function of time and distance from the respective sources in order to obtain detailed information regarding the time evolution of changes during aging.
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The impact of infield biomass burning on PM levels and its chemical composition.
Dambruoso, P; de Gennaro, G; Di Gilio, A; Palmisani, J; Tutino, M
2014-12-01
In the South of Italy, it is common for farmers to burn pruning waste from olive trees in spring. In order to evaluate the impact of the biomass burning source on the physical and chemical characteristics of the particulate matter (PM) emitted by these fires, a PM monitoring campaign was carried out in an olive grove. Daily PM10 samples were collected for 1 week, when there were no open fires, and when biomass was being burned, and at two different distances from the fires. Moreover, an optical particle counter and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) analyzer were used to measure the high time-resolved dimensional distribution of particles emitted and total PAHs concentrations, respectively. Chemical analysis of PM10 samples identified organic and inorganic components such as PAHs, ions, elements, and carbonaceous fractions (OC, EC). Analysis of the collected data showed the usefulness of organic and inorganic tracer species and of PAH diagnostic ratios for interpreting the impact of biomass fires on PM levels and on its chemical composition. Finally, high time-resolved monitoring of particle numbers and PAH concentrations was performed before, during, and after biomass burning, and these concentrations were seen to be very dependent on factors such as weather conditions, combustion efficiency, and temperature (smoldering versus flaming conditions), and moisture content of the wood burned.
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Case study of water-soluble metal containing organic constituents of biomass burning aerosol.
Chang-Graham, Alexandra L; Profeta, Luisa T M; Johnson, Timothy J; Yokelson, Robert J; Laskin, Alexander; Laskin, Julia
2011-02-15
Natural and prescribed biomass fires are a major source of aerosols that may persist in the atmosphere for several weeks. Biomass burning aerosols (BBA) can be associated with long-range transport of water-soluble N-, S-, P-, and metal-containing species. In this study, BBA samples were collected using a particle-into-liquid sampler (PILS) from laboratory burns of vegetation collected on military bases in the southeastern and southwestern United States. The samples were then analyzed using high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI/HR-MS) that enabled accurate mass measurements for hundreds of species with m/z values between 70 and 1000 and assignment of elemental formulas. Mg, Al, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Ba-containing organometallic species were identified. The results suggest that the biomass may have accumulated metal-containing species that were re-emitted during biomass burning. Further research into the sources, dispersion, and persistence of metal-containing aerosols, as well as their environmental effects, is needed.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
R. J. Weber
2010-07-01
Full Text Available Archived Federal Reference Method (FRM Teflon filters used by state regulatory agencies for measuring PM2.5 mass were acquired from 15 sites throughout the southeastern US and analyzed for water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC, water-soluble ions and carbohydrates to investigate biomass burning contributions to fine aerosol mass. Based on over 900 filters that spanned all of 2007, levoglucosan and K+ were studied in conjunction with MODIS Aqua fire count data to compare their performances as biomass burning tracers. Levoglucosan concentrations exhibited a distinct seasonal variation with large enhancement in winter and spring and a minimum in summer, and were well correlated with fire counts, except in winter when residential wood burning contributions were significant. In contrast, K+ concentrations had no apparent seasonal trend and poor correlation with fire counts. Levoglucosan and K+ only correlated well in winter (r2=0.59 when biomass burning emissions were highest, whereas in other seasons they were not correlated due to the presence of other K+ sources. Levoglucosan also exhibited larger spatial variability than K+. Both species were higher in urban than rural sites (mean 44% higher for levoglucosan and 86% for K+. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF was applied to analyze PM2.5 sources and four factors were resolved: biomass burning, refractory material, secondary light absorbing WSOC and secondary sulfate/WSOC. The biomass burning source contributed 13% to PM2.5 mass annually, 27% in winter, and less than 2% in summer, consistent with other souce apportionment studies based on levoglucosan, but lower in summer compared to studies based on K+.
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Odman, M. T.; Hu, Y.; Russell, A. G.
2016-12-01
Prescribed burning is practiced throughout the US, and most widely in the Southeast, for the purpose of maintaining and improving the ecosystem, and reducing the wildfire risk. However, prescribed burn emissions contribute significantly to the of trace gas and particulate matter loads in the atmosphere. In places where air quality is already stressed by other anthropogenic emissions, prescribed burns can lead to major health and environmental problems. Air quality modeling efforts are under way to assess the impacts of prescribed burn emissions. Operational forecasts of the impacts are also emerging for use in dynamic management of air quality as well as the burns. Unfortunately, large uncertainties exist in the process of estimating prescribed burn emissions and these uncertainties limit the accuracy of the burn impact predictions. Prescribed burn emissions are estimated by using either ground-based information or satellite observations. When there is sufficient local information about the burn area, the types of fuels, their consumption amounts, and the progression of the fire, ground-based estimates are more accurate. In the absence of such information satellites remain as the only reliable source for emission estimation. To determine the level of uncertainty in prescribed burn emissions, we compared estimates derived from a burn permit database and other ground-based information to the estimates by the Biomass Burning Emissions Product derived from a constellation of NOAA and NASA satellites. Using these emissions estimates we conducted simulations with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model and predicted trace gas and particulate matter concentrations throughout the Southeast for two consecutive burn seasons (2015 and 2016). In this presentation, we will compare model predicted concentrations to measurements at monitoring stations and evaluate if the differences are commensurate with our emission uncertainty estimates. We will also investigate if
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Effect of the Agricultural Biomass Burning on the Ambient Air Quality of Lumbini
Mehra, M.; Panday, A. K.; Praveen, P. S.; Bhujel, A.; Pokhrel, S.; Ram, K.
2017-12-01
The emissions from increasing anthropogenic activities has led to degradation in ambient air quality of Lumbini (UNESCO world heritage site) and its surrounding environments. The presence of high concentrations of air pollutants is of concern because of its implications for public health, atmospheric visibility, chemistry, crop yield, weather and climate on a local to regional scale. The study region experiences wide-spread on-field agricultural residue burning, particularly in the months of November (paddy residue burning) and April (wheat residue burning). In an attempt to study the impact of emissions from post-harvest burning of paddy and wheat residue in Nepal, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, in collaboration with the Government of Nepal's Department of Environment and the Lumbini International Research Institute, established the Lumbini Air Quality Observatory (LAQO) in May 2016 for continuous measurement of Black carbon (BC), particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5 & PM1), as well as concentration of gaseous pollutant and meteorological parameters. Here we present results of the surface observations from LAQO for the months with intensified paddy and wheat open biomass burning during November 2016 and April 2017, respectively. The average concentrations of BC, PM2.5 and PM10 were 11.3±6.2 µg m-3, 96.7±48.9 µg m-3 and 132.3±59.1 µg m-3 respectively during the month of November 2016. On the other hand, the surface concentrations of BC, PM2.5 and PM10 were found to be 11.0±8.3 µg m-3, 45.0±35.0 µg m-3 and 114.0±96.1 µg m-3 during April 2017. A significant increase in the primary pollutant concentration was observed during both types of open agricultural burning periods. However, BC/PM2.5 ratio was almost higher by factor of two during paddy burning as compared to wheat residue burning. Source characteristics and the relative contribution of agricultural burning to PM concentrations at Lumbini are being computed based on
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Assesment of PM2.5 emission from corn stover burning determining in chamber combustion
Hafidawati; Lestari, P.; Sofyan, A.
2018-04-01
Chamber measurement were conducted to determine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) emission from open burning of corn straw at Garut District, West Java. The of this study is to estimate the concentration of PM2.5 for two types of corn (corncobs and cornstover) for five varieties (Bisma, P29, NK, Bisma, NW). Corn residues were collected and then burned in the chamber combustion. The chamber was designed to simulate the burning in the field, which was observed in the field experiment that meteorological condition was calm wind. The samples were collected using a minivol air sampler. The assessment results of PM2.5 concentrations (mg/m3) from open burning experiment in the chamber for five varieties of corn cobs (Bisma, P29, NK, Bisi, NW) was 9.187; 2.843; 7.409; 3.781; 1.895 respectively. Concentration for corn stover burn was 2.060; 5.283; 4.048; 5.306 and 5.697 respectively. Fluctuations in the value of concentration among these varieties reflect variations in combustion conditions (combustion efficiency) and other parameters including water content, biomass conditions and the meteorological conditions. The combustion efficiency (MCE) of the combustion chamber simulation of corncobs ia lower than the MCE of corn stover, that the concentration PM2.5 more emitted from the burning of corn stover. The results of this study presented provide useful information for the development of local emission factors for PM2.5 from open burning of corn stover in Indonesia.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Koop, K.; Yildiz, I.
2010-09-01
The greenhouse gas emissions of all available flows of the biomass chain have been established. This report has the following aims: (1) to establish the greenhouse gas emission of Dutch biomass available for generating electricity and heat; (2) to obtain insight in the opportunities and threats for using the potential of the biomass chains that have the highest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This report can be seen as a supplement to the report 'Availability of Dutch biomass for electricity and heat in 2020' (2009) [nl
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Pavlovic, Radenko; Chen, Jack; Anderson, Kerry; Moran, Michael D; Beaulieu, Paul-André; Davignon, Didier; Cousineau, Sophie
2016-09-01
Environment and Climate Change Canada's FireWork air quality (AQ) forecast system for North America with near-real-time biomass burning emissions has been running experimentally during the Canadian wildfire season since 2013. The system runs twice per day with model initializations at 00 UTC and 12 UTC, and produces numerical AQ forecast guidance with 48-hr lead time. In this work we describe the FireWork system, which incorporates near-real-time biomass burning emissions based on the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) as an input to the operational Regional Air Quality Deterministic Prediction System (RAQDPS). To demonstrate the capability of the system we analyzed two forecast periods in 2015 (June 2-July 15, and August 15-31) when fire activity was high, and observed fire-smoke-impacted areas in western Canada and the western United States. Modeled PM2.5 surface concentrations were compared with surface measurements and benchmarked with results from the operational RAQDPS, which did not consider near-real-time biomass burning emissions. Model performance statistics showed that FireWork outperformed RAQDPS with improvements in forecast hourly PM2.5 across the region; the results were especially significant for stations near the path of fire plume trajectories. Although the hourly PM2.5 concentrations predicted by FireWork still displayed bias for areas with active fires for these two periods (mean bias [MB] of -7.3 µg m(-3) and 3.1 µg m(-3)), it showed better forecast skill than the RAQDPS (MB of -11.7 µg m(-3) and -5.8 µg m(-3)) and demonstrated a greater ability to capture temporal variability of episodic PM2.5 events (correlation coefficient values of 0.50 and 0.69 for FireWork compared to 0.03 and 0.11 for RAQDPS). A categorical forecast comparison based on an hourly PM2.5 threshold of 30 µg m(-3) also showed improved scores for probability of detection (POD), critical success index (CSI), and false alarm rate (FAR). Smoke from wildfires
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
F. G. Taupin
Full Text Available In this study, we present an estimation of photochemical ozone production during free tropospheric transport between the African biomass burning area and Reunion Island (Indian Ocean by means of trajectory-chemistry model calculations. Indeed, enhanced ozone concentrations (80–100 ppbv between 5 and 8 km height over Reunion Island are encountered during September–October when African biomass burning is active. The measurements performed during flight 10 of the TRACE-A campaign (October 6, 1992 have been used to initialise the lagrangian trajectory-chemistry model and several chemical forward trajectories, which reach the area of Reunion Island some days later, are calculated. We show that the ozone burden already present in the middle and upper troposphere over Southern Africa, formed from biomass burning emissions, is further enhanced by photochemical production over the Indian Ocean at the rate of 2.5 - 3 ppbv/day. The paper presents sensitivity studies of how these photochemical ozone production rates depend on initial conditions. The rates are also compared to those obtained by other studies over the Atlantic Ocean. The importance of our results for the regional ozone budget over the Indian Ocean is briefly discussed.
Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (evolution of the atmosphere; troposphere – composition and chemistry; meterorology and atmospheric dynamics (tropical meteorology -
Combustion, cofiring and emissions characteristics of torrefied biomass in a drop tube reactor
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ndibe, Collins; Maier, Jörg; Scheffknecht, Günter
2015-01-01
The study investigates cofiring characteristics of torrefied biomass fuels at 50% thermal shares with coals and 100% combustion cases. Experiments were carried out in a 20 kW, electrically heated, drop-tube reactor. Fuels used include a range of torrefied biomass fuels, non-thermally treated white wood pellets, a high volatile bituminous coal and a lignite coal. The reactor was maintained at 1200 °C while the overall stoichiometric ratio was kept constant at 1.15 for all combustion cases. Measurements were performed to evaluate combustion reactivity, emissions and burn-out. Torrefied biomass fuels in comparison to non-thermally treated wood contain a lower amount of volatiles. For the tests performed at a similar particle size distribution, the reduced volatile content did not impact combustion reactivity significantly. Delay in combustion was only observed for test fuel with a lower amount of fine particles. The particle size distribution of the pulverised grinds therefore impacts combustion reactivity more. Sulphur and nitrogen contents of woody biomass fuels are low. Blending woody biomass with coal lowers the emissions of SO 2 mainly as a result of dilution. NO X emissions have a more complex dependency on the nitrogen content. Factors such as volatile content of the fuels, fuel type, furnace and burner configurations also impact the final NO X emissions. In comparison to unstaged combustion, the nitrogen conversion to NO X declined from 34% to 9% for air-staged co-combustion of torrefied biomass and hard coal. For the air-staged mono-combustion cases, nitrogen conversion to NO X declined from between 42% and 48% to about 10%–14%. - Highlights: • Impact of torrefaction on cofiring was studied at high heating rates in a drop tube. • Cofiring of torrefied biomasses at high thermal shares (50% and higher) is feasible. • Particle size impacts biomass combustion reactivity more than torrefaction. • In a drop tube reactor, torrefaction has no negative
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Emissions from the burning of vegetative debris in air curtain destructors.
Miller, C Andrew; Lemieux, Paul M
2007-08-01
Although air curtain destructors (ACDs) have been used for quite some time to dispose of vegetative debris, relatively little in-depth testing has been conducted to quantify emissions of pollutants other than CO and particulate matter. As part of an effort to prepare for possible use of ACDs to dispose of the enormous volumes of debris generated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the literature on ACD emissions was reviewed to identify potential environmental issues associated with ACD disposal of construction and demolition (C&D) debris. Although no data have been published on emissions from C&D debris combustion in an ACD, a few studies provided information on emissions from the combustion of vegetative debris. These studies are reviewed, and the results compared with studies of open burning of biomass. Combustion of vegetative debris in ACD units results in significantly lower emissions of particulate matter and CO per unit of mass of debris compared with open pile burning. The available data are not sufficient to make general estimates regarding emissions of organic or metal compounds. The highly transient nature of the ACD combustion process, a minimal degree of operational control, and significant variability in debris properties make accurate prediction of ACD emissions impossible in general. Results of scoping tests conducted in preparation for possible in-depth emissions tests demonstrate the challenges associated with sampling ACD emissions and highlight the transient nature of the process. The environmental impacts of widespread use of ACDs for disposal of vegetative debris and their potential use to reduce the volume of C&D debris in future disaster response scenarios remain a considerable gap in understanding the risks associated with debris disposal options.
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Biomass fuel burning and its implications: deforestation and greenhouse gases emissions in Pakistan.
Tahir, S N A; Rafique, M; Alaamer, A S
2010-07-01
Pakistan is facing problem of deforestation. Pakistan lost 14.7% of its forest habitat between 1990 and 2005 interval. This paper assesses the present forest wood consumption rate by 6000 brick kilns established in the country and its implications in terms of deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases. Information regarding consumption of forest wood by the brick kilns was collected during a manual survey of 180 brick kiln units conducted in eighteen provincial divisions of country. Considering annual emission contributions of three primary GHGs i.e., CO(2), CH(4) and N(2)O, due to burning of forest wood in brick kiln units in Pakistan and using IPCC recommended GWP indices, the combined CO(2)-equivalent has been estimated to be 533019 t y(-1). Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Kondo, Y.; Matsui, H.; Moteki, N.; Sahu, L.; Takegawa, N.; Kajino, M.; Zhao, Y.; Cubison, M. J.; Jimenez, J. L.; Vay, S.;
2011-01-01
Reliable assessment of the impact of aerosols emitted from boreal forest fires on the Arctic climate necessitates improved understanding of emissions and the microphysical properties of carbonaceous (black carbon (BC) and organic aerosols (OA)) and inorganic aerosols. The size distributions of BC were measured by an SP2 based on the laser-induced incandescence technique on board the DC-8 aircraft during the NASA ARCTAS campaign. Aircraft sampling was made in fresh plumes strongly impacted by wildfires in North America (Canada and California) in summer 2008 and in those transported from Asia (Siberia in Russia and Kazakhstan) in spring 2008. We extracted biomass burning plumes using particle and tracer (CO, CH3CN, and CH2Cl2) data. OA constituted the dominant fraction of aerosols mass in the submicron range. The large majority of the emitted particles did not contain BC. We related the combustion phase of the fire as represented by the modified combustion efficiency (MCE) to the emission ratios between BC and other species. In particular, we derived the average emission ratios of BC/CO = 2.3 +/- 2.2 and 8.5 +/- 5.4 ng/cu m/ppbv for BB in North America and Asia, respectively. The difference in the BC/CO emission ratios is likely due to the difference in MCE. The count median diameters and geometric standard deviations of the lognormal size distribution of BC in the BB plumes were 136-141 nm and 1.32-1.36, respectively, and depended little on MCE. These BC particles were thickly coated, with shell/core ratios of 1.3-1.6. These parameters can be used directly for improving model estimates of the impact of BB in the Arctic.
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M.J. Alvarado; C.R. Lonsdale; R.J. Yokelson; S.K. Akagi; I.R. Burling; H. Coe; J.S. Craven; E. Fischer; G.R. McMeeking; J.H. Seinfeld; T. Soni; J.W. Taylor; D.R. Weise; C.E. Wold
2015-01-01
Within minutes after emission, complex photochemistry in biomass burning smoke plumes can cause large changes in the concentrations of ozone (O3) and organic aerosol (OA). Being able to understand and simulate this rapid chemical evolution under a wide variety of conditions is a critical part of forecasting the impact of these fires on air...
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Akagi, S. K.; Yokelson, R. J.; Burling, I. R.; Meinardi, S.; Simpson, I.; Blake, D. R.; McMeeking, G. R.; Sullivan, A.; Lee, T.; Kreidenweis, S.; Urbanski, S.; Reardon, J.; Griffith, D. W. T.; Johnson, T. J.; Weise, D. R.
2013-02-01
In October-November 2011 we measured the trace gas emission factors from 7 prescribed fires in South Carolina, U.S. using two Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) systems and whole air sampling (WAS) into canisters followed by gas-chromatographic analyses. The fires were intended to emulate high-intensity burns as they were lit during the dry season and in most cases represented stands that had not been treated with prescribed burns in 10+ years, if at all. A total of 97 trace gas species are reported here from both airborne and ground-based platforms making this one of the most detailed field studies of fire emissions to date. The measurements included the first data for a suite of monoterpene compounds emitted via distillation of plant tissues during real fires. The known chemistry of the monoterpenes and their measured abundance of ~0.40% of CO (molar basis), ~3.9% of NMOC (molar basis), and ~21% of organic aerosol (mass basis), suggests that they impacted post-emission formation of ozone, aerosol, and small organic trace gases such as methanol and formaldehyde in the sampled plumes. The variability in the terpene emissions in South Carolina (SC) fire plumes was high and, in general, the speciation of the emitted gas-phase non-methane organic compounds was surprisingly different from that observed in a similar study in nominally similar pine forests in North Carolina ~20 months earlier. It is likely that the slightly different ecosystems, time of year and the precursor variability all contributed to the variability in plume chemistry observed in this study and in the literature. The ΔHCN/ΔCO emission ratio, however, is fairly consistent at 0.9 ± 0.06 % for airborne fire measurements in coniferous-dominated ecosystems further confirming the value of HCN as a good biomass burning indicator/tracer. The SC results also support an earlier finding that C3-C4 alkynes may be of use as biomass burning indicators on the time-scale of
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Calvo, M. Martin; Prentice, I. C.; Harrison, S. P.
2014-02-01
Climate controls fire regimes through its influence on the amount and types of fuel present and their dryness; CO2 availability, in turn, constrains primary production by limiting photosynthetic activity in plants. However, although fuel accumulation depends on biomass production, and hence CO2 availability, the links between atmospheric CO2 and biomass burning are not well known. Here a fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation model (the Land surface Processes and eXchanges model, LPX) is used to attribute glacial-interglacial changes in biomass burning to CO2 increase, which would be expected to increase primary production and therefore fuel loads even in the absence of climate change, vs. climate change effects. Four general circulation models provided Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climate anomalies - that is, differences from the pre-industrial (PI) control climate - from the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 2, allowing the construction of four scenarios for LGM climate. Modelled carbon fluxes in biomass burning were corrected for the model's observed biases in contemporary biome-average values. With LGM climate and low CO2 (185 ppm) effects included, the modelled global flux was 70 to 80% lower at the LGM than in PI time. LGM climate with pre-industrial CO2 (280 ppm) however yielded unrealistic results, with global and Northern Hemisphere biomass burning fluxes greater than in the pre-industrial climate. Using the PI CO2 concentration increased the modelled LGM biomass burning fluxes for all climate models and latitudinal bands to between four and ten times their values under LGM CO2 concentration. It is inferred that a substantial part of the increase in biomass burning after the LGM must be attributed to the effect of increasing CO2 concentration on productivity and fuel load. Today, by analogy, both rising CO2 and global warming must be considered as risk factors for increasing biomass burning. Both effects need to be included in models to
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jesús Adolfo Anaya Acevedo
2011-01-01
Full Text Available La quema de biomasa es una fuente importante de gases efecto invernadero en países en vías de desarrollo. En Colombia, el cambio de uso del suelo, la silvicultura y el sector agropecuario superan el 50% de las emisiones totales de efecto invernadero. El fuego se utiliza con frecuencia como un mecanismo para cambiar el uso del suelo. Los Llanos orientales y la Amazonía colombiana están sometidos todos los años a la quema de biomasa, especialmente entre enero y marzo. Los estudios en la distribución espacial y temporal de las emisiones son importantes de cara a los informes en el ámbito nacional. Este artículo de revisión describe el método para hacer estas estimaciones utilizando teledetección y algunos de los resultados disponibles para Colombia.Biomass burning is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. In Colombia, land use change, forestry and agriculture are responsible for more than 50% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Fire is commonly used as a mechanism for land use change. In Colombia the Llanos Orientales and the Amazonia are subject to biomass burning every year during the dry season, especially from January to March. Studies of the spatial and temporal distribution of emissions are required for emissions report at a national level. The goal of this state of the art article is to describe a method to estimate emissions with a remote sensing approach and to present some of the variables already measured in Colombia.
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Achieving Tier 4 Emissions in Biomass Cookstoves
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Marchese, Anthony [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); DeFoort, Morgan [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Gao, Xinfeng [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Tryner, Jessica [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Dryer, Frederick L. [Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Haas, Francis [Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Lorenz, Nathan [Envirofit International, Fort Collins, CO (United States)
2018-03-13
Previous literature on top-lit updraft (TLUD) gasifier cookstoves suggested that these stoves have the potential to be the lowest emitting biomass cookstove. However, the previous literature also demonstrated a high degree of variability in TLUD emissions and performance, and a lack of general understanding of the TLUD combustion process. The objective of this study was to improve understanding of the combustion process in TLUD cookstoves. In a TLUD, biomass is gasified and the resulting producer gas is burned in a secondary flame located just above the fuel bed. The goal of this project is to enable the design of a more robust TLUD that consistently meets Tier 4 performance targets through a better understanding of the underlying combustion physics. The project featured a combined modeling, experimental and product design/development effort comprised of four different activities: Development of a model of the gasification process in the biomass fuel bed; Development of a CFD model of the secondary combustion zone; Experiments with a modular TLUD test bed to provide information on how stove design, fuel properties, and operating mode influence performance and provide data needed to validate the fuel bed model; Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) experiments with a two-dimensional optical test bed to provide insight into the flame dynamics in the secondary combustion zone and data to validate the CFD model; Design, development and field testing of a market ready TLUD prototype. Over 180 tests of 40 different configurations of the modular TLUD test bed were performed to demonstrate how stove design, fuel properties and operating mode influences performance, and the conditions under which Tier 4 emissions are obtainable. Images of OH and acetone PLIF were collected at 10 kHz with the optical test bed. The modeling and experimental results informed the design of a TLUD prototype that met Tier 3 to Tier 4 specifications in emissions and Tier 2 in efficiency. The
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Christian, T. J.; Yokelson, R. J.; Cárdenas, B.; Molina, L. T.; Engling, G.; Hsu, S.-C.
2010-01-01
In central Mexico during the spring of 2007 we measured the initial emissions of 12 gases and the aerosol speciation for elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC), anhydrosugars, Cl-, NO3-, and 20 metals from 10 cooking fires, four garbage fires, three brick making kilns, three charcoal making kilns, and two crop residue fires. Global biofuel use has been estimated at over 2600 Tg/y. With several simple case studies we show that cooking fires can be a major, or the major, source of several gases and fine particles in developing countries. Insulated cook stoves with chimneys were earlier shown to reduce indoor air pollution and the fuel use per cooking task. We confirm that they also reduce the emissions of VOC pollutants per mass of fuel burned by about half. We did not detect HCN emissions from cooking fires in Mexico or Africa. Thus, if regional source attribution is based on HCN emissions typical for other types of biomass burning (BB), then biofuel use and total BB will be underestimated in much of the developing world. This is also significant because cooking fires are not detected from space. We estimate that ~2000 Tg/y of garbage are generated globally and about half may be burned, making this a commonly overlooked major global source of emissions. We estimate a fine particle emission factor (EFPM2.5) for garbage burning of ~10.5±8.8 g/kg, which is in reasonable agreement with very limited previous work. We observe large HCl emission factors in the range 2-10 g/kg. Consideration of the Cl content of the global waste stream suggests that garbage burning may generate as much as 6-9 Tg/yr of HCl, which would make it a major source of this compound. HCl generated by garbage burning in dry environments may have a relatively greater atmospheric impact than HCl generated in humid areas. Garbage burning PM2.5 was found to contain levoglucosan and K in concentrations similar to those for biomass burning, so it could be a source of interference in some areas when using
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
T. J. Christian
2010-01-01
Full Text Available In central Mexico during the spring of 2007 we measured the initial emissions of 12 gases and the aerosol speciation for elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC, anhydrosugars, Cl−, NO3−, and 20 metals from 10 cooking fires, four garbage fires, three brick making kilns, three charcoal making kilns, and two crop residue fires. Global biofuel use has been estimated at over 2600 Tg/y. With several simple case studies we show that cooking fires can be a major, or the major, source of several gases and fine particles in developing countries. Insulated cook stoves with chimneys were earlier shown to reduce indoor air pollution and the fuel use per cooking task. We confirm that they also reduce the emissions of VOC pollutants per mass of fuel burned by about half. We did not detect HCN emissions from cooking fires in Mexico or Africa. Thus, if regional source attribution is based on HCN emissions typical for other types of biomass burning (BB, then biofuel use and total BB will be underestimated in much of the developing world. This is also significant because cooking fires are not detected from space. We estimate that ~2000 Tg/y of garbage are generated globally and about half may be burned, making this a commonly overlooked major global source of emissions. We estimate a fine particle emission factor (EFPM2.5 for garbage burning of ~10.5±8.8 g/kg, which is in reasonable agreement with very limited previous work. We observe large HCl emission factors in the range 2–10 g/kg. Consideration of the Cl content of the global waste stream suggests that garbage burning may generate as much as 6–9 Tg/yr of HCl, which would make it a major source of this compound. HCl generated by garbage burning in dry environments may have a relatively greater atmospheric impact than HCl generated in humid areas. Garbage burning PM2.5 was found to contain levoglucosan and K in concentrations similar to those for
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Secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass burning intermediates: phenol and methoxyphenols
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
L. D. Yee
2013-08-01
Full Text Available The formation of secondary organic aerosol from oxidation of phenol, guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol, and syringol (2,6-dimethoxyphenol, major components of biomass burning, is described. Photooxidation experiments were conducted in the Caltech laboratory chambers under low-NOx (2O2 as the OH source. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA yields (ratio of mass of SOA formed to mass of primary organic reacted greater than 25% are observed. Aerosol growth is rapid and linear with the primary organic conversion, consistent with the formation of essentially non-volatile products. Gas- and aerosol-phase oxidation products from the guaiacol system provide insight into the chemical mechanisms responsible for SOA formation. Syringol SOA yields are lower than those of phenol and guaiacol, likely due to novel methoxy group chemistry that leads to early fragmentation in the gas-phase photooxidation. Atomic oxygen to carbon (O : C ratios calculated from high-resolution-time-of-flight Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS measurements of the SOA in all three systems are ~ 0.9, which represent among the highest such ratios achieved in laboratory chamber experiments and are similar to that of aged atmospheric organic aerosol. The global contribution of SOA from intermediate volatility and semivolatile organic compounds has been shown to be substantial (Pye and Seinfeld, 2010. An approach to representing SOA formation from biomass burning emissions in atmospheric models could involve one or more surrogate species for which aerosol formation under well-controlled conditions has been quantified. The present work provides data for such an approach.
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Aouizerats, B.; van der Werf, G.R.; Balasubramanian, R.; Betha, R.
2015-01-01
Smoke from biomass and peat burning has a notable impact on ambient air quality and climate in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. We modeled a large fire-induced haze episode in 2006 stemming mostly from Indonesia using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem). We
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Wang, Jun; Yue, Yun; Wang, Yi; Ichoku, Charles; Ellison, Luke; Zeng, Jing
2018-01-01
Largely used in several independent estimates of fire emissions, fire products based on MODIS sensors aboard the Terra and Aqua polar-orbiting satellites have a number of inherent limitations, including (a) inability to detect fires below clouds, (b) significant decrease of detection sensitivity at the edge of scan where pixel sizes are much larger than at nadir, and (c) gaps between adjacent swaths in tropical regions. To remedy these limitations, an empirical method is developed here and applied to correct fire emission estimates based on MODIS pixel level fire radiative power measurements and emission coefficients from the Fire Energetics and Emissions Research (FEER) biomass burning emission inventory. The analysis was performed for January 2010 over the northern sub-Saharan African region. Simulations from WRF-Chem model using original and adjusted emissions are compared with the aerosol optical depth (AOD) products from MODIS and AERONET as well as aerosol vertical profile from CALIOP data. The comparison confirmed an 30-50% improvement in the model simulation performance (in terms of correlation, bias, and spatial pattern of AOD with respect to observations) by the adjusted emissions that not only increases the original emission amount by a factor of two but also results in the spatially continuous estimates of instantaneous fire emissions at daily time scales. Such improvement cannot be achieved by simply scaling the original emission across the study domain. Even with this improvement, a factor of two underestimations still exists in the modeled AOD, which is within the current global fire emissions uncertainty envelope.
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Spessa, Allan; Weber, Ulrich; Langner, Andreas; Siegert, Florian; Heil, Angelika
2010-05-01
correlations are noticeably much weaker or absent in Sarawak and Sabah, and central Borneo, where little or no deforestation was observed. Emissions from biomass burning reflect fire activity, and that fires in the carbon-rich peats of southern Kalimantan dominate the emissions profile during the El Nino years of 1997-98, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Previous work in southern Amazon forests demonstrates that recurrent fires promote a change from tree-dominated to grass-dominated ecosystems which, in turn, promotes even more fires. We show that recurrent fire and deforestation are also linked as part of a similar positive feedback process in Kalimantan. Our results support the detailed field work undertaken in 1997-98 in East Kalimantan, and reinforce these findings across time and space. Emissions from fires in Kalimantan peatlands represent a serious perturbation in terms of forcing from trace gases and aerosols on regional and global climate. Several global and regional climate modelling studies have reported that equatorial SE Asia, including Borneo, will experience reduced rainfall in future decades. At the same time, demands for establishing pulp paper and palm oil plantations to replace native rainforests, especially on peatlands where tenure conflicts among land owners tend to be minimal, is forecast to increase. These joint scenarios imply even more fires and emissions in future. It is critical therefore that present efforts to mitigate emissions through reduced deforestation programs in the region works, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.
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Gaseous and particulate emissions from prescribed burning in Georgia.
Lee, Sangil; Baumann, Karsten; Schauer, James J; Sheesley, Rebecca J; Naeher, Luke P; Meinardi, Simone; Blake, Donald R; Edgerton, Eric S; Russell, Armistead G; Clements, Mark
2005-12-01
Prescribed burning is a significant source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the southeastern United States. However, limited data exist on the emission characteristics from this source. Various organic and inorganic compounds both in the gas and particle phase were measured in the emissions of prescribed burnings conducted at two pine-dominated forest areas in Georgia. The measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and PM2.5 allowed the determination of emission factors for the flaming and smoldering stages of prescribed burnings. The VOC emission factors from smoldering were distinctly higher than those from flaming except for ethene, ethyne, and organic nitrate compounds. VOC emission factors show that emissions of certain aromatic compounds and terpenes such as alpha and beta-pinenes, which are important precursors for secondary organic aerosol (SOA), are much higher from active prescribed burnings than from fireplace wood and laboratory open burning studies. Levoglucosan is the major particulate organic compound (POC) emitted for all these studies, though its emission relative to total organic carbon (mg/g OC) differs significantly. Furthermore, cholesterol, an important fingerprint for meat cooking, was observed only in our in situ study indicating a significant release from the soil and soil organisms during open burning. Source apportionment of ambient primary fine particulate OC measured at two urban receptor locations 20-25 km downwind yields 74 +/- 11% during and immediately after the burns using our new in situ profile. In comparison with the previous source profile from laboratory simulations, however, this OC contribution is on average 27 +/- 5% lower.
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Calvo, M. Martin; Prentice, I. C.; Harrison, S. P.
2014-11-01
Climate controls fire regimes through its influence on the amount and types of fuel present and their dryness. CO2 concentration constrains primary production by limiting photosynthetic activity in plants. However, although fuel accumulation depends on biomass production, and hence on CO2 concentration, the quantitative relationship between atmospheric CO2 concentration and biomass burning is not well understood. Here a fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation model (the Land surface Processes and eXchanges model, LPX) is used to attribute glacial-interglacial changes in biomass burning to an increase in CO2, which would be expected to increase primary production and therefore fuel loads even in the absence of climate change, vs. climate change effects. Four general circulation models provided last glacial maximum (LGM) climate anomalies - that is, differences from the pre-industrial (PI) control climate - from the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase~2, allowing the construction of four scenarios for LGM climate. Modelled carbon fluxes from biomass burning were corrected for the model's observed prediction biases in contemporary regional average values for biomes. With LGM climate and low CO2 (185 ppm) effects included, the modelled global flux at the LGM was in the range of 1.0-1.4 Pg C year-1, about a third less than that modelled for PI time. LGM climate with pre-industrial CO2 (280 ppm) yielded unrealistic results, with global biomass burning fluxes similar to or even greater than in the pre-industrial climate. It is inferred that a substantial part of the increase in biomass burning after the LGM must be attributed to the effect of increasing CO2 concentration on primary production and fuel load. Today, by analogy, both rising CO2 and global warming must be considered as risk factors for increasing biomass burning. Both effects need to be included in models to project future fire risks.
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Yoon, S.; Kirchstetter, T.; Fairley, D.; Sheesley, R. J.; Tang, X.
2017-12-01
Elemental carbon (EC), also known as black carbon or soot, is an important particulate air pollutant that contributes to climate forcing through absorption of solar radiation and to adverse human health impacts through inhalation. Both fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, via residential firewood burning, agricultural burning, wild fires, and controlled burns, are significant sources of EC. Our ability to successfully control ambient EC concentrations requires understanding the contribution of these different emission sources. Radiocarbon (14C) analysis has been increasingly used as an apportionment tool to distinguish between EC from fossil fuel and biomass combustion sources. However, there are uncertainties associated with this method including: 1) uncertainty associated with the isolation of EC to be used for radiocarbon analysis (e.g., inclusion of organic carbon, blank contamination, recovery of EC, etc.) 2) uncertainty associated with the radiocarbon signature of the end member. The objective of this research project is to utilize laboratory experiments to evaluate some of these uncertainties, particularly for EC sources that significantly impact the San Francisco Bay Area. Source samples of EC only and a mix of EC and organic carbon (OC) were produced for this study to represent known emission sources and to approximate the mixing of EC and OC that would be present in the atmosphere. These samples include a combination of methane flame soot, various wood smoke samples (i.e. cedar, oak, sugar pine, pine at various ages, etc.), meat cooking, and smoldering cellulose smoke. EC fractions were isolated using a Sunset Laboratory's thermal optical transmittance carbon analyzer. For 14C analysis, samples were sent to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for isotope analysis using an accelerated mass spectrometry. End member values and uncertainties for the EC isolation utilizing this method will be reported.
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Avoided emissions of a fuel-efficient biomass cookstove dwarf embodied emissions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
D.L. Wilson
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Three billion people cook their food on biomass-fueled fires. This practice contributes to the anthropogenic radiative forcing. Fuel-efficient biomass cookstoves have the potential to reduce CO2-equivalent emissions from cooking, however, cookstoves made from modern materials and distributed through energy-intensive supply chains have higher embodied CO2-equivalent than traditional cookstoves. No studies exist examining whether lifetime emissions savings from fuel-efficient biomass cookstoves offset embodied emissions, and if so, by what margin. This paper is a complete life cycle inventory of “The Berkeley–Darfur Stove,” disseminated in Sudan by the non-profit Potential Energy. We estimate the embodied CO2-equivalent in the cookstove associated with materials, manufacturing, transportation, and end-of-life is 17 kg of CO2-equivalent. Assuming a mix of 55% non-renewable biomass and 45% renewable biomass, five years of service, and a conservative 35% reduction in fuel use relative to a three-stone fire, the cookstove will offset 7.5 tonnes of CO2-equivalent. A one-to-one replacement of a three-stone fire with the cookstove will save roughly 440 times more CO2-equivalent than it “costs” to create and distribute. Over its five-year life, we estimate the total use-phase emissions of the cookstove to be 13.5 tonnes CO2-equivalent, and the use-phase accounts for 99.9% of cookstove life cycle emissions. The dominance of use-phase emissions illuminate two important insights: (1 without a rigorous program to monitor use-phase emissions, an accurate estimate of life cycle emissions from biomass cookstoves is not possible, and (2 improving a cookstove's avoided emissions relies almost exclusively on reducing use-phase emissions even if use-phase reductions come at the cost of substantially increased non-use-phase emissions.
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MINIMIZING NET CO2 EMISSIONS BY OXIDATIVE CO-PYROLYSIS OF COAL / BIOMASS BLENDS
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Todd Lang; Robert Hurt
2001-12-23
This study presents a set of thermodynamic calculations on the optimal mode of solid fuel utilization considering a wide range of fuel types and processing technologies. The technologies include stand-alone combustion, biomass/coal cofiring, oxidative pyrolysis, and straight carbonization with no energy recovery but with elemental carbon storage. The results show that the thermodynamically optimal way to process solid fuels depends strongly on the specific fuels and technologies available, the local demand for heat or for electricity, and the local baseline energy-production method. Burning renewable fuels reduces anthropogenic CO{sub 2} emissions as widely recognized. In certain cases, however, other processing methods are equally or more effective, including the simple carbonization or oxidative pyrolysis of biomass fuels.
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Smoke emissions in small-scale burning of wood
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tuomi, S.
1993-01-01
The article is based on research carried out in Finland and Sweden on the subject of emissions of smoke in the small-scale burning of wood and the factors affecting it. Due to incomplete combustion, small-scale burning of wood is particularly typified by its emissions of solid particles, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and PAH compounds. Included among factors influencing the volume of emissions are the load imposed on the heating device, the manner in which the fuel is fed into the firebox, fuel quality, and heating device structure. Emissions have been found to be at their minimum in connection with heating systems based on accumulators. Emissions can be significantly reduced by employing state-of-the-art technology, appropriate ways of heating and by dry fuel. A six-year bioenergy research programme was launched early in 1993 in Finland. All leading research institutions and enterprises participate in this programme. Reduction of emissions has been set as the central goal in the part dealing with small-scale burning of wood. Application of catalytic combustion in Finnish-made heating devices is one of the programmes development targets. Up to this date, the emissions produced in the small-scale burning of wood are not mentioned in official regulations pertaining to approved heating devices. In Sweden tar emissions are applied as a measure of the environmental impact imposed by heating devices
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Cohen, Jason
2017-04-01
This work presents a methodology by which to comprehensively analyze simultaneous tropospheric measurements of AOD and associated trace gasses. It then applies this methodology by focusing over the past 11 years (2006-2016) on one of the most rapidly changing regions of the troposphere: Eastern and Southeastern Asia. The specific work presented incorporates measurements of both aerosol and related gas phase tropospheric measurements across different spectral, spatial, temporal, and passive/active sensors and properties, including: MODIS, MISR, OMI, CALIOP, and others. This new characterization reveals a trio of new information, including a time-invariant urban signal, slowly-time-varying new-urbanization signal, and a rapidly time-varying biomass burning signal. Additionally, due to the different chemical properties of the various species analyzed, analyzing the different spatial domains of the resulting products allows for further information in terms of the amounts of aerosols produced both through primary emissions as well as secondary processing. The end result is a new characterization, in space, time, and magnitude, of both anthropogenic and biomass burning aerosols. These results are then used to drive an advanced modeling system including aerosol chemistry, physics, optics, and transport, and employing an aerosol routine based on multi-modal and both externally mixed and core-shell mixing. The resulting characterization in space, time, and quantity is analyzed and compared against AERONET, NOAA, and other ground networks, with the results comparing consistently to or better than present approaches which set up net emissions separately from urban and biomass burning products. Scientifically, new source regions of emissions are identified, some of which were previously non-urbanized or found to not contain any fire hotspots. This new approach is consistent with the underlying economic and development pathways of expanding urban areas and rapid economic growth
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Investigating biomass burning aerosol morphology using a laser imaging nephelometer
Manfred, Katherine M.; Washenfelder, Rebecca A.; Wagner, Nicholas L.; Adler, Gabriela; Erdesz, Frank; Womack, Caroline C.; Lamb, Kara D.; Schwarz, Joshua P.; Franchin, Alessandro; Selimovic, Vanessa; Yokelson, Robert J.; Murphy, Daniel M.
2018-02-01
Particle morphology is an important parameter affecting aerosol optical properties that are relevant to climate and air quality, yet it is poorly constrained due to sparse in situ measurements. Biomass burning is a large source of aerosol that generates particles with different morphologies. Quantifying the optical contributions of non-spherical aerosol populations is critical for accurate radiative transfer models, and for correctly interpreting remote sensing data. We deployed a laser imaging nephelometer at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory to sample biomass burning aerosol from controlled fires during the FIREX intensive laboratory study. The laser imaging nephelometer measures the unpolarized scattering phase function of an aerosol ensemble using diode lasers at 375 and 405 nm. Scattered light from the bulk aerosol in the instrument is imaged onto a charge-coupled device (CCD) using a wide-angle field-of-view lens, which allows for measurements at 4-175° scattering angle with ˜ 0.5° angular resolution. Along with a suite of other instruments, the laser imaging nephelometer sampled fresh smoke emissions both directly and after removal of volatile components with a thermodenuder at 250 °C. The total integrated aerosol scattering signal agreed with both a cavity ring-down photoacoustic spectrometer system and a traditional integrating nephelometer within instrumental uncertainties. We compare the measured scattering phase functions at 405 nm to theoretical models for spherical (Mie) and fractal (Rayleigh-Debye-Gans) particle morphologies based on the size distribution reported by an optical particle counter. Results from representative fires demonstrate that particle morphology can vary dramatically for different fuel types. In some cases, the measured phase function cannot be described using Mie theory. This study demonstrates the capabilities of the laser imaging nephelometer instrument to provide realtime, in situ information about dominant particle
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Koss, Abigail R.; Sekimoto, Kanako; Gilman, Jessica B.; Selimovic, Vanessa; Coggon, Matthew M.; Zarzana, Kyle J.; Yuan, Bin; Lerner, Brian M.; Brown, Steven S.; Jimenez, Jose L.; Krechmer, Jordan; Roberts, James M.; Warneke, Carsten; Yokelson, Robert J.; de Gouw, Joost
2018-03-01
Volatile and intermediate-volatility non-methane organic gases (NMOGs) released from biomass burning were measured during laboratory-simulated wildfires by proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF). We identified NMOG contributors to more than 150 PTR ion masses using gas chromatography (GC) pre-separation with electron ionization, H3O+ chemical ionization, and NO+ chemical ionization, an extensive literature review, and time series correlation, providing higher certainty for ion identifications than has been previously available. Our interpretation of the PTR-ToF mass spectrum accounts for nearly 90 % of NMOG mass detected by PTR-ToF across all fuel types. The relative contributions of different NMOGs to individual exact ion masses are mostly similar across many fires and fuel types. The PTR-ToF measurements are compared to corresponding measurements from open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (OP-FTIR), broadband cavity-enhanced spectroscopy (ACES), and iodide ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (I- CIMS) where possible. The majority of comparisons have slopes near 1 and values of the linear correlation coefficient, R2, of > 0.8, including compounds that are not frequently reported by PTR-MS such as ammonia, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), nitrous acid (HONO), and propene. The exceptions include methylglyoxal and compounds that are known to be difficult to measure with one or more of the deployed instruments. The fire-integrated emission ratios to CO and emission factors of NMOGs from 18 fuel types are provided. Finally, we provide an overview of the chemical characteristics of detected species. Non-aromatic oxygenated compounds are the most abundant. Furans and aromatics, while less abundant, comprise a large portion of the OH reactivity. The OH reactivity, its major contributors, and the volatility distribution of emissions can change considerably over the course of a fire.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. R. Koss
2018-03-01
Full Text Available Volatile and intermediate-volatility non-methane organic gases (NMOGs released from biomass burning were measured during laboratory-simulated wildfires by proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF. We identified NMOG contributors to more than 150 PTR ion masses using gas chromatography (GC pre-separation with electron ionization, H3O+ chemical ionization, and NO+ chemical ionization, an extensive literature review, and time series correlation, providing higher certainty for ion identifications than has been previously available. Our interpretation of the PTR-ToF mass spectrum accounts for nearly 90 % of NMOG mass detected by PTR-ToF across all fuel types. The relative contributions of different NMOGs to individual exact ion masses are mostly similar across many fires and fuel types. The PTR-ToF measurements are compared to corresponding measurements from open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (OP-FTIR, broadband cavity-enhanced spectroscopy (ACES, and iodide ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (I− CIMS where possible. The majority of comparisons have slopes near 1 and values of the linear correlation coefficient, R2, of > 0.8, including compounds that are not frequently reported by PTR-MS such as ammonia, hydrogen cyanide (HCN, nitrous acid (HONO, and propene. The exceptions include methylglyoxal and compounds that are known to be difficult to measure with one or more of the deployed instruments. The fire-integrated emission ratios to CO and emission factors of NMOGs from 18 fuel types are provided. Finally, we provide an overview of the chemical characteristics of detected species. Non-aromatic oxygenated compounds are the most abundant. Furans and aromatics, while less abundant, comprise a large portion of the OH reactivity. The OH reactivity, its major contributors, and the volatility distribution of emissions can change considerably over the course of a fire.
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Fang, Zheng; Deng, Wei; Zhang, Yanli; Ding, Xiang; Tang, Mingjin; Liu, Tengyu; Hu, Qihou; Zhu, Ming; Wang, Zhaoyi; Yang, Weiqiang; Huang, Zhonghui; Song, Wei; Bi, Xinhui; Chen, Jianmin; Sun, Yele; George, Christian; Wang, Xinming
2017-12-01
Agricultural residues are among the most abundant biomass burned globally, especially in China. However, there is little information on primary emissions and photochemical evolution of agricultural residue burning. In this study, indoor chamber experiments were conducted to investigate primary emissions from open burning of rice, corn and wheat straws and their photochemical aging as well. Emission factors of NOx, NH3, SO2, 67 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), particulate matter (PM), organic aerosol (OA) and black carbon (BC) under ambient dilution conditions were determined. Olefins accounted for > 50 % of the total speciated NMHCs emission (2.47 to 5.04 g kg-1), indicating high ozone formation potential of straw burning emissions. Emission factors of PM (3.73 to 6.36 g kg-1) and primary organic carbon (POC, 2.05 to 4.11 gC kg-1), measured at dilution ratios of 1300 to 4000, were lower than those reported in previous studies at low dilution ratios, probably due to the evaporation of semi-volatile organic compounds under high dilution conditions. After photochemical aging with an OH exposure range of (1.97-4.97) × 1010 molecule cm-3 s in the chamber, large amounts of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) were produced with OA mass enhancement ratios (the mass ratio of total OA to primary OA) of 2.4-7.6. The 20 known precursors could only explain 5.0-27.3 % of the observed SOA mass, suggesting that the major precursors of SOA formed from open straw burning remain unidentified. Aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) signaled that the aged OA contained less hydrocarbons but more oxygen- and nitrogen-containing compounds than primary OA, and carbon oxidation state (OSc) calculated with AMS resolved O / C and H / C ratios increased linearly (p < 0.001) with OH exposure with quite similar slopes.
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Design of biomass district heating systems
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Vallios, Ioannis; Tsoutsos, Theocharis; Papadakis, George
2009-01-01
The biomass exploitation takes advantage of the agricultural, forest, and manure residues and in extent, urban and industrial wastes, which under controlled burning conditions, can generate heat and electricity, with limited environmental impacts. Biomass can - significantly - contribute in the energy supplying system, if the engineers will adopt the necessary design changes to the traditional systems and become more familiar with the design details of the biomass heating systems. The aim of this paper is to present a methodology of the design of biomass district heating systems taking into consideration the optimum design of building structure and urban settlement around the plant. The essential energy parameters are presented for the size calculations of a biomass burning-district heating system, as well as for the environmental (i.e. Greenhouse Gas Emissions) and economic evaluation (i.e. selectivity and viability of the relevant investment). Emphasis has been placed upon the technical parameters of the biomass system, the economic details of the boiler, the heating distribution network, the heat exchanger and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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Wu, Zhijun; Zheng, Jing; Wang, Yu; Shang, Dongjie; Du, Zhoufei; Zhang, Yuanhang; Hu, Min
2017-02-01
Biomass burning emits large amounts of both trace gases and particles into the atmosphere. It plays a profound role in regional air quality and climate change. In the present study, an intensive campaign was carried out at an urban site in Beijing, China, in June 2014, which covered the winter wheat harvest season over the North China Plain (NCP). Meanwhile, two evident biomass-burning events were observed. A clear burst in ultrafine particles (below 100nm in diameter, PM 1 ) and subsequent particle growth took place during the events. With the growth of the ultrafine particles, the organic fraction of PM 1 increased significantly. The ratio of oxygen to carbon (O:C), which had an average value of 0.23±0.04, did not show an obvious enhancement, indicating that a significant chemical aging process of the biomass-burning aerosols was not observed during the course of events. This finding might have been due to the fact that the biomass-burning events occurred in the late afternoon and grew during the nighttime, which is associated with a low atmospheric oxidation capacity. On average, organics and black carbon (BC) were dominant in the biomass-burning aerosols, accounting for 60±10% and 18±3% of PM 1 . The high organic and BC fractions led to a significant suppression of particle hygroscopicity. Comparisons among hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA)-derived, cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNc)-derived, and aerosol mass spectrometer-based hygroscopicity parameter (κ) values were consistent. The mean κ values of biomass-burning aerosols derived from both HTDMA and CCNc measurements were approximately 0.1, regardless of the particle size, indicating that the biomass-burning aerosols were less active. The burst in particle count during the biomass-burning events resulted in an increased number of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) at supersaturation (SS)=0.2-0.8%. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Hu, Qi-Hou; Xie, Zhou-Qing; Wang, Xin-Ming; Kang, Hui; Zhang, Pengfei
2013-11-01
Biomass burning is known to affect air quality, global carbon cycle, and climate. However, the extent to which biomass burning gases/aerosols are present on a global scale, especially in the marine atmosphere, is poorly understood. Here we report the molecular tracer levoglucosan concentrations in marine air from the Arctic Ocean through the North and South Pacific Ocean to Antarctica during burning season. Levoglucosan was found to be present in all regions at ng/m(3) levels with the highest atmospheric loadings present in the mid-latitudes (30°-60° N and S), intermediate loadings in the Arctic, and lowest loadings in the Antarctic and equatorial latitudes. As a whole, levoglucosan concentrations in the Southern Hemisphere were comparable to those in the Northern Hemisphere. Biomass burning has a significant impact on atmospheric Hg and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) from pole-to-pole, with more contribution to WSOC in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Aerosol optical properties during firework, biomass burning and dust episodes in Beijing
Yu, Xingna; Shi, Chanzhen; Ma, Jia; Zhu, Bin; Li, Mei; Wang, Jing; Yang, Suying; Kang, Na
2013-12-01
In order to characterize the aerosol optical properties during different pollution episodes that occurred in Beijing, the aerosol loading, scattering, and size distributions are presented using solar and sky radiance measurements from 2001 to 2010 in this paper. A much higher aerosol loading than the background level was observed during the pollution episodes. The average aerosol optical depth (AOD) is largest during dust episodes coupled with the lowest Ångström exponent (α), while higher AOD and lower α were more correlated with firework and biomass burning days. The total mean AOD at 440, 675, 870 and 1020 nm were 0.24, 0.49, 0.64 and 1.38 in the clean, firework display, biomass burning and dust days, respectively. The mean α for dust days was 0.51 and exceeded 1.1 for the remaining episodes. The size distribution of the dusty periods was dominated by the coarse mode, but the coarse mode was similar magnitude to the fine mode during the firework and biomass burning days. The volume concentration of the coarse mode during the dust days increased by a magnitude of more than 2-8 times that derived in the other three aerosol conditions, suggesting that dust is the major contributor of coarse mode particles in Beijing. The single scattering albedo (SSA) values also increased during the pollution episodes. The overall mean SSA at the four wavelengths were 0.865, 0.911, 0.922 and 0.931 in clean, firework display, biomass burning, and dust days in Beijing, respectively. However, in the blue spectral range, the dust aerosols exhibited pronounced absorption.
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Liu, Jason; Lezama, Nicholas; Gasper, Joseph; Kawata, Jennifer; Morley, Sybil; Helmer, Drew; Ciminera, Paul
2016-07-01
The aim of this study was to determine how burn pit emissions exposure is associated with the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. We examined the associations between assumed geographic and self-reported burn pit emissions exposure and respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes in participants of the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. We found significant dose-response associations for higher risk of self-reported emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with increased days of deployment within 2 miles of selected burn pits (P-trend = 0.01) and self-reported burn pit smoke exposure (P-trend = 0.0005). We found associations between burn pit emissions exposure and higher incidence of post-deployment self-reported respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, but these findings should be interpreted with caution because the surrogate measurements of burn pit emissions exposure in this analysis may not reflect individual exposure levels.
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Radiative Effects of Aerosols Generated from Biomass Burning, Dust Storms, and Forest Fires
Christopher Sundar A.; Vulcan, Donna V.; Welch, Ronald M.
1996-01-01
Atmospheric aerosol particles, both natural and anthropogenic, are important to the earth's radiative balance. They scatter the incoming solar radiation and modify the shortwave reflective properties of clouds by acting as Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN). Although it has been recognized that aerosols exert a net cooling influence on climate (Twomey et al. 1984), this effect has received much less attention than the radiative forcings due to clouds and greenhouse gases. The radiative forcing due to aerosols is comparable in magnitude to current anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing but opposite in sign (Houghton et al. 1990). Atmospheric aerosol particles generated from biomass burning, dust storms and forest fires are important regional climatic variables. A recent study by Penner et al. (1992) proposed that smoke particles from biomass burning may have a significant impact on the global radiation balance. They estimate that about 114 Tg of smoke is produced per year in the tropics through biomass burning. The direct and indirect effects of smoke aerosol due to biomass burning could add up globally to a cooling effect as large as 2 W/sq m. Ackerman and Chung (1992) used model calculations and the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data to show that in comparison to clear days, the heavy dust loading over the Saudi Arabian peninsula can change the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) clear sky shortwave and longwave radiant exitance by 40-90 W/sq m and 5-20 W/sq m, respectively. Large particle concentrations produced from these types of events often are found with optical thicknesses greater than one. These aerosol particles are transported across considerable distances from the source (Fraser et al. 1984). and they could perturb the radiative balance significantly. In this study, the regional radiative effects of aerosols produced from biomass burning, dust storms and forest fires are examined using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Local Area
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Ordou, N.; Agranovski, I. E.
2017-12-01
Air contamination resulting from bushfires is becoming increasingly important research question, as such disasters frequently occur in many countries. The objectives of this project were focused on physical and chemical characterisations of particulate emission resulting from burning of common representatives of Australian vegetation under controlled laboratory conditions. It was found that leaves are burned mostly with flaming phase and producing black smoke resulting in larger particles compared to white smoke in case of branches and grass, dominated by smouldering phase, producing finer particles. Following elemental analysis determined nine main elements in three different size fractions of particulate matter for each category of burning material, ranging from 14.1 μm to particle sizes below 2.54 μm. Potassium was found to be one of the main biomass markers, and sulphur was the ubiquitous element among the smoke particles followed by less prevalent trace elements like Na, Al, Mg, Zn, Si, Ca, and Fe.
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de Gouw, J. A.; Cooper, O. R.; Warneke, C.; Hudson, P. K.; Fehsenfeld, F. C.; Holloway, J. S.; Hübler, G.; Nicks, D. K., Jr.; Nowak, J. B.; Parrish, D. D.; Ryerson, T. B.; Atlas, E. L.; Donnelly, S. G.; Schauffler, S. M.; Stroud, V.; Johnson, K.; Carmichael, G. R.; Streets, D. G.
2004-12-01
As part of the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation experiment in 2002 (ITCT 2K2), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) WP-3D research aircraft was used to study the long-range transport of Asian air masses toward the west coast of North America. During research flights on 5 and 17 May, strong enhancements of carbon monoxide (CO) and other species were observed in air masses that had been transported from Asia. The hydrocarbon composition of the air masses indicated that the highest CO levels were related to fossil fuel use. During the flights on 5 and 17 May and other days, the levels of several biomass-burning indicators increased with altitude. This was true for acetonitrile (CH3CN), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), the ratio of acetylene (C2H2) to propane (C3H8), and, on May 5, the percentage of particles measured by the particle analysis by laser mass spectrometry (PALMS) instrument that were attributed to biomass burning based on their carbon and potassium content. An ensemble of back-trajectories, calculated from the U.S. west coast over a range of latitudes and altitudes for the entire ITCT 2K2 period, showed that air masses from Southeast Asia and China were generally observed at higher altitudes than air from Japan and Korea. Emission inventories estimate the contribution of biomass burning to the total emissions to be low for Japan and Korea, higher for China, and the highest for Southeast Asia. Combined with the origin of the air masses versus altitude, this qualitatively explains the increase with altitude, averaged over the whole ITCT 2K2 period, of the different biomass-burning indicators.
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Contribution of Biomass Burning to Carbonaceous Aerosols in Mexico City during may 2013
Tzompa Sosa, Z. A.; Sullivan, A.; Kreidenweis, S. M.
2014-12-01
The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) is one of the largest megacities in the world with a population of 20 million people. Emissions transported from outside the basin, such as wildfires and agricultural burning, represent a potentially large contribution to air quality degradation. This study analyzed PM10 filter samples from six different stations located across the MCMA from May, 2013, which represented the month with the most reported fire counts in the region between 2002-2013. Two meteorological regimes were established considering the number of satellite derived fire counts, changes in predominant wind direction, ambient concentrations of CO, PM10 and PM2.5, and precipitation patterns inside MCMA. The filter samples were analyzed for biomass burning tracers including levoglucosan (LEV), water-soluble potassium (WSK+); and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC). Results of these analyses show that LEV concentrations correlated positively with ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 (R2=0.61 and R2=0.46, respectively). Strong correlations were also found between WSOC and LEV (R2=0.94) and between WSK+ and LEV (R2=0.75). An average LEV/WSOC ratio of 0.0147 was estimated for Regime 1 and 0.0062 for Regime 2. Our LEV concentrations and LEV/WSOC ratios are consistent with results found during the MILAGRO campaign (March, 2006). To the best of our knowledge, only total potassium concentrations have been measured in aerosol samples from MCMA. Therefore, this is the first study in MCMA to measure ambient concentrations of WSK+. Analysis of gravimetric mass concentrations showed that PM2.5 accounted for 60% of the PM10 mass concentration with an estimated PM10/PM2.5 ratio of 1.68. Estimates from our laboratory filter sample characterization indicated that we measured 37% of the total PM10 mass concentration. The missing mass is most likely crustal material (soil or dust) and carbonaceous aerosols that were not segregated into WSOC fraction. Assuming that LEV is
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Morgan, William; Allan, James; Flynn, Michael; Darbyshire, Eoghan; Hodgson, Amy; Liu, Dantong; O'shea, Sebastian; Bauguitte, Stephane; Szpek, Kate; Langridge, Justin; Johnson, Ben; Haywood, Jim; Longo, Karla; Artaxo, Paulo; Coe, Hugh
2014-05-01
Biomass burning represents one of the largest sources of particulate matter to the atmosphere, resulting in a significant perturbation to the Earth's radiative balance coupled with serious impacts on public health. Globally, biomass burning aerosols are thought to exert a small warming effect but with the uncertainty being 4 times greater than the central estimate. On regional scales, the impact is substantially greater, particularly in areas such as the Amazon Basin where large, intense and frequent burning occurs on an annual basis for several months. Absorption by atmospheric aerosols is underestimated by models over South America, which points to significant uncertainties relating to Black Carbon (BC) aerosol properties. Initial results from the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which took place during September and October 2012 over Brazil on-board the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft, are presented here. Aerosol chemical composition was measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and a DMT Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2). The physical, chemical and optical properties of the aerosols across the region will be characterized in order to establish the impact of biomass burning on regional air quality, weather and climate. The aircraft sampled a range of conditions including sampling of pristine Rainforest, fresh biomass burning plumes, regional haze and elevated biomass burning layers within the free troposphere. The aircraft sampled biomass burning aerosol across the southern Amazon in the states of Rondonia and Mato Grosso, as well as in a Cerrado (Savannah-like) region in Tocantins state. This presented a range of fire conditions, both in terms of their number, intensity, vegetation-type and their combustion efficiencies. Near-source sampling of fires in Rainforest environments suggested that smouldering combustion dominated, while flaming combustion dominated
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Burling, I. R.; Yokelson, R. J.; Griffith, D. W. T.; Johnson, T. J.; Veres, P.; Roberts, J. M.; Warneke, C.; Urbanski, S. P.; Reardon, J.; Weise, D. R.; Hao, W. M.; de Gouw, J.
2010-11-01
Vegetation commonly managed by prescribed burning was collected from five southeastern and southwestern US military bases and burned under controlled conditions at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The smoke emissions were measured with a large suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation including an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectrometer for measurement of gas-phase species. The OP-FTIR detected and quantified 19 gas-phase species in these fires: CO2, CO, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C3H6, HCHO, HCOOH, CH3OH, CH3COOH, furan, H2O, NO, NO2, HONO, NH3, HCN, HCl, and SO2. Emission factors for these species are presented for each vegetation type burned. Gas-phase nitrous acid (HONO), an important OH precursor, was detected in the smoke from all fires. The HONO emission factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.60 g kg-1 and were higher for the southeastern fuels. The fire-integrated molar emission ratios of HONO (relative to NOx) ranged from approximately 0.03 to 0.20, with higher values also observed for the southeastern fuels. The majority of non-methane organic compound (NMOC) emissions detected by OP-FTIR were oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) with the total identified OVOC emissions constituting 61 ± 12% of the total measured NMOC on a molar basis. These OVOC may undergo photolysis or further oxidation contributing to ozone formation. Elevated amounts of gas-phase HCl and SO2 were also detected during flaming combustion, with the amounts varying greatly depending on location and vegetation type. The fuels with the highest HCl emission factors were all located in the coastal regions, although HCl was also observed from fuels farther inland. Emission factors for HCl were generally higher for the southwestern fuels, particularly those found in the chaparral biome in the coastal regions of California.
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Biomass Burning:Significant Source of Nitrate and Sulfate for the Andean Rain Forest in Ecuador
Fabian, P.; Rollenbeck, R.; Spichtinger, N.
2009-04-01
Forest fires are significant sources of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen compounds which, along with their photochemically generated reaction products, can be transported over very long distances, even traversing oceans. Chemical analyses of rain and fogwater samples collected on the wet eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes show frequent episodes of high sulfate and nitrate concentration, from which annual deposition rates of about14 kg/ha and 7 kg/ha ,respectively, are derived. These are comparable to those observed in polluted central Europe. Regular rain and fogwater sampling along an altitude profile between 1800 and 3185 m, has been carried out since 2002.The research area located at 30 58'S ,790 5' W is dominated by trade winds from easterly directions. The samples, generally accumulated over 1-week intervals, were analysed for pH, conductivity and major ions(K+,Na+,NH4+,Ca2+,Mg 2+,SO42-,NO3-,PO43-).For all components a strong seasonal variation is observed, while the altitudinal gradient is less pronounced. About 65 % of the weekly samples were significantly loaded with cations and anions, with pH often as low 3.5 to 4.0 and conductivity up to 50 uS/cm. Back trajectories (FLEXTRA) showed that respective air masses had passed over areas of intense biomass burning, sometimes influenced by volcanoes, ocean spray, or even episodic Sahara and/or Namib desert dust interference not discussed here. Enhanced SO4 2-and NO3- were identified, by combining satellite-based fire pixels with back trajectories, as predominantly resulting from biomass burning. For most cases, by using emission inventories, anthropogenic precursor sources other than forest fires play a minor role, thus leaving biomass burning as the main source of nitrate and sulphate in rain and fogwater. Some SO4 2- , about 10 % of the total input, could be identified to originate from active volcanoes, whose plumes were sometimes encountered by the respective back trajectories. While volcanic, oceanic and
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Stavrakou, T.; Muller, J. F.; Bauwens, M.; De Smedt, I.; Lerot, C.; Van Roozendael, M.
2015-12-01
Crop residue burning is an important contributor to global biomass burning. In the North China Plain, one of the largest and densely populated world plains, post-harvest crop burning is a common agricultural management practice, allowing for land clearing from residual straw and preparation for the subsequent crop cultivation. The most extensive crop fires occur in the North China Plain in June after the winter wheat comes to maturity, and have been blamed for spikes in air pollution leading to serious health problems. Estimating harvest season burning emissions is therefore of primary importance to assess air quality and define best policies for its improvement in this sensitive region. Bottom-up approaches, either based on crop production and emission factors, or on satellite burned area and fire radiative power products, have been adopted so far, however, these methods crucially depend, among other assumptions, on the satellite skill to detect small fires, and could lead to underestimation of the actual emissions. The flux inversion of atmospheric observations is an alternative, independent approach for inferring the emissions from crop fires. Satellite column observations of formaldehyde (HCHO) exhibit a strong peak over the North China Plain in June, resulting from enhanced pyrogenic emissions of a large suite of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), precursors of HCHO. We use vertical columns of formaldehyde retrieved from the OMI instrument between 2005 and 2012 as constraints in an adjoint inversion scheme built on IMAGESv2 CTM, and perform the optimization of biogenic, pyrogenic, and anthropogenic emission parameters at the model resolution. We investigate the interannual variability of the top-down source, quantify its importance for the atmospheric composition on the regional scale, and explore its uncertainties. The OMI-based crop burning source is compared with the corresponding anthropogenic flux in the North China Plain, and is evaluated against HCHO
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
E. T. Sena
2013-02-01
Full Text Available This paper addresses the Amazonian shortwave radiative budget over cloud-free conditions after considering three aspects of deforestation: (i the emission of aerosols from biomass burning due to forest fires; (ii changes in surface albedo after deforestation; and (iii modifications in the column water vapour amount over deforested areas. Simultaneous Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES shortwave fluxes and aerosol optical depth (AOD retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS were analysed during the peak of the biomass burning seasons (August and September from 2000 to 2009. A discrete-ordinate radiative transfer (DISORT code was used to extend instantaneous remote sensing radiative forcing assessments into 24-h averages.
The mean direct radiative forcing of aerosols at the top of the atmosphere (TOA during the biomass burning season for the 10-yr studied period was −5.6 ± 1.7 W m−2. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the direct radiative forcing of aerosols over Amazonia was obtained for the biomass burning season of each year. It was observed that for high AOD (larger than 1 at 550 nm the maximum daily direct aerosol radiative forcing at the TOA may be as high as −20 W m−2 locally. The surface reflectance plays a major role in the aerosol direct radiative effect. The study of the effects of biomass burning aerosols over different surface types shows that the direct radiative forcing is systematically more negative over forest than over savannah-like covered areas. Values of −15.7 ± 2.4 W m−2τ550 nm and −9.3 ± 1.7 W m−2τ550 nm were calculated for the mean daily aerosol forcing efficiencies over forest and savannah-like vegetation respectively. The overall mean annual land use change radiative forcing due to deforestation over the state of Rondônia, Brazil, was determined as −7.3 ± 0.9 W m -
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Srinivas, Bikkina; Sarin, M M
2013-01-01
The first field measurements of light absorbing water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), referred as brown carbon (BrC), have been made in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) during the continental outflow to the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the Arabian Sea (ARS). The absorption signal measured at 365 nm in aqueous extracts of aerosols shows a systematic linear increase with WSOC concentration, suggesting a significant contribution from BrC to the absorption properties of organic aerosols. The mass absorption coefficient (b abs ) of BrC shows an inverse hyperbolic relation with wavelength (from ∼300 to 700 nm), providing an estimate of the Angstrom exponent (α P , range: 3–19; Av: 9 ± 3). The mass absorption efficiency of brown carbon (σ abs−BrC ) in the MABL varies from 0.17 to 0.72 m 2 g −1 (Av: 0.45 ± 0.14 m 2 g −1 ). The α P and σ abs−BrC over the BoB are quite similar to that studied from a sampling site in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), suggesting the dominant impact of organic aerosols associated with the continental outflow. A comparison of the mass absorption efficiency of BrC and elemental carbon (EC) brings to focus the significant role of light absorbing organic aerosols (from biomass burning emissions) in atmospheric radiative forcing over oceanic regions located downwind of the pollution sources. (letter)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
E. Aruffo
2016-11-01
Full Text Available Total peroxy nitrate ( ∑ PN concentrations have been measured using a thermal dissociation laser-induced fluorescence (TD-LIF instrument during the BORTAS campaign, which focused on the impact of boreal biomass burning (BB emissions on air quality in the Northern Hemisphere. The strong correlation observed between the ∑ PN concentrations and those of carbon monoxide (CO, a well-known pyrogenic tracer, suggests the possible use of the ∑ PN concentrations as marker of the BB plumes. Two methods for the identification of BB plumes have been applied: (1 ∑ PN concentrations higher than 6 times the standard deviation above the background and (2 ∑ PN concentrations higher than the 99th percentile of the ∑ PNs measured during a background flight (B625; then we compared the percentage of BB plume selected using these methods with the percentage evaluated, applying the approaches usually used in literature. Moreover, adding the pressure threshold ( ∼ 750 hPa as ancillary parameter to ∑ PNs, hydrogen cyanide (HCN and CO, the BB plume identification is improved. A recurrent artificial neural network (ANN model was adapted to simulate the concentrations of ∑ PNs and HCN, including nitrogen oxide (NO, acetonitrile (CH3CN, CO, ozone (O3 and atmospheric pressure as input parameters, to verify the specific role of these input data to better identify BB plumes.
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Zhai, Jinghao; Lu, Xiaohui; Li, Ling; Zhang, Qi; Zhang, Ci; Chen, Hong; Yang, Xin; Chen, Jianmin
2017-06-01
Biomass burning aerosol has an important impact on the global radiative budget. A better understanding of the correlations between the mixing states of biomass burning particles and their optical properties is the goal of a number of current studies. In this work, the effective density, chemical composition, and optical properties of rice straw burning particles in the size range of 50-400 nm were measured using a suite of online methods. We found that the major components of particles produced by burning rice straw included black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), and potassium salts, but the mixing states of particles were strongly size dependent. Particles of 50 nm had the smallest effective density (1.16 g cm-3) due to a relatively large proportion of aggregate BC. The average effective densities of 100-400 nm particles ranged from 1.35 to 1.51 g cm-3 with OC and inorganic salts as dominant components. Both density distribution and single-particle mass spectrometry showed more complex mixing states in larger particles. Upon heating, the separation of the effective density distribution modes confirmed the external mixing state of less-volatile BC or soot and potassium salts. The size-resolved optical properties of biomass burning particles were investigated at two wavelengths (λ = 450 and 530 nm). The single-scattering albedo (SSA) showed the lowest value for 50 nm particles (0.741 ± 0.007 and 0.889 ± 0.006) because of the larger proportion of BC content. Brown carbon played an important role for the SSA of 100-400 nm particles. The Ångström absorption exponent (AAE) values for all particles were above 1.6, indicating the significant presence of brown carbon in all sizes. Concurrent measurements in our work provide a basis for discussing the physicochemical properties of biomass burning aerosol and its effects on the global climate and atmospheric environment.
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Physiochemical characterisation of biomass burning plumes in Brazil during SAMBBA
Morgan, William; Allan, James; Flynn, Michael; Darbyshire, Eoghan; Hodgson, Amy; Johnson, Ben; Haywood, Jim; Longo, Karla; Artaxo, Paulo; Coe, Hugh
2013-04-01
Biomass burning represents one of the largest sources of particulate matter to the atmosphere, which results in a significant perturbation to the Earth's radiative balance coupled with serious negative impacts on public health. Globally, biomass burning aerosols are thought to exert a small warming effect of 0.03 Wm-2, however the uncertainty is 4 times greater than the central estimate. On regional scales, the impact is substantially greater, particularly in areas such as the Amazon Basin where large, intense and frequent burning occurs on an annual basis for several months (usually from August-October). Furthermore, a growing number of people live within the Amazon region, which means that they are subject to the deleterious effects on their health from exposure to substantial volumes of polluted air. Results are presented here from the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA), which took place during September and October 2012 over Brazil. A suite of instrumentation was flown on-board the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft. Measurements from the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) form the major part of the analysis presented here. The aircraft sampled several fires in close proximity (approximately 150m above the most intense fires) in different areas of Brazil. This included two extensive areas of burning, which occurred in the states of Rondonia and Tocantins. The Rondonia fire was largely dominated by smouldering combustion of a huge single area of rainforest with a visible plume of smoke extending approximately 80km downwind. The Tocantins example contrasted with this as it was a collection of a large number of smaller fires, with flaming combustion being more prevalent. Furthermore, the burned area was largely made up of agricultural land in a cerrado (savannah-like) region of Brazil. Initial results suggest that the chemical nature of these fires differed
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Emission from open burning of municipal solid waste in India.
Kumari, Kanchan; Kumar, Sunil; Rajagopal, Vineel; Khare, Ankur; Kumar, Rakesh
2017-07-27
Open burning of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a potential non-point source of emission, which causes greater concern especially in developing countries such as India. Lack of awareness about environmental impact of open burning, and ignorance of the fact, i.e. 'Open burning is a source of emission of carcinogenic substances' are major hindrances towards an appropriate municipal solid waste management system in India. The paper highlights the open burning of MSW practices in India, and the current and projected emission of 10 major pollutants (dioxin, furans, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and 1-hexene) emitted due to the open burning of MSW. Waste to Energy potential of MSW was also estimated adopting effective biological and thermal techniques. Statistical techniques were applied to analyse the data and current and projected emission of various pollutants were estimated. Data pertaining to population, MSW generation and its collection efficiency were compiled for 29 States and 7 Union Territories. Thereafter, emission of 10 pollutants was measured following methodology prescribed in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guideline for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, 2006. The study revealed that people living in Metropolitan cities are more affected by emissions from open burning.
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Aromatic acids in a Eurasian Arctic ice core: a 2600-year proxy record of biomass burning
Grieman, Mackenzie M.; Aydin, Murat; Fritzsche, Diedrich; McConnell, Joseph R.; Opel, Thomas; Sigl, Michael; Saltzman, Eric S.
2017-04-01
Wildfires and their emissions have significant impacts on ecosystems, climate, atmospheric chemistry, and carbon cycling. Well-dated proxy records are needed to study the long-term climatic controls on biomass burning and the associated climate feedbacks. There is a particular lack of information about long-term biomass burning variations in Siberia, the largest forested area in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study we report analyses of aromatic acids (vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acids) over the past 2600 years in the Eurasian Arctic Akademii Nauk ice core. These compounds are aerosol-borne, semi-volatile organic compounds derived from lignin combustion. The analyses were made using ion chromatography with electrospray mass spectrometric detection. The levels of these aromatic acids ranged from below the detection limit (0.01 to 0.05 ppb; 1 ppb = 1000 ng L-1) to about 1 ppb, with roughly 30 % of the samples above the detection limit. In the preindustrial late Holocene, highly elevated aromatic acid levels are observed during three distinct periods (650-300 BCE, 340-660 CE, and 1460-1660 CE). The timing of the two most recent periods coincides with the episodic pulsing of ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic known as Bond events and a weakened Asian monsoon, suggesting a link between fires and large-scale climate variability on millennial timescales. Aromatic acid levels also are elevated during the onset of the industrial period from 1780 to 1860 CE, but with a different ratio of vanillic and para-hydroxybenzoic acid than is observed during the preindustrial period. This study provides the first millennial-scale record of aromatic acids. This study clearly demonstrates that coherent aromatic acid signals are recorded in polar ice cores that can be used as proxies for past trends in biomass burning.
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Modeling and Mechanisms of Intercontinental Transport of Biomass-Burning Plumes
Reid, J. S.; Westphal, D. L.; Christopher, S. A.; Prins, E. M.; Justice, C. O.; Richardson, K. A.; Reid, E. A.; Eck, T. F.
2003-12-01
With the aid of fire products from GOES and MODIS, the NRL Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) successfully monitors and predicts the formation and transport of massive smoke plumes between the continents in near real time. The goal of this system, formed under the joint Navy, NASA, and NOAA sponsored Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) project, is to provide 5 day forecasts of large biomass burning plumes and evaluate impacts on air quality, visibility, and regional radiative balance. In this paper we discuss and compare the mechanisms of intercontinental transport from the three most important sources in the world prone to long range advection: Africa, South/Central America, and Siberia. We demonstrate how these regions impact neighboring continents. As the meteorology of these three regions are distinct, differences in transport phenomenon subsequently result, particularly with respect to vertical distribution. Specific examples will be given on prediction and the impact of Siberian and Central American smoke plumes on the United States as well as transport phenomena from Africa to Australia. We present rules of thumb for radiation and air quality impacts. We also model clear sky bias (both positive and negative) with respect to MODIS data, and show the frequency to which frontal advection of smoke plumes masks remote sensing retrievals of smoke optical depth.
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EMISSIONS OF ORGANIC AIR TOXICS FROM OPEN ...
A detailed literature search was performed to collect and collate available data reporting emissions of toxic organic substances into the air from open burning sources. Availability of data varied according to the source and the class of air toxics of interest. Volatile organic compound (VOC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) data were available for many of the sources. Data on semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that are not PAHs were available for several sources. Carbonyl and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDD/F) data were available for only a few sources. There were several sources for which no emissions data were available at all. Several observations were made including: 1) Biomass open burning sources typically emitted less VOCs than open burning sources with anthropogenic fuels on a mass emitted per mass burned basis, particularly those where polymers were concerned; 2) Biomass open burning sources typically emitted less SVOCs and PAHs than anthropogenic sources on a mass emitted per mass burned basis. Burning pools of crude oil and diesel fuel produced significant amounts of PAHs relative to other types of open burning. PAH emissions were highest when combustion of polymers was taking place; and 3) Based on very limited data, biomass open burning sources typically produced higher levels of carbonyls than anthropogenic sources on a mass emitted per mass burned basis, probably due to oxygenated structures r
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Fuel characteristics and trace gases produced through biomass burning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
BAMBANG HERO SAHARJO
2010-01-01
Full Text Available Saharjo BH, Sudo S, Yonemura S, Tsuruta H (2010 Fuel characteristics and trace gases produced through biomass burning. Biodiversitas 11: 40-45. Indonesian 1997/1998 forest fires resulted in forest destruction totally 10 million ha with cost damaged about US$ 10 billion, where more than 1 Gt CO2 has been released during the fire episode and elevating Indonesia to one of the largest polluters of carbon in the world where 22% of world’s carbon dioxide produced. It has been found that 80-90% of the fire comes from estate crops and industrial forest plantation area belongs to the companies which using fire illegally for the land preparation. Because using fire is cheap, easy and quick and also support the companies purpose in achieving yearly planted area target. Forest management and land use practices in Sumatra and Kalimantan have evolved very rapidly over the past three decades. Poor logging practices resulted in large amounts of waste will left in the forest, greatly elevating fire hazard. Failure by the government and concessionaires to protect logged forests and close old logging roads led to and invasion of the forest by agricultural settlers whose land clearances practices increased the risk of fire. Several field experiments had been done in order to know the quality and the quantity of trace produced during biomass burning in peat grass, peat soil and alang-alang grassland located in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Result of research show that different characteristics of fuel burned will have the different level also in trace gasses produced. Peat grass with higher fuel load burned produce more trace gasses compared to alang-alang grassland and peat soil.
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Tufekcioglu, Aydin; Kucuk, Mehmet; Saglam, Bulent; Bilgili, Ertugrul; Altun, Lokman
2010-05-01
Fire is an important tool in the management of forest ecosystems. Although both prescribed and wildland fires are common in Turkey, few studies have addressed the influence of such disturbances on soil properties and root biomass dynamics. In this study, soil properties and root biomass responses to prescribed fire were investigated in 25-year-old corsican pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) stands in Kastamonu, Turkey. The stands were established by planting and were subjected to prescribed burning in July 2003. Soil respiration rates were determined every two months using soda-lime method over a two-year period. Fine (0-2 mm diameter) and small root (2-5 mm diameter) biomass were sampled approximately bimonthly using sequential coring method. Mean daily soil respiration ranged from 0.65 to 2.19 g Cm(-2) d(-1) among all sites. Soil respiration rates were significantly higher in burned sites than in controls. Soil respiration rates were correlated significantly with soil moisture and soil temperature. Fine root biomass was significantly lower in burned sites than in control sites. Mean fine root biomass values were 4940 kg ha(-1) for burned and 5450 kg ha(-1) for control sites. Soil pH was significantly higher in burned sites than in control sites in 15-35 cm soil depth. Soil organic matter content did not differ significantly between control and burned sites. Our results indicate that, depending on site conditions, fire could be used successfully as a tool in the management of forest stands in the study area.
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Determinants and predictability of global wildfire emissions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
W. Knorr
2012-08-01
Full Text Available Biomass burning is one of the largest sources of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols globally. These emissions have a major impact on the radiative balance of the atmosphere and on air quality, and are thus of significant scientific and societal interest. Several datasets have been developed that quantify those emissions on a global grid and offered to the atmospheric modelling community. However, no study has yet attempted to systematically quantify the dependence of the inferred pyrogenic emissions on underlying assumptions and input data. Such a sensitivity study is needed for understanding how well we can currently model those emissions and what the factors are that contribute to uncertainties in those emission estimates.
Here, we combine various satellite-derived burned area products, a terrestrial ecosystem model to simulate fuel loads and the effect of fire on ecosystem dynamics, a model of fuel combustion, and various emission models that relate combusted biomass to the emission of various trace gases and aerosols. We carry out simulations with varying parameters for combustion completeness and fuel decomposition rates within published estimates, four different emissions models and three different global burned-area products. We find that variations in combustion completeness and simulated fuel loads have the largest impact on simulated global emissions for most species, except for some with highly uncertain emission factors. Variation in burned-area estimates also contribute considerably to emission uncertainties. We conclude that global models urgently need more field-based data for better parameterisation of combustion completeness and validation of simulated fuel loads, and that further validation and improvement of burned area information is necessary for accurately modelling global wildfire emissions. The results are important for chemical transport modelling studies, and for simulations of biomass burning impacts on the
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Chatfield, Robert B.; Andreae, Meinrat O.
2016-01-01
Previous studies of emission factors from biomass burning are prone to large errors since they ignore the interplay of mixing and varying pre-fire background CO2 levels. Such complications severely affected our studies of 446 forest fire plume samples measured in the Western US by the science teams of NASA's SEAC4RS and ARCTAS airborne missions. Consequently we propose a Mixed Effects Regression Emission Technique (MERET) to check techniques like the Normalized Emission Ratio Method (NERM), where use of sequential observations cannot disentangle emissions and mixing. We also evaluate a simpler "consensus" technique. All techniques relate emissions to fuel burned using C(burn) = delta C(tot) added to the fire plume, where C(tot) approximately equals (CO2 = CO). Mixed-effects regression can estimate pre-fire background values of C(tot) (indexed by observation j) simultaneously with emissions factors indexed by individual species i, delta, epsilon lambda tau alpha-x(sub I)/C(sub burn))I,j. MERET and "consensus" require more than emissions indicators. Our studies excluded samples where exogenous CO or CH4 might have been fed into a fire plume, mimicking emission. We sought to let the data on 13 gases and particulate properties suggest clusters of variables and plume types, using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). While samples were mixtures, the NMF unmixing suggested purer burn types. Particulate properties (b scant, b abs, SSA, AAE) and gas-phase emissions were interrelated. Finally, we sought a simple categorization useful for modeling ozone production in plumes. Two kinds of fires produced high ozone: those with large fuel nitrogen as evidenced by remnant CH3CN in the plumes, and also those from very intense large burns. Fire types with optimal ratios of delta-NOy/delta- HCHO associate with the highest additional ozone per unit Cburn, Perhaps these plumes exhibit limited NOx binding to reactive organics. Perhaps these plumes exhibit limited NOx binding to
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
I. R. Burling
2010-11-01
Full Text Available Vegetation commonly managed by prescribed burning was collected from five southeastern and southwestern US military bases and burned under controlled conditions at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The smoke emissions were measured with a large suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation including an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR spectrometer for measurement of gas-phase species. The OP-FTIR detected and quantified 19 gas-phase species in these fires: CO2, CO, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C3H6, HCHO, HCOOH, CH3OH, CH3COOH, furan, H2O, NO, NO2, HONO, NH3, HCN, HCl, and SO2. Emission factors for these species are presented for each vegetation type burned. Gas-phase nitrous acid (HONO, an important OH precursor, was detected in the smoke from all fires. The HONO emission factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.60 g kg−1 and were higher for the southeastern fuels. The fire-integrated molar emission ratios of HONO (relative to NOx ranged from approximately 0.03 to 0.20, with higher values also observed for the southeastern fuels. The majority of non-methane organic compound (NMOC emissions detected by OP-FTIR were oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs with the total identified OVOC emissions constituting 61 ± 12% of the total measured NMOC on a molar basis. These OVOC may undergo photolysis or further oxidation contributing to ozone formation. Elevated amounts of gas-phase HCl and SO2 were also detected during flaming combustion, with the amounts varying greatly depending on location and vegetation type. The fuels with the highest HCl emission factors were all located in the coastal regions, although HCl was also observed from fuels farther inland. Emission factors for HCl were generally higher for the southwestern fuels
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Lacaux, J. P.; Loemba-Ndembi, J.; Lefeivre, B.; Cros, B.; Delmas, R.
An automatic wet-only precipitation collector and a fogwater collector were operated in the coastal forest of equatorial Congo (Dimonika), for a complete seasonal cycle (November 1986-September 1987). Inorganic (Na +, K +, NH 4+, Ca 2+, NO 3-, Cl -, SO 42-) and organic (HCOO -, CH 3COO -) ions were determined in 33 stratiform rain events and nine fog events. With the raindrop size distributions, measured over a 1 year period (June 1988-June 1989) at the site of Enyelé in the Equatorial forest of Congo, were established the relationship between the liquid water content ( LWC in gm -3) and the rate of rainfall ( R in mm h -1) for the stratiform rains: LWC = 0.055 × R0.871 with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. Taking into account the dilution effect due to LWC, ionic concentrations of fogwater and stratiform precipitation are enriched during the dry season. In particular, K +, NO 3-, SO 42- and Ca 2+ are considerably enriched indicating the seasonal influence of the biomass burning due to savanna fires and terrigenous source from deserts of the Southern Hemisphere. Comparison of the chemical contents of fogwater—which mainly represents the local emission of the forest—and stratiform precipitation—which represent the air chemical content of the planetary boundary layer—during the dry season enabled us to show the following. Fog and rain with comparable chemical contents in mineral elements indicate a generalized contamination of the boundary layer by marine (Na +, Cl -), terrigenous (Ca 2+) and above all by biomass burning (K +, NO 3-, SO 42-) sources. The organic content (HCOO -, CH 3COO -) higher for the fogs than for rains, unexplainable by the dilution effect, has its source at a local level in the forest ecosystem. The estimation, from the organic content of fog and rain, of the gaseous concentrations of formic and acetic acids confirm the production of carboxylic acids measured in Amazonia during ABLE (for HCOOH : 510 ppt at canopy level and 170 ppt
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Biomass burning contributions to urban PM2.5 along the coastal lines of southeastern China
Shui-Ping Wu; Yin-Ju Zhang; James J. Schwab; Shuai Huang; Ya Wei; Chung-Shin Yuan
2016-01-01
Levoglucosan (LG), water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and potassium (K+), and the light absorption at 365 nm (Abs365) of the extracted WSOC are measured in PM2.5 samples collected from November 2011 to July 2013 at four coastal urban sites in southeast China (Fuzhou, Putian, Quanzhou and Xiamen). These species are markers of biomass burning and used to determine the contributions of biomass burning to the PM2.5 burden in these locations. LG and WSOC concentrations exhibited a clear seasonal ...
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Liu, Xiaoxi [School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA; Now at Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Now at Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Huey, L. Gregory [School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA; Yokelson, Robert J. [Department of Chemistry, University of Montana, Missoula Montana USA; Selimovic, Vanessa [Department of Chemistry, University of Montana, Missoula Montana USA; Simpson, Isobel J. [Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine California USA; Müller, Markus [Department of Chemistry, University of Montana, Missoula Montana USA; Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck Austria; Jimenez, Jose L. [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Campuzano-Jost, Pedro [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Beyersdorf, Andreas J. [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton Virginia USA; Now at Department of Chemistry, California State University, San Bernardino California USA; Blake, Donald R. [Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine California USA; Butterfield, Zachary [Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos New Mexico USA; Now at Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan USA; Choi, Yonghoon [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton Virginia USA; Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Hampton Virginia USA; Crounse, John D. [Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California USA; Day, Douglas A. [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Diskin, Glenn S. [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton Virginia USA; Dubey, Manvendra K. [Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos New Mexico USA; Fortner, Edward [Center for Aerosol and Cloud Chemistry, Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica Massachusetts USA; Hanisco, Thomas F. [Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Maryland USA; Hu, Weiwei [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; King, Laura E. [School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA; Kleinman, Lawrence [Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton New York USA; Meinardi, Simone [Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine California USA; Mikoviny, Tomas [Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo Norway; Onasch, Timothy B. [Center for Aerosol and Cloud Chemistry, Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica Massachusetts USA; Palm, Brett B. [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Peischl, Jeff [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder Colorado USA; Pollack, Ilana B. [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder Colorado USA; Now at Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins Colorado USA; Ryerson, Thomas B. [Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder Colorado USA; Sachse, Glen W. [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton Virginia USA; Sedlacek, Arthur J. [Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton New York USA; Shilling, John E. [Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Springston, Stephen [Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton New York USA; St. Clair, Jason M. [Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California USA; Now at Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Maryland USA; Now at Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore Maryland USA; Tanner, David J. [School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA; Teng, Alexander P. [Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California USA; Wennberg, Paul O. [Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California USA; Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena California USA; Wisthaler, Armin [Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck Austria; Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo, Oslo Norway; Wolfe, Glenn M. [Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Maryland USA; Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore Maryland USA
2017-06-14
Wildfires emit significant amounts of pollutants that degrade air quality. Plumes from three wildfires in the western U.S. were measured from aircraft during the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) and the Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP), both in summer 2013. This study reports an extensive set of emission factors (EFs) for over 80 gases and 5 components of submicron particulate matter (PM1) from these temperate wildfires. These include rarely, or never before, measured oxygenated volatile organic compounds and multifunctional organic nitrates. The observed EFs are compared with previous measurements of temperate wildfires, boreal forest fires, and temperate prescribed fires. The wildfires emitted high amounts of PM1 (with organic aerosol (OA) dominating the mass) with an average EF that is more than two times the EFs for prescribed fires. The measured EFs were used to estimate the annual wildfire emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, total nonmethane organic compounds, and PM1 from 11 western U.S. states. The estimated gas emissions are generally comparable with the 2011 National Emissions Inventory (NEI). However, our PM1 emission estimate (1530 ± 570 Gg yr-1) is over three times that of the NEI PM2.5 estimate and is also higher than the PM2.5 emitted from all other sources in these states in the NEI. This study indicates that the source of OA from BB in the western states is significantly underestimated. In addition, our results indicate prescribed burning may be an effective method to reduce fine particle emissions.
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Aerosols from biomass combustion
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Nussbaumer, T
2001-07-01
This report is the proceedings of a seminar on biomass combustion and aerosol production organised jointly by the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Task 32 on bio energy and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). This collection of 16 papers discusses the production of aerosols and fine particles by the burning of biomass and their effects. Expert knowledge on the environmental impact of aerosols, formation mechanisms, measurement technologies, methods of analysis and measures to be taken to reduce such emissions is presented. The seminar, visited by 50 participants from 11 countries, shows, according to the authors, that the reduction of aerosol emissions resulting from biomass combustion will remain a challenge for the future.
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Aerosols from biomass combustion
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Nussbaumer, T.
2001-07-01
This report is the proceedings of a seminar on biomass combustion and aerosol production organised jointly by the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Task 32 on bio energy and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). This collection of 16 papers discusses the production of aerosols and fine particles by the burning of biomass and their effects. Expert knowledge on the environmental impact of aerosols, formation mechanisms, measurement technologies, methods of analysis and measures to be taken to reduce such emissions is presented. The seminar, visited by 50 participants from 11 countries, shows, according to the authors, that the reduction of aerosol emissions resulting from biomass combustion will remain a challenge for the future.
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Hansen, A. B.; Kendall, E.; Chew, B. N.; Chong, W. M.; Gan, C.; Hort, M. C.; Shaw, F.; Witham, C. S.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning in South East Asia causes intense haze episodes in Singapore, these are of major concern to the local government and the population exposed to the haze. Using a Lagrangian dispersion model we have studied haze in the seven most recent years (2010 - 2016) to gain a deeper understanding of intense haze in Singapore. In this study, modelled haze time-series at one eastern and one western monitoring station in Singapore are compared to local observed PM10 and PM2.5 air concentrations. The haze time-series are broken down by season or month, source region, and monitoring location.The analysis, presented as time series and pie charts, illustrates the relative contribution to haze in Singapore from different regions, variations between seasons and the correlation of impact to the combined timing of burning activity and meteorological patterns. Air history maps, showing where air arriving in Singapore originates from and/or has travelled through, are used to isolate the meteorological dependence of impacts. These show a strong monsoonal variation and help explain the inter-annual differences between sources and actual concentrations of biomass burning PM in Singapore. For example, there is a strong correlation in 2013 between burning in Riau and haze in Singapore, but a weak correlation in other years when a significant part of haze originates from, e.g., Peninsula Malaysia, but emissions are seemingly negligible. We see that, in spite of the size of Singapore, there is significant difference in concentrations and major contributing source regions between the two monitoring stations, annually and seasonally. The differences at the two monitoring stations are seen in varying degrees in the years 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015, throughout different seasons. Although only biomass burning is considered in the simulations, our modelled results are in good agreement with local observations. We have identified the source regions with the biggest contributions to haze
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Advanced Characterization of Semivolatile Organic Compounds Emitted from Biomass Burning
Hatch, L. E.; Liu, Y.; Rivas-Ubach, A.; Shaw, J. B.; Lipton, M. S.; Barsanti, K. C.
2017-12-01
Biomass burning (BB) emits large amounts of non-methane organic gases (NMOGs) and primary (directly emitted) particulate matter (PM). NMOGs also react in plume to form secondary PM (i.e., SOA) and ozone. BB-PM has been difficult to represent accurately in models used for chemistry and climate predictions, including for air quality and fire management purposes. Much recent research supports that many previously unconsidered SOA precursors exist, including oxidation of semivolatile compounds (SVOCs). Although many recent studies have characterized relatively volatile BB-derived NMOGs and relatively non-volatile particle-phase organic species, comparatively few studies have performed detailed characterization of SVOCs emitted from BB. Here we present efforts to expand the volatility and compositional ranges of compounds measured in BB smoke. In this work, samples of SVOCs in gas and particle phases were collected from 18 fires representing a range of fuel types during the 2016 FIREX fire laboratory campaign; samples were analyzed by two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS) and Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). Hundreds of compounds were detectable in both gas and particle phases by GCxGC-TOFMS whereas thousands of peaks were present in the FTICR mass spectra. Data from both approaches highlight that chemical fingerprints of smoke are fuel/burn-dependent. These efforts support our continued research in building the understanding and model representation of BB emissions and BB-derived SOA.
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Biomass burning contributions to urban aerosols in a coastal Mediterranean City
Reche, C.; Viana, M.; Amato, F.; Alastuey, A.; Moreno, T.; Hillamo, R.; Teinilä, K.; Saarnio, K.; Seco, R.; Peñuelas, J.; Mohr, C.; Prévôt, A.S.H.; Querol, X.
2012-01-01
Mean annual biomass burning contributions to the bulk particulate matter (PM X) load were quantified in a southern-European urban environment (Barcelona, Spain) with special attention to typical Mediterranean winter and summer conditions. In spite of the complexity of the local air pollution
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Guido R. van der Werf
2012-02-01
Full Text Available The chemical composition of the troposphere in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere (SH is significantly influenced by gaseous emissions released from African biomass burning (BB. Here we investigate how various emission estimates given in bottom-up BB inventories (GFEDv2, GFEDv3, AMMABB affect simulations of global tropospheric composition using the TM4 chemistry transport model. The application of various model parameterizations for introducing such emissions is also investigated. There are perturbations in near-surface ozone (O3 and carbon monoxide (CO of ~60–90% in the tropics and ~5–10% in the SH between different inventories. Increasing the update frequency of the temporal distribution to eight days generally results in decreases of between ~5 and 10% in near-surface mixing ratios throughout the tropics, which is larger than the influence of increasing the injection heights at which BB emissions are introduced. There are also associated differences in the long range transport of pollutants throughout the SH, where the composition of the free troposphere in the SH is sensitive to the chosen BB inventory. Analysis of the chemical budget terms reveals that the influence of increasing the tropospheric CO burden due to BB on oxidative capacity of the troposphere is mitigated by the associated increase in NOx emissions (and thus O3 with the variations in the CO/N ratio between inventories being low. For all inventories there is a decrease in the tropospheric chemical lifetime of methane of between 0.4 and 0.8% regardless of the CO emitted from African BB. This has implications for assessing the effect of inter-annual variability in BB on the annual growth rate of methane.
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Desert dust,Ocean spray,Volcanoes,Biomass burning: Pathways of nutrients into Andean rainforests
Fabian, P.; Rollenbeck, R.; Spichtinger, N.; Dominguez, G.; Brothers, L.; Thiemens, M.
2009-04-01
Regular rain and fogwater sampling in the Podocarpus National Park, along an altitude profile between 1800 and 3185 m, has been carried out since 2002.The research area located in southern Ecuador on the wet eastern slopes of the Andes is dominated by trade winds from easterly directions. The samples, generally accumulated over 1-week intervals, have been analysed for pH,conductivity and major ions(K+,Na+,NH4+,Ca2+,Mg 2+,SO42-,NO3-,PO43). For all components a strong seasonal variation is observed,while the altitudinal gradient is less pronounced. About 35 % of the weekly samples had very low ion contents,at or below the detection limit, with pH generally above 5 and conductivity below 10 uS/cm.10 days back trajectories (FLEXTRA) showed that respective air masses originated in pristine continental areas,with little or no obvious pollution sources. About 65 %,however,were significantly loaded with cations and anions,with pH often as low as 3.5 to 4.0 and conductivity up to 50 uS/cm.Back trajectories showed that respective air masses had passed over areas of intense biomass burning,volcanoes,and the ocean,with even episodic Sahara and/or Namib desert dust interference. Enhanced SO4 2-and NO3- were identified,by combining satellite-based fire pixels with back trajectories,as predominantly resulting from biomass burning. Analyses of oxygen isotopes 16O ,17O ,and 18O of nitrate show that nitrate in fog samples is a product of atmospheric conversion of precursors.For most cases,by using emission inventories, anthropogenic precursor sources other than forest fires could be ruled out,thus leaving biomass burning as the main source of nitrate and sulphate in rain and fogwater. Some SO4 2- ,about 10 % of the total input,could be identified to originate from active volcanoes, whose plumes were sometimes encountered by the respective back trajectories. Enhanced Na +, K + ,and Cl - was found to originate from ocean spray sources.They were associated with strong winds providing
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An assessment of biofuel use and burning of agricultural waste in the developing world
Yevich, Rosemarie; Logan, Jennifer A.
2003-12-01
We present an assessment of biofuel use and agricultural field burning in the developing world. We used information from government statistics, energy assessments from the World Bank, and many technical reports, as well as from discussions with experts in agronomy, forestry, and agro-industries. We estimate that 2060 Tg biomass fuel was used in the developing world in 1985; of this, 66% was burned in Asia, and 21% and 13% in Africa and Latin America, respectively. Agricultural waste supplies about 33% of total biofuel use, providing 39%, 29%, and 13% of biofuel use in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and 41% and 51% of the biofuel use in India and China. We find that 400 Tg of crop residues are burned in the fields, with the fraction of available residue burned in 1985 ranging from 1% in China, 16-30% in the Middle East and India, to about 70% in Indonesia; in Africa about 1% residue is burned in the fields of the northern drylands, but up to 50% in the humid tropics. We distributed this biomass burning on a spatial grid with resolution of 1° × 1°, and applied emission factors to the amount of dry matter burned to give maps of trace gas emissions in the developing world. The emissions of CO from biofuel use in the developing world, 156 Tg, are about 50% of the estimated global CO emissions from fossil fuel use and industry. The emission of 0.9 Pg C (as CO2) from burning of biofuels and field residues together is small, but nonnegligible when compared with the emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel use and industry, 5.3 Pg C. The biomass burning source of 10 Tg/yr for CH4 and 2.2 Tg N/yr of NOx are relatively small when compared with total CH4 and NOx sources; this source of NOx may be important on a regional basis.
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Light absorption by primary particle emissions from a lignite burning plant
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bond, T.C.; Bussemer, M.; Wehner, B.; Keller, S.; Charlson, R.J.; Heintzenberg, J.
1999-01-01
Anthropogenic aerosols from the burning of fossil fuels contribute to climate forcing by both scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and estimates of climate forcing by light-absorbing primary particles have recently been published. While the mass and optical properties of emissions are needed for these studies, the available measurements do not characterize the low-technology burning that is thought to contribute a large fraction of light-absorbing material to the global budget. The authors have measured characteristics of particulate matter (PM) emitted from a small, low-technology lignite-burning plant. The PM emission factor is comparable to those used to calculate emission inventories of light-absorbing particles. However, the fine fraction, the absorbing fraction, and the absorption efficiency of the emissions are substantially below assumptions that have been made in inventories of black carbon emissions and calculations of climate forcing. The measurements suggest that nonblack, light-absorbing particles are emitted from low-technology coal burning. As the burning rate increases, the emitted absorption cross-section decreases, and the wavelength dependence of absorption becomes closer to that of black particles
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Influence of biomass burning from South Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J. Zheng
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Highly time-resolved in situ measurements of airborne particles were conducted at Mt. Yulong (3410 m above sea level on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China from 22 March to 14 April 2015. The detailed chemical composition was measured by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer together with other online instruments. The average mass concentration of the submicron particles (PM1 was 5.7 ± 5.4 µg m−3 during the field campaign, ranging from 0.1 up to 33.3 µg m−3. Organic aerosol (OA was the dominant component in PM1, with a fraction of 68 %. Three OA factors, i.e., biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA, biomass-burning-influenced oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA-BB and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA, were resolved using positive matrix factorization analysis. The two oxygenated OA factors accounted for 87 % of the total OA mass. Three biomass burning events were identified by examining the enhancement of black carbon concentrations and the f60 (the ratio of the signal at m∕z 60 from the mass spectrum to the total signal of OA. Back trajectories of air masses and satellite fire map data were integrated to identify the biomass burning locations and pollutant transport. The western air masses from South Asia with active biomass burning activities transported large amounts of air pollutants, resulting in elevated organic concentrations up to 4-fold higher than those of the background conditions. This study at Mt. Yulong characterizes the tropospheric background aerosols of the Tibetan Plateau during pre-monsoon season and provides clear evidence that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau was affected by the transport of anthropogenic aerosols from South Asia.
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Influence of biomass burning from South Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China
Zheng, Jing; Hu, Min; Du, Zhuofei; Shang, Dongjie; Gong, Zhaoheng; Qin, Yanhong; Fang, Jingyao; Gu, Fangting; Li, Mengren; Peng, Jianfei; Li, Jie; Zhang, Yuqia; Huang, Xiaofeng; He, Lingyan; Wu, Yusheng; Guo, Song
2017-06-01
Highly time-resolved in situ measurements of airborne particles were conducted at Mt. Yulong (3410 m above sea level) on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China from 22 March to 14 April 2015. The detailed chemical composition was measured by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer together with other online instruments. The average mass concentration of the submicron particles (PM1) was 5.7 ± 5.4 µg m-3 during the field campaign, ranging from 0.1 up to 33.3 µg m-3. Organic aerosol (OA) was the dominant component in PM1, with a fraction of 68 %. Three OA factors, i.e., biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), biomass-burning-influenced oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA-BB) and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA), were resolved using positive matrix factorization analysis. The two oxygenated OA factors accounted for 87 % of the total OA mass. Three biomass burning events were identified by examining the enhancement of black carbon concentrations and the f60 (the ratio of the signal at m/z 60 from the mass spectrum to the total signal of OA). Back trajectories of air masses and satellite fire map data were integrated to identify the biomass burning locations and pollutant transport. The western air masses from South Asia with active biomass burning activities transported large amounts of air pollutants, resulting in elevated organic concentrations up to 4-fold higher than those of the background conditions. This study at Mt. Yulong characterizes the tropospheric background aerosols of the Tibetan Plateau during pre-monsoon season and provides clear evidence that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau was affected by the transport of anthropogenic aerosols from South Asia.
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Fishman, Jack; Al-Saadi, Jassim A.; Neil, Doreen O.; Creilson, John K.; Severance, Kurt; Thomason, Larry W.; Edwards, David R.
2008-01-01
When the first observations of a tropospheric trace gas were obtained in the 1980s, carbon monoxide enhancements from tropical biomass burning dominated the observed features. In 2005, an active remote-sensing system to provide detailed information on the vertical distribution of aerosols and clouds was launched, and again, one of the most imposing features observed was the presence of emissions from tropical biomass burning. This paper presents a brief overview of space-borne observations of the distribution of trace gases and aerosols and how tropical biomass burning, primarily in the Southern Hemisphere, has provided an initially surprising picture of the distribution of these species and how they have evolved from prevailing transport patterns in that hemisphere. We also show how interpretation of these observations has improved significantly as a result of the improved capability of trajectory modeling in recent years and how information from this capability has provided additional insight into previous measurements form satellites. Key words: pollution; biomass burning; aerosols; tropical trace gas emissions; Southern Hemisphere; carbon monoxide.
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Comparative Evaluation of Five Fire Emissions Datasets Using the GEOS-5 Model
Ichoku, C. M.; Pan, X.; Chin, M.; Bian, H.; Darmenov, A.; Ellison, L.; Kucsera, T. L.; da Silva, A. M., Jr.; Petrenko, M. M.; Wang, J.; Ge, C.; Wiedinmyer, C.
2017-12-01
Wildfires and other types of biomass burning affect most vegetated parts of the globe, contributing 40% of the annual global atmospheric loading of carbonaceous aerosols, as well as significant amounts of numerous trace gases, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane. Many of these smoke constituents affect the air quality and/or the climate system directly or through their interactions with solar radiation and cloud properties. However, fire emissions are poorly constrained in global and regional models, resulting in high levels of uncertainty in understanding their real impacts. With the advent of satellite remote sensing of fires and burned areas in the last couple of decades, a number of fire emissions products have become available for use in relevant research and applications. In this study, we evaluated five global biomass burning emissions datasets, namely: (1) GFEDv3.1 (Global Fire Emissions Database version 3.1); (2) GFEDv4s (Global Fire Emissions Database version 4 with small fires); (3) FEERv1 (Fire Energetics and Emissions Research version 1.0); (4) QFEDv2.4 (Quick Fire Emissions Dataset version 2.4); and (5) Fire INventory from NCAR (FINN) version 1.5. Overall, the spatial patterns of biomass burning emissions from these inventories are similar, although the magnitudes of the emissions can be noticeably different. The inventories derived using top-down approaches (QFEDv2.4 and FEERv1) are larger than those based on bottom-up approaches. For example, global organic carbon (OC) emissions in 2008 are: QFEDv2.4 (51.93 Tg), FEERv1 (28.48 Tg), FINN v1.5 (19.48 Tg), GFEDv3.1 (15.65 Tg) and GFEDv4s (13.76 Tg); representing a factor of 3.7 difference between the largest and the least. We also used all five biomass-burning emissions datasets to conduct aerosol simulations using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5), and compared the resulting aerosol optical depth (AOD) output to the corresponding retrievals from MODIS
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A review on biomass as a fuel for boilers
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Saidur, R.; Abelaziz, E.A.; Demirbas, A.; Hossain, M.S.; Mekhilef, S. [University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
2011-06-15
Currently, fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas represent the prime energy sources in the world. However, it is anticipated that these sources of energy will deplete within the next 40-50 years. Moreover, the expected environmental damages such as the global warming, acid rain and urban smog due to the production of emissions from these sources have tempted the world to try to reduce carbon emissions by 80% and shift towards utilizing a variety of renewable energy resources (RES) which are less environmentally harmful such as solar, wind, biomass etc. in a sustainable way. Biomass is one of the earliest sources of energy with very specific properties. In this review, several aspects which are associated with burning biomass in boilers have been investigated such as composition of biomass, estimating the higher heating value of biomass, comparison between biomass and other fuels, combustion of biomass, co-firing of biomass and coal, impacts of biomass, economic and social analysis of biomass, transportation of biomass, densification of biomass, problems of biomass and future of biomass. It has been found that utilizing biomass in boilers offers many economical, social and environmental benefits such as financial net saving, conservation of fossil fuel resources, job opportunities creation and CO{sub 2} and NO emissions reduction. However, care should be taken to other environmental impacts of biomass such as land and water resources, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and deforestation. Fouling, marketing, low heating value, storage and collections and handling are all associated problems when burning biomass in boilers. The future of biomass in boilers depends upon the development of the markets for fossil fuels and on policy decisions regarding the biomass market.
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User assessment of smoke-dispersion models for wildland biomass burning.
Steve Breyfogle; Sue A. Ferguson
1996-01-01
Several smoke-dispersion models, which currently are available for modeling smoke from biomass burns, were evaluated for ease of use, availability of input data, and output data format. The input and output components of all models are listed, and differences in model physics are discussed. Each model was installed and run on a personal computer with a simple-case...
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Titos, G; Del Águila, A; Cazorla, A; Lyamani, H; Casquero-Vera, J A; Colombi, C; Cuccia, E; Gianelle, V; Močnik, G; Alastuey, A; Olmo, F J; Alados-Arboledas, L
2017-02-01
Biomass burning (BB) is a significant source of atmospheric particles in many parts of the world. Whereas many studies have demonstrated the importance of BB emissions in central and northern Europe, especially in rural areas, its impact in urban air quality of southern European countries has been sparsely investigated. In this study, highly time resolved multi-wavelength absorption coefficients together with levoglucosan (BB tracer) mass concentrations were combined to apportion carbonaceous aerosol sources. The Aethalometer model takes advantage of the different spectral behavior of BB and fossil fuel (FF) combustion aerosols. The model was found to be more sensitive to the assumed value of the aerosol Ångström exponent (AAE) for FF (AAE ff ) than to the AAE for BB (AAE bb ). As result of various sensitivity tests the model was optimized with AAE ff =1.1 and AAE bb =2. The Aethalometer model and levoglucosan tracer estimates were in good agreement. The Aethalometer model was further applied to data from three sites in Granada urban area to evaluate the spatial variation of CM ff and CM bb (carbonaceous matter from FF or BB origin, respectively) concentrations within the city. The results showed that CM bb was lower in the city centre while it has an unexpected profound impact on the CM levels measured in the suburbs (about 40%). Analysis of BB tracers with respect to wind speed suggested that BB was dominated by sources outside the city, to the west in a rural area. Distinguishing whether it corresponds to agricultural waste burning or with biomass burning for domestic heating was not possible. This study also shows that although traffic restrictions measures contribute to reduce carbonaceous concentrations, the extent of the reduction is very local. Other sources such as BB, which can contribute to CM as much as traffic emissions, should be targeted to reduce air pollution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kadam, K. L.; Camobreco, V. J.; Glazebrook, B. E.
1999-01-01
A set of environmental flows associated with two disposal options for thee types of California biomass - forest biomass, rice straw, chaparral - over their life cycles were studied, the emphasis being on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The two options studied were: producing ethyl-tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE) from biomass and biomass burning, and producing methyl-tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) from natural gas. Results showed a lower (by 40 to 50 per cent) greenhouse effect impact, lower net values for carbon dioxide and fossil fuel energy consumption, and higher net values for renewable energy consumption for the ETBE option. Based on these results, the deployment of the biomass-to-ethanol ETBE option is recommended as the one that contributes most to the reduction of GHG emissions. 12 refs., 2 tabs., 5 figs
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Wagener, Sandra; Langner, Marcel; Hansen, Ute; Moriske, Heinz-Jörn; Endlicher, Wilfried R
2012-10-01
Source apportionment of 13 organic compounds, elemental carbon and organic carbon of ambient PM(10) and PM(1) was performed with positive matrix factorization (PMF). Samples were collected at three sites characterized by different vegetation influences in Berlin, Germany in 2010. The aim was to determine organic, mainly biogenic sources and their impact on urban aerosol collected in a densely populated region. A 6-factor solution provided the best data fit for both PM-fractions, allowing the sources isoprene- and α-pinene-derived secondary organic aerosol (SOA), bio primary, primarily attributable to fungal spores, bio/urban primary including plant fragments in PM(10) and cooking and traffic emissions in PM(1), biomass burning and combustion fossil to be identified. With mean concentrations up to 2.6 μg Cm(-3), biomass burning dominated the organic fraction in cooler months. Concentrations for α-pinene-derived SOA exceeded isoprene-derived concentrations. Estimated secondary organic carbon contributions to total organic carbon (OC) were between 7% and 42% in PM(10) and between 11% and 60% in PM(1), which is slightly lower than observed for US- or Asian cities. Primary biogenic emissions reached up to 33% of OC in the PM(10)-fraction in the late summer and autumn months. Temperature-dependence was found for both SOA-factors, correlations with ozone and mix depth only for the α-pinene-derived SOA-factor. Latter indicated input of α-pinene from the borders, highlighting differences in the origin of the precursors of both factors. Most factors were regionally distributed. High regional distribution was found to be associated with stronger influence of ambient parameters and higher concentrations at the background station. A significant contribution of biogenic emissions and biomass burning to urban organic aerosol could be stated. This indicates a considerable impact on PM concentrations also in cities in a densely populated area, and should draw the attention
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NOx emissions from the underfeed combustion of coal and biomass
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Purvis, M.R.I.; Tadulan, E.L.; Tariq, A.S.
2000-01-01
Underfeed stokers have an inherent ability to minimise smoke emissions, thus providing environmental benefits in the combustion of solid fuels, such as biomass materials, which have a high volatile matter content. An evaluation of this attribute requires comparisons of the performance of combustion equipment using these fuels against reference data for coals. However, the recent literature is virtually devoid of studies of coal combustion in underfeed stokers and, in particular, information on nitrogen oxide emissions. In the UK, this reflects a lack of commercial interest in small-scale coal firing due to the wide availability of inexpensive gas and oil fuels. An experimental investigation has been carried out into the combustion of bituminous coal, anthracite and a 50:50 blend by mass of anthracite and oak wood chips on a modified commercial underfeed stoker. The intention was to obtain operational experiences in burning the fuels and reference data for nitrogen oxide emissions. Problems in the combustion of the fuels are described and related to the determination of nitrogen oxide emission values found under optimised plant conditions. These values, expressed at 6% O 2 , were 265 ppm for bituminous coal, 90 ppm for anthracite and 106 ppm for the anthracite/wood chip blend. (Author)
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Yang, Xiaoyang; Geng, Chunmei; Sun, Xuesong; Yang, Wen; Wang, Xinhua; Chen, Jianhua
2016-02-01
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic or mutagenic and are important toxic pollutants in the flue gas of boilers. Two industrial grade biomass boilers were selected to investigate the characteristics of particulate-bound PAHs: one biomass boiler retro-fitted from an oil boiler (BB1) and one specially designed (BB2) biomass boiler. One coal-fired boiler was also selected for comparison. By using a dilution tunnel system, particulate samples from boilers were collected and 10 PAH species were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The total emission factors (EFs) of PAHs ranged from 0.0064 to 0.0380 mg/kg, with an average of 0.0225 mg/kg, for the biomass boiler emission samples. The total PAH EFs for the tested coal-fired boiler were 1.8 times lower than the average value of the biomass boilers. The PAH diagnostic ratios for wood pellets and straw pellets were similar. The ratio of indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene/[indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene+benzo(g,h,i)perylene] for the two biomass boilers was lower than those of the reference data for other burning devices, which can probably be used as an indicator to distinguish the emission of biomass boilers from that of industrial coal-fired boilers and residential stoves. The toxic potential of the emission from wood pellet burning was higher than that from straw pellet burning, however both of them were much lower than residential stove exhausts. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Vadrevu, Krishna Prasad; Lasko, Kristofer; Giglio, Louis; Justice, Chris
2015-01-01
In this study, we explored the relationships between the satellite-retrieved fire counts (FC), fire radiative power (FRP) and aerosol indices using multi-satellite datasets at a daily time-step covering ten different biomass burning regions in Asia. We first assessed the variations in MODIS-retrieved aerosol optical depths (AOD’s) in agriculture, forests, plantation and peat land burning regions and then used MODIS FC and FRP (hereafter FC/FRP) to explain the variations in AOD characteristics. Results suggest that tropical broadleaf forests in Laos burn more intensively than the other vegetation fires. FC/FRP-AOD correlations in different agricultural residue burning regions did not exceed 20% whereas in forest regions they reached 40%. To specifically account for absorbing aerosols, we used Ozone Monitoring Instrument-derived aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) and UV aerosol index (UVAI). Results suggest relatively high AAOD and UVAI values in forest fires compared with peat and agriculture fires. Further, FC/FRP could explain a maximum of 29% and 53% of AAOD variations, whereas FC/FRP could explain at most 33% and 51% of the variation in agricultural and forest biomass burning regions, respectively. Relatively, UVAI was found to be a better indicator than AOD and AAOD in both agriculture and forest biomass burning plumes. Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations data showed vertically elevated aerosol profiles greater than 3.2–5.3 km altitude in the forest fire plumes compared to 2.2–3.9 km and less than 1 km in agriculture and peat-land fires, respectively. We infer the need to assimilate smoke plume height information for effective characterization of pollutants from different sources. (letter)
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Clark, Robert; Reahard, Ross; Robin, Chad; Zeringue, Jared
2010-01-01
Biomass burning is an event that occurs globally and encompasses both human-initiated and naturally-occurring fires. It is estimated that 3 billion metric tons of biomass are burned every year worldwide (Curtis 2002). Societies have used these burning techniques for cooking and heating, clearing land for agricultural use, and removing excess biomass from grazing and croplands (Levine 1991). Our study focuses on the state of Louisiana and its commonly occurring methods of sugarcane and marsh biomass burning (LSU Ag.Center 2000; Nyman and Chabreck 1995). Over the centuries, the sugarcane industry in this state has steadily grown to surpass all other agriculture commodities. To promote efficiency within this large industry, burning excess biomass takes place throughout the harvesting period (LSU Ag.Center 2000). In addition to sugarcane, Louisiana contains 30% of the total coastal marsh of the United States (LSU Ag.Center 2000). The periodic burning of such marshes is an ecologically important management tool that is practiced throughout the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts (Nyman and Chabreck 1995). In most biomass burning instances, the leading by-product is particulate matter that is less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10). Through past research, this fine material has been shown to have negative health effects on surrounding populations (Boopathy2001). While burning guidelines have been set into place by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) to reduce health effects, the guidelines are voluntary (LDAF 2000). To help quantify emission estimates, we will focus on Iberia Parish for sugarcane burning and Cameron Parish for marsh burning. Through analysis of ASTER, Landsat 5 TM, and MODIS data, our goal is to determine the amount and location of land area burned for the years 2008 and 2009 due to these practices. With emissions algorithms from Seiler and Crutzen, 1980, total acreage burned can be used to estimate emissions. This information will help to
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Sulfur dioxide emissions and sectorial contributions to sulfur deposition in Asia
Arndt, Richard L.; Carmichael, Gregory R.; Streets, David G.; Bhatti, Neeloo
Anthropogenic and volcanic emissions of SO 2 in Asia for 1987-1988 are estimated on a 1° × 1° grid. Anthropogenic sources are estimated to be 31.6 Tg of SO 2 with the regions' volcanoes emitting an additional 3.8 Tg. For Southeast Asia and the Indian sub-continent, the emissions are further partitioned into biomass, industrial, utilities, and non-specific sources. In these regions emissions from biomass, utilities and industrial sources account for 16.7, 21.7, and 12.2%, respectively. In Bangladesh, ˜ 90% of the SO 2 emissions result from biomass burning and nearly 20% of India's 5 Tg of SO 2 emissions are due to biomass burning. Malaysia and Singapore's emissions are dominated by the utilities with 42 and 62% of their respective emissions coming from that sector. The spatial distribution of sulfur deposition resulting from these emissions is calculated using an atmospheric transport and deposition model. Sulfur deposition in excess of 2 g m -2 yr -1 is predicted in vast regions of east Asia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia with deposition in excess of 5 g m -2 yr -1 predicted in southern China. For the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia the contribution of biomass burning, industrial activities, and utilities to total sulfur emissions and deposition patterns are evaluated. Biomass burning is found to be a major source of sulfur deposition throughout southeast Asia. Deposition in Bangladesh and northern India is dominated by this emissions sector. Deposition in Thailand, the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra is heavily influenced by emissions from utilities. The ecological impact of the deposition, in 1988 and in the year 2020, is also estimated using critical loads data developed in the RAINS-ASIA projects. Much of eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Thailand, and large regions of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and sections of Vietnam are at risk due to deposition in excess of their
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Biomass burning and its effects on fine aerosol acidity, water content and nitrogen partitioning
Bougiatioti, Aikaterini; Nenes, Athanasios; Paraskevopoulou, Despina; Fourtziou, Luciana; Stavroulas, Iasonas; Liakakou, Eleni; Myriokefalitakis, Stelios; Daskalakis, Nikos; Weber, Rodney; Kanakidou, Maria; Gerasopoulos, Evangelos; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos
2017-04-01
Aerosol acidity is an important property that drives the partitioning of semi-volatile species, the formation of secondary particulate matter and metal and nutrient solubility. Aerosol acidity varies considerably between aerosol types, RH, temperature, the degree of atmospheric chemical aging and may also change during transport. Among aerosol different sources, sea salt and dust have been well studied and their impact on aerosol acidity and water uptake is more or less understood. Biomass burning (BB) on the other hand, despite its significance as a source in a regional and global scale, is much less understood. Currently, there is no practical and accurate enough method, to directly measure the pH of in-situ aerosol. The combination of thermodynamic models, with targeted experimental observations can provide reliable predictions of aerosol particle water and pH, using as input the concentration of gas/aerosol species, temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH). As such an example, ISORROPIA-II (Fountoukis and Nenes, 2007) has been used for the thermodynamic analysis of measurements conducted in downtown Athens during winter 2013, in order to evaluate the effect of BB on aerosol water and acidity. Biomass burning, especially during night time, was found to contribute significantly to the increased organics concentrations, but as well to the BC component associated with wood burning, particulate nitrates, chloride, and potassium. These increased concentrations were found to impact on fine aerosol water, with Winorg having an average concentration of 11±14 μg m-3 and Worg 12±19 μg m-3 with the organic component constituting almost 38% of the total calculated submicron water. When investigating the fine aerosol acidity it was derived that aerosol was generally acidic, with average pH during strong BB influence of 2.8±0.5, value similar to the pH observed for regional aerosol influenced by important biomass burning episodes at the remote background site of
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Lauraguais, Amélie; Coeur-Tourneur, Cécile; Cassez, Andy; Deboudt, Karine; Fourmentin, Marc; Choël, Marie
2014-04-01
Methoxyphenols are low molecular weight semi-volatile polar aromatic compounds produced from the pyrolysis of wood lignin. The reaction of guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol) with hydroxyl radicals has been studied in the LPCA simulation chamber at (294 ± 2) K, atmospheric pressure, low relative humidity (RH reactivity of nitroguaiacols with atmospheric oxidants is probably low, we suggest using them as biomass burning emission gas tracers. The atmospheric implications of the guaiacol + OH reaction are also discussed.
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Wang, J.; Christopher, S. A.; Nair, U. S.; Reid, J. S.; Prins, E. M.
2005-12-01
Considerable efforts including various field experiments have been carried out in the last decade for studying the regional climatic impact of smoke aerosols produced by biomass burning activities in Africa and South America. In contrast, only few investigations have been conducted for Central American Biomass Burning (CABB) region. Using a coupled aerosol-radiation-meteorology model called RAMS-AROMA together with various ground-based observations, we present a comprehensive analysis of the smoke direct radiative impacts on the surface energy budget, boundary layer evolution, and e precipitation process during the CABB events in Spring 2003. Quantitative estimates are also made regarding the transboundary carbon mass to the U.S. in the form of smoke particles. Buult upon the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) mesoscale model, the RAMS AROMA has several features including Assimilation and Radiation Online Modeling of Aerosols (AROMA) algorithms. The model simulates smoke transport by using hourly smoke emission inventory from the Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) geostationary satellite database. It explicitly considers the smoke effects on the radiative transfer at each model time step and model grid, thereby coupling the dynamical processes and aerosol transport. Comparison with ground-based observation show that the simulation realistically captured the smoke transport timeline and distribution from daily to hourly scales. The effects of smoke radiative extinction on the decrease of 2m air temperature (2mT), diurnal temperature range (DTR), and boundary layer height over the land surface are also quantified. Warming due to smoke absorption of solar radiation can be found in the lower troposphere over the ocean, but not near the underlying land surface. The increase of boundary layer stability produces a positive feedback where more smoke particles are trapped in the lower boundary layer. These changes in temperature, surface
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Marbach, T.; Beirle, S.; Khokhar, F.; Platt, U.
2005-12-01
We present case studies for combined HCHO, NO2, and SO2 satellite observations, derived from GOME measurements. Launched on the ERS-2 satellite in April 1995, GOME has already performed continuous operations over 8 years providing global observations of the different trace gases. In this way, satellite observations provide unique opportunities for the identifications of trace gas sources. The satellite HCHO observations provide information concerning the localization of biomass burning (intense source of HCHO). The principal biomass burning areas can be observed in the Amazon basin region and in central Africa Weaker HCHO sources (south east of the United States, northern part of the Amazon basin, and over the African tropical forest), not correlated with biomass burning, could be due to biogenic isoprene emissions. The HCHO data can be compared with NO2 and SO2 results to identify more precisely the tropospheric sources (biomass burning events, human activities, additional sources like volcanic emissions). Biomass burning are important tropospheric sources for both HCHO and NO2. Nevertheless HCHO reflects more precisely the biomass burning as it appears in all biomass burning events. NO2 correlate with HCHO over Africa (grassland fires) but not over Indonesia (forest fires). In south America, an augmentation of the NO2 concentrations can be observed with the fire shift from the forest to grassland vegetation. So there seems to be a dependence between the NO2 emissions during biomass burning and the vegetation type. Other high HCHO, SO2, and NO2 emissions can be correlated with climatic events like the El Nino in 1997, which induced dry conditions in Indonesia causing many forest fires.
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Emissions from small-scale burns of simulated deployed U.S. military waste.
Woodall, Brian D; Yamamoto, Dirk P; Gullett, Brian K; Touati, Abderrahmane
2012-10-16
U.S. military forces have historically relied on open burning as an expedient method of volume reduction and treatment of solid waste during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. This study is the first effort to characterize a broad range of pollutants and their emission factors during the burning of military waste and the effects that recycling efforts, namely removing plastics, might have on emissions. Piles of simulated military waste were constructed, burned, and emissions sampled at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Open Burn Testing Facility (OBTF), Research Triangle Park, NC. Three tests contained polyethylene terephthalate (PET #1 or PET) plastic water bottles and four did not. Emission factors for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM(10), PM(2.5)), polychlorinated and polybrominated dioxins/furans (PCDD/F and PBDD/F), and criteria pollutants were determined and are contained within. The average PCDD/F emission factors were 270 ng-toxic equivalency (TEQ) per kg carbon burned (ng-TEQ/kg Cb), ranging from 35 to 780 ng-TEQ/kg Cb. Limited testing suggests that targeted removal of plastic water bottles has no apparent effect on reducing pollutants and may even promote increased emissions.
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Jayarathne, T. S.; Rathnayake, C.; Stockwell, C.; Daugherty, K.; Islam, R. M.; Christian, T. J.; Bhave, P.; Praveen, P. S.; Panday, A. K.; Adhikari, S.; Rasmi, M.; Goetz, D.; DeCarlo, P. F.; Saikawa, E.; Yokelson, R. J.; Stone, E. A.
2016-12-01
The Nepal Ambient Monitoring and Source Testing Experiment (NAMASTE) field campaign targeted the in-situ characterization of widespread and under-sampled combustion sources in South Asia by determining emission factors (EF) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon, inorganic ions, trace metals, and organic species. Garbage burning had the highest EF PM2.5 among the sampled sources ranging 7-124 g kg-1, with maximum EFs for garbage burned under higher moisture conditions. Garbage burning emissions contained high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) and heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Zn) that are associated with acute and chronic health effects. Triphenylbenzene and antimony (Sb) were unique to garbage burning are good candidates for tracing this source. Cook stove emissions varied largely by stove technology (traditional mud stove, 3-stone cooking fire, chimney stove, etc.) and biomass fuel (dung, hardwood, twigs, and mixtures thereof). Burning dung consistently emitted more PM2.5 than burning wood and contained characteristic fecal sterols and stanols. Motorcycle emissions were evaluated before and after servicing, which decreased EF PM2.5 from 8.8 g kg-1 to 0.7 g kg-1. Organic species analysis indicated that this reduction in PM2.5 is largely due to a decrease in emission of motor oil. For brick kilns, the forced draft zig-zag kilns had higher EF PM2.5 (12-19 g kg-1) compared to clamp kilns (8-13 g kg-1) and also exhibited chemical differences. PM2.5 emitted from the zig-zag kiln were mainly OC (7%), sulfate (32%) and uncharacterized chemical components (60%), while clamp kiln emissions were dominated by OC (64%) and ammonium sulfate (36%). The quantitative emission factors developed in this study may be used for source apportionment and to update regional emission inventories.
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Reduce NOx Emissions by Adsorber-Reduction Catalyst on Lean Burn Gasoline Engine
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dongpeng Yue
2013-09-01
Full Text Available The effect of a new catalyst system composed of traditional three way catalyst converter and adsorber-reduction catalysis converter on the emission characteristics and BSFC (Breake Specific Fuel Consumption- BSFCof a lean burn gasoline engine operated were investigated in this paper under different schemes of catalyst converter arrangement and different speeds and loads. The results show that the position of Three Way Catalyst is before the NOx adsorber Catalyst was the best scheme of catalyst converter arrangement. Which has the highest converter efficiency of reduction NOx emission in lean burn gasoline engine. The effects of speed on the exhaust emission and BSFC were also related to the ratio of lean burn time to rich burn time and the absolute value of both time of the adsorber-reduction catalyst converter. The load of the engine was the main influential factor to the exhaust emission characteristics and BSFC of lean burn gasoline engine, and the more load of the engine was, the more NOx emission , the less NOx conversion rate (CNOx and the better BSFC were.
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Duc, Hiep Nguyen; Bang, Ho Quoc; Quang, Ngo Xuan
2016-02-01
During the dry season, from November to April, agricultural biomass burning and forest fires especially from March to late April in mainland Southeast Asian countries of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam frequently cause severe particulate pollution not only in the local areas but also across the whole region and beyond due to the prevailing meteorological conditions. Recently, the BASE-ASIA (Biomass-burning Aerosols in South East Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment) and 7-SEAS (7-South-East Asian Studies) studies have provided detailed analysis and important understandings of the transport of pollutants, in particular, the aerosols and their characteristics across the region due to biomass burning in Southeast Asia (SEA). Following these studies, in this paper, we study the transport of particulate air pollution across the peninsular region of SEA and beyond during the March 2014 burning period using meteorological modelling approach and available ground-based and satellite measurements to ascertain the extent of the aerosol pollution and transport in the region of this particular event. The results show that the air pollutants from SEA biomass burning in March 2014 were transported at high altitude to southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and beyond as has been highlighted in the BASE-ASIA and 7-SEAS studies. There are strong evidences that the biomass burning in SEA especially in mid-March 2014 has not only caused widespread high particle pollution in Thailand (especially the northern region where most of the fires occurred) but also impacted on the air quality in Hong Kong as measured at the ground-based stations and in LulinC (Taiwan) where a remote background monitoring station is located.
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Modeling the radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols on carbon fluxes in the Amazon region
Moreira, Demerval S.; Longo, Karla M.; Freitas, Saulo R.; Yamasoe, Marcia A.; Mercado, Lina M.; Rosário, Nilton E.; Gloor, Emauel; Viana, Rosane S. M.; Miller, John B.; Gatti, Luciana V.; Wiedemann, Kenia T.; Domingues, Lucas K. G.; Correia, Caio C. S.
2017-12-01
Every year, a dense smoke haze covers a large portion of South America originating from fires in the Amazon Basin and central parts of Brazil during the dry biomass burning season between August and October. Over a large portion of South America, the average aerosol optical depth at 550 nm exceeds 1.0 during the fire season, while the background value during the rainy season is below 0.2. Biomass burning aerosol particles increase scattering and absorption of the incident solar radiation. The regional-scale aerosol layer reduces the amount of solar energy reaching the surface, cools the near-surface air, and increases the diffuse radiation fraction over a large disturbed area of the Amazon rainforest. These factors affect the energy and CO2 fluxes at the surface. In this work, we applied a fully integrated atmospheric model to assess the impact of biomass burning aerosols in CO2 fluxes in the Amazon region during 2010. We address the effects of the attenuation of global solar radiation and the enhancement of the diffuse solar radiation flux inside the vegetation canopy. Our results indicate that biomass burning aerosols led to increases of about 27 % in the gross primary productivity of Amazonia and 10 % in plant respiration as well as a decline in soil respiration of 3 %. Consequently, in our model Amazonia became a net carbon sink; net ecosystem exchange during September 2010 dropped from +101 to -104 TgC when the aerosol effects are considered, mainly due to the aerosol diffuse radiation effect. For the forest biome, our results point to a dominance of the diffuse radiation effect on CO2 fluxes, reaching a balance of 50-50 % between the diffuse and direct aerosol effects for high aerosol loads. For C3 grasses and savanna (cerrado), as expected, the contribution of the diffuse radiation effect is much lower, tending to zero with the increase in aerosol load. Taking all biomes together, our model shows the Amazon during the dry season, in the presence of high
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Modeling the radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols on carbon fluxes in the Amazon region
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
D. S. Moreira
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Every year, a dense smoke haze covers a large portion of South America originating from fires in the Amazon Basin and central parts of Brazil during the dry biomass burning season between August and October. Over a large portion of South America, the average aerosol optical depth at 550 nm exceeds 1.0 during the fire season, while the background value during the rainy season is below 0.2. Biomass burning aerosol particles increase scattering and absorption of the incident solar radiation. The regional-scale aerosol layer reduces the amount of solar energy reaching the surface, cools the near-surface air, and increases the diffuse radiation fraction over a large disturbed area of the Amazon rainforest. These factors affect the energy and CO2 fluxes at the surface. In this work, we applied a fully integrated atmospheric model to assess the impact of biomass burning aerosols in CO2 fluxes in the Amazon region during 2010. We address the effects of the attenuation of global solar radiation and the enhancement of the diffuse solar radiation flux inside the vegetation canopy. Our results indicate that biomass burning aerosols led to increases of about 27 % in the gross primary productivity of Amazonia and 10 % in plant respiration as well as a decline in soil respiration of 3 %. Consequently, in our model Amazonia became a net carbon sink; net ecosystem exchange during September 2010 dropped from +101 to −104 TgC when the aerosol effects are considered, mainly due to the aerosol diffuse radiation effect. For the forest biome, our results point to a dominance of the diffuse radiation effect on CO2 fluxes, reaching a balance of 50–50 % between the diffuse and direct aerosol effects for high aerosol loads. For C3 grasses and savanna (cerrado, as expected, the contribution of the diffuse radiation effect is much lower, tending to zero with the increase in aerosol load. Taking all biomes together, our model shows the Amazon during the dry
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Significance of Future Biogenic and Fire Emissions on Regional Aerosol Burden
Lim, A.; Tai, A. P. K.; Val Martin, M.
2017-12-01
Land-use and land cover changes have been found to substantially affect atmospheric aerosols and climate worldwide1,2, but the complex mechanisms and pathways involved in the interactions between terrestrial processes and aerosols are not well understood. Here we use a global coupled aerosol chemistry-climate-land model (CESM with CAM5 using Modal Aerosol Module 3 and CLM4.5 in Satellite Phenology mode) to investigate how aerosols respond to future climate and land-use changes, and in turn, affects cloud cover and other hydrometeorological variables in the long term. Time-sliced simulations are conducted for a base year (2000) as a base case; then three future projected scenarios for year 2050 driven by land-use and climate projections following the Representative Concentration Pathways RCP8.53 are conducted. The first scenario considers future projected biogenic emissions, allowing us to investigate the effect of increased plant activity and enhanced biogenic emissions due to future land-use and climate on aerosol burden. The second scenario considers future biomass burning emissions, allowing us to investigate the effect of increased biomass burning emissions due to future land-use and climate on aerosol burden. The third scenario combines the projected changes in the two emissions. We find that both biogenic and biomass burning emissions contribute significantly to local aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. The contribution from biogenic emissions to local aerosol burden is smaller in magnitude (10% to 20%), but the effects are ubiquitous in many places globally. Meanwhile, the contribution from biomass burning emissions can be much higher in magnitude (63%)4, but concentrated in heavily burned regions and occurs only during burning season. Effects of both emissions are not additive since a larger flux of emissions causes greater deposition. The resulting further impacts of land-use change on regional hydrometeorology are also explored
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Jiang, Ruoting; Bell, Michelle L
2008-07-01
Biomass fuel is the primary source of domestic fuel in much of rural China. Previous studies have not characterized particle exposure through time-activity diaries or personal monitoring in mainland China. In this study we characterized indoor and personal particle exposure in six households in northeastern China (three urban, three rural) and explored differences by location, cooking status, activity, and fuel type. Rural homes used biomass. Urban homes used a combination of electricity and natural gas. Stationary monitors measured hourly indoor particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter urban kitchens, urban sitting rooms, and outdoors. Personal monitors for PM with an aerodynamic diameter urban kitchens during cooking. PM10 was 6.1 times higher during cooking periods than during noncooking periods for rural kitchens. Personal PM2.5 levels for rural cooks were 2.8-3.6 times higher than for all other participant categories. The highest PM2.5 exposures occurred during cooking periods for urban and rural cooks. However, rural cooks had 5.4 times higher PM2.5 levels during cooking than did urban cooks. Rural cooks spent 2.5 times more hours per day cooking than did their urban counterparts. These findings indicate that biomass burning for cooking contributes substantially to indoor particulate levels and that this exposure is particularly elevated for cooks. Second-by-second personal PM2.5 exposures revealed differences in exposures by population group and strong temporal heterogeneity that would be obscured by aggregate metrics.
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Heterogeneous Oxidation of Laboratory-generated Mixed Composition and Biomass Burning Particles
Lim, C. Y.; Sugrue, R. A.; Hagan, D. H.; Cappa, C. D.; Kroll, J. H.; Browne, E. C.
2016-12-01
Heterogeneous oxidation of organic aerosol (OA) can significantly transform the chemical and physical properties of particulate matter in the atmosphere, leading to changes to the chemical composition of OA and potential volatilization of organic compounds. It has become increasingly apparent that the heterogeneous oxidation kinetics of OA depend on the phase and morphology of the particles. However, most laboratory experiments to date have been performed on single-component, purely organic precursors, which may exhibit fundamentally different behavior than more complex particles in the atmosphere. Here we present laboratory studies of the heterogeneous oxidation of two more complex chemical systems: thin, organic coatings on inorganic seed particles and biomass burning OA. In the first system, squalane (C30H62), a model compound for reduced OA, is coated onto dry ammonium sulfate particles at various thicknesses (10-20 nm) and exposed to hydroxyl radical (OH) in a flow tube reactor. In the second, we use a semi-batch reactor to study the heterogeneous OH-initiated oxidation of biomass burning particles as a part of the 2016 FIREX campaign in Missoula, MT. The resulting changes in chemical composition are monitored with an Aerodyne High Resolution Time-of-flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and a soot-particle AMS for the non-refractory and refractory systems, respectively. We show that the heterogeneous oxidation kinetics of these multicomponent particles are substantially different than that of the single-component particles. The oxidation of organic coatings is rapid, undergoing dramatic changes to carbon oxidation state and losing a significant amount of organic mass after relatively low OH exposures (equivalent to several days of atmospheric processing). In the case of biomass burning particles, the kinetics are complex, with different components (inferred by aerosol mass spectrometry) undergoing oxidation at different rates.
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Methanol from biomass: A technoeconomic analysis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Stevens, D.J.
1991-01-01
Biomass-derived methanol offers significant potential as an alternative transportation fuel. Methanol is cleaner burning and has a lower flame temperature than gasoline. These characteristics can result in lower carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions when methanol is used as a fuel. Methanol produced from biomass offers potential advantages over that from other sources. When produced from biomass which is subsequently regrown, methanol does not contribute net emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere. The introduction of alternative fuels will likely be driven by a number of political and economic decisions. The ability of biomass to compete with other resources will be determined in part by the economics of the production systems. In this paper, recent technoeconomic analyses of biomass-methanol systems are presented. The results are compared with methanol production from coal and natural gas
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Integrated resource management of biomass
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Goodwin, E.R.
1992-01-01
An overview is presented of the use of biomass, with emphasis on peat, as an alternative energy source, from an integrated resource management perspective. Details are provided of the volume of the peat resource, economics of peat harvesting, and constraints to peat resource use, which mainly centre on its high water content. Use of waste heat to dry peat can increase the efficiency of peat burning for electric power generation, and new technologies such as gasification and turbo expanders may also find utilization. The burning or gasification of biomass will release no more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than other fuels, has less sulfur content than solid fuels. The removal of peat reduces methane emissions and allows use of produced carbon dioxide for horticulture and ash for fertilizer, and creates space that may be used for forestry or agricultural biomass growth. 38 refs
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Biomass energy: Sustainable solution for greenhouse gas emission
Sadrul Islam, A. K. M.; Ahiduzzaman, M.
2012-06-01
Biomass is part of the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide is produced after combustion of biomass. Over a relatively short timescale, carbon dioxide is renewed from atmosphere during next generation of new growth of green vegetation. Contribution of renewable energy including hydropower, solar, biomass and biofuel in total primary energy consumption in world is about 19%. Traditional biomass alone contributes about 13% of total primary energy consumption in the world. The number of traditional biomass energy users expected to rise from 2.5 billion in 2004 to 2.6 billion in 2015 and to 2.7 billion in 2030 for cooking in developing countries. Residential biomass demand in developing countries is projected to rise from 771 Mtoe in 2004 to 818 Mtoe in 2030. The main sources of biomass are wood residues, bagasse, rice husk, agro-residues, animal manure, municipal and industrial waste etc. Dedicated energy crops such as short-rotation coppice, grasses, sugar crops, starch crops and oil crops are gaining importance and market share as source of biomass energy. Global trade in biomass feedstocks and processed bioenergy carriers are growing rapidly. There are some drawbacks of biomass energy utilization compared to fossil fuels viz: heterogeneous and uneven composition, lower calorific value and quality deterioration due to uncontrolled biodegradation. Loose biomass also is not viable for transportation. Pelletization, briquetting, liquefaction and gasification of biomass energy are some options to solve these problems. Wood fuel production is very much steady and little bit increase in trend, however, the forest land is decreasing, means the deforestation is progressive. There is a big challenge for sustainability of biomass resource and environment. Biomass energy can be used to reduce greenhouse emissions. Woody biomass such as briquette and pellet from un-organized biomass waste and residues could be used for alternative to wood fuel, as a result, forest will be saved and
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Evaluating the accuracy of a MODIS direct broadcast algorithm for mapping burned areas over Russia
Petkov, A.; Hao, W. M.; Nordgren, B.; Corley, R.; Urbanski, S. P.; Ponomarev, E. I.
2012-12-01
Emission inventories for open area biomass burning rely on burned area estimates as a key component. We have developed an automated algorithm based on MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite instrument data for estimating burned area from biomass fires. The algorithm is based on active fire detections, burn scars from MODIS calibrated radiances (MOD02HKM), and MODIS land cover classification (MOD12Q1). Our burned area product combines active fires and burn scar detections using spatio-temporal criteria, and has a resolution of 500 x 500 meters. The algorithm has been used for smoke emission estimates over the western United States. We will present the assessed accuracy of our algorithm in different regions of Russia with intense wildfire activity by comparing our results with the burned area product from the Sukachev Institute of Forest (SIF) of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, as well as burn scars extracted from Landsat imagery. Landsat burned area extraction was based on threshold classification using the Jenks Natural Breaks algorithm to the histogram for each singe scene Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) image. The final evaluation consisted of a grid-based approach, where the burned area in each 3 km x 3 km grid cell was calculated and compared with the other two sources. A comparison between our burned area estimates and those from SIF showed strong correlation (R2=0.978), although our estimate is approximately 40% lower than the SIF burned areas. The linear fit between the burned area from Landsat scenes and our MODIS algorithm over 18,754 grid cells resulted with a slope of 0.998 and R2=0.7, indicating that our algorithm is suitable for mapping burned areas for fires in boreal forests and other ecosystems. The results of our burned area algorithm will be used for estimating emissions of trace gasses and aerosol particles (including black carbon) from biomass burning in Northern Eurasia for the period of 2002-2011.
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Busilacchio, Marcella; Di Carlo, Piero; Aruffo, Eleonora; Biancofiore, Fabio; Salisburgo, Cesare Dari; Giammaria, Franco; Bauguitte, Stephane; Lee, James; Moller, Sarah; Hopkins, James;
2016-01-01
The observations collected during the BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites (BORTAS) campaign in summer 2011 over Canada are analysed to study the impact of forest fire emissions on the formation of ozone (O3 and total peroxy nitrates (sigma)PNs, (sigma)ROONO2. The suite of measurements on board the BAe-146 aircraft, deployed in this campaign, allows us to calculate the production of O3 and of (sigma)PNs, a long-lived NOx reservoir whose concentration is supposed to be impacted by biomass burning emissions.In fire plumes, profiles of carbon monoxide (CO), which is a well-established tracer of pyrogenic emission, show concentration enhancements that are in strong correspondence with a significant increase of concentrations of (sigma)PNs, where as minimal increase of the concentrations of O3 and NO2 is observed. The (sigma)PN and O3 productions have been calculated using the rate constants of the first- and second-order react Pions of volatile organic compound (VOC) oxidation. The (sigma)PN and O3 productions have also been quantified by 0-D model simulation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism. Both methods show that in fire plumes the average production of (sigma)PNs and O3 are greater than in the background plumes, but the increase of (sigma)PN production is more pronounced than the O3 production. The average (sigma)PN production in fire plumes is from 7 to 12 times greater than in the background, whereas the average O3 production in fire plumes is from 2 to 5 times greater than in the background. These results suggest that, at least for boreal forest fires and for the measurements recorded during the BORTAS campaign,fire emissions impact both the oxidized NOy and O3;but (1)(sigma)PN production is amplified significantly more thanO3 production and (2) in the forest fire plumes the ratio between the O3 production and the (sigma)PN production is lower than the ratio evaluated in the background air masses, thus
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. Busilacchio
2016-03-01
Full Text Available The observations collected during the BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites (BORTAS campaign in summer 2011 over Canada are analysed to study the impact of forest fire emissions on the formation of ozone (O3 and total peroxy nitrates ∑PNs, ∑ROONO2. The suite of measurements on board the BAe-146 aircraft, deployed in this campaign, allows us to calculate the production of O3 and of ∑PNs, a long-lived NOx reservoir whose concentration is supposed to be impacted by biomass burning emissions. In fire plumes, profiles of carbon monoxide (CO, which is a well-established tracer of pyrogenic emission, show concentration enhancements that are in strong correspondence with a significant increase of concentrations of ∑PNs, whereas minimal increase of the concentrations of O3 and NO2 is observed. The ∑PN and O3 productions have been calculated using the rate constants of the first- and second-order reactions of volatile organic compound (VOC oxidation. The ∑PN and O3 productions have also been quantified by 0-D model simulation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism. Both methods show that in fire plumes the average production of ∑PNs and O3 are greater than in the background plumes, but the increase of ∑PN production is more pronounced than the O3 production. The average ∑PN production in fire plumes is from 7 to 12 times greater than in the background, whereas the average O3 production in fire plumes is from 2 to 5 times greater than in the background. These results suggest that, at least for boreal forest fires and for the measurements recorded during the BORTAS campaign, fire emissions impact both the oxidized NOy and O3, but (1 ∑PN production is amplified significantly more than O3 production and (2 in the forest fire plumes the ratio between the O3 production and the ∑PN production is lower than the ratio evaluated in the background air masses, thus confirming that the
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Adachi, Kouji [Meteorological Research Inst., Tsukuba (Japan). Atmospheric Environment and Applied Meteorology Research Dept.; Sedlacek, Arthur J. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Environmental and Climate Sciences; Kleinman, Lawrence [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Environmental and Climate Sciences; Chand, Duli [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division; Hubbe, John M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division; Buseck, Peter R. [Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States). School of Earth and Space Exploration and School of Molecular Sciences
2017-09-26
The responses of aerosol particles to heating are important for measurements of their chemical, physical, and optical properties, classification, and determination of origin. However, the thermal behavior of organic aerosol particles is largely unknown. We provide a method to analyze such thermal behavior through heating from room temperature to >600°C by using a heating holder within a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Here we describe in-situ shape and size changes and variations in the compositions of individual particles before and after heating. We use ambient samples from wildland and agricultural biomass fires in North America collected during the 2013 Biomass Burn Observation Project (BBOP). The results indicate that individual tar balls (TB; spherical organic material) from biomass burning retained, on average, up to 30% of their volume when heated to 600°C. Chemical analysis reveals that K and Na remain in the residues, whereas S and O were lost. In contrast to bulk sample measurements of carbonaceous particles using thermal/optical carbon analyzers, our single-particle results imply that many individual organic particles consist of multiple types of organic matter having different thermal stabilities. Beyond TBs, our results suggest that because of their thermal stability some organic particles may not be detectable by using aerosol mass spectrometry or thermal/optical carbon analyzers. This result can lead to an underestimate of the abundance of TBs and other organic particles, and therefore biomass burning may have more influence than currently recognized in regional and global climate models.
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Biomass burning and urban air pollution over the Central Mexican Plateau
J. D. Crounse; P. F. DeCarlo; D. R. Blake; L. K. Emmons; T. L. Campos; E. C. Apel; A. D. Clarke; A. J. Weinheimer; D. C. McCabe; R. J. Yokelson; J. L. Jimenez; P. O. Wennberg
2009-01-01
Observations during the 2006 dry season of highly elevated concentrations of cyanides in the atmosphere above Mexico City (MC) and the surrounding plains demonstrate that biomass burning (BB) significantly impacted air quality in the region. We find that during the period of our measurements, fires contribute more than half of the organic aerosol mass and submicron...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. J. Wooster
2011-11-01
Full Text Available Biomass burning emissions factors are vital to quantifying trace gas release from vegetation fires. Here we evaluate emissions factors for a series of savannah fires in Kruger National Park (KNP, South Africa using ground-based open path Fourier transform infrared (FTIR spectroscopy and an IR source separated by 150–250 m distance. Molecular abundances along the extended open path are retrieved using a spectral forward model coupled to a non-linear least squares fitting approach. We demonstrate derivation of trace gas column amounts for horizontal paths transecting the width of the advected plume, and find for example that CO mixing ratio changes of ~0.01 μmol mol−1 [10 ppbv] can be detected across the relatively long optical paths used here. Though FTIR spectroscopy can detect dozens of different chemical species present in vegetation fire smoke, we focus our analysis on five key combustion products released preferentially during the pyrolysis (CH2O, flaming (CO2 and smoldering (CO, CH4, NH3 processes. We demonstrate that well constrained emissions ratios for these gases to both CO2 and CO can be derived for the backfire, headfire and residual smouldering combustion (RSC stages of these savannah fires, from which stage-specific emission factors can then be calculated. Headfires and backfires often show similar emission ratios and emission factors, but those of the RSC stage can differ substantially. The timing of each fire stage was identified via airborne optical and thermal IR imagery and ground-observer reports, with the airborne IR imagery also used to derive estimates of fire radiative energy (FRE, allowing the relative amount of fuel burned in each stage to be calculated and "fire averaged" emission ratios and emission factors to be determined. These "fire averaged" metrics are dominated by the headfire contribution, since the FRE data indicate that the vast majority
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Biomass Combustion Control and Stabilization Using Low-Cost Sensors
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ján Piteľ
2013-01-01
Full Text Available The paper describes methods for biomass combustion process control and burning stabilization based on low-cost sensing of carbon monoxide emissions and oxygen concentration in the flue gas. The designed control system was tested on medium-scale biomass-fired boilers and some results are evaluated and presented in the paper.
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Laboratory Investigation of Trace Gas Emissions from Biomass Burning on DoD Bases
Burling, I. R.; Yokelson, R. J.; Griffith, D. W.; Roberts, J. M.; Veres, P. R.; Warneke, C.; Johnson, T. J.
2009-12-01
Vegetation representing fuels commonly managed with prescribed fires was collected from five DoD bases and burned under controlled conditions at the USFS Firelab in Missoula, MT. The smoke emissions were measured with a large suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation. Seventy-seven fires were conducted and the smoke composition data will improve DoD land managers’ ability to assess the impact of prescribed fires on local air quality. A key instrument used in the measurement of the gas phase species in smoke was an open-path FTIR (OP-FTIR) spectrometer, built and operated by the Universities of Montana and Wollongong. The OP-FTIR has to date detected and quantified 20 gas phase species - CO2, CO, H2O, N2O, NO2, NO, HONO, NH3, HCl, SO2, CH4, CH3OH, HCHO, HCOOH, C2H2, C2H4, CH3COOH, HCN, propylene and furan. The spectra were analyzed using a non-linear least squares fitting routine that included reference spectra recently acquired at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. Preliminary results from the OP-FTIR analysis are reported here. Of particular interest, gas-phase nitrous acid (HONO) was detected simultaneously by the OP-FTIR and negative-ion proton-transfer chemical ionization spectrometer (NI-PT-CIMS), with preliminary fire-integrated molar emission ratios (relative to NOx) ranging from approximately 0.03 to 0.20, depending on the vegetation type. HONO is an important precursor in the production of OH, the primary oxidizing species in the atmosphere. There existed little previous data documenting HONO emissions from either wild or prescribed fires. The non-methane organic emissions were dominated by oxygenated species, which can be further oxidized and thus involved in secondary aerosol formation. Elevated amounts of gas-phase HCl were also detected in the smoke, with the amounts varying depending on location and vegetation type.
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Ice Nucleation Activity of Black Carbon and Organic Aerosol Emitted from Biomass Burning
Rauker, A. M.; Schill, G. P.; Hill, T. C. J.; Levin, E. J.; DeMott, P. J.; Kreidenweis, S. M.
2017-12-01
Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) must be present in clouds warmer than approximately -36 °C for initial ice crystal formation to occur. Although rare, they modify the lifetime, albedo and precipitation rates of clouds. Black carbon (BC) particles are present in the upper troposphere, and have been implicated as possible INPs, but recent research has not led to a consensus on their importance as INPs. Biomass burning is known to be a source of INPs as well as a major contributor to BC concentrations. Preliminary research from both prescribed burns (Manhattan, Kanas) and wildfires (Boise, Idaho and Weldon, Colorado), using the Colorado State University Continuous Flow Diffusion Chamber (CSU-CFDC) coupled to a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2), suggest that BC contributed ≤ 10% to INP concentrations in biomass burning conditions. To evaluate the identity of non-BC as an INP, filters were collected downwind from the same prescribed burns and wildfires, and particles re-suspended in water were subjected to the immersion freezing method to quantify INP concentrations. The contributions of biological and total organic species to INP concentrations were determined through heat and hydrogen peroxide pre-treatments. Total INPs ranged from 0.88 - 31 L-1 air at -20 °C with 82 - 99 % of the INPs at that temperature being organic (i.e., deactivated by H2O2 digestion). Results are consistent with CSU-CFDC-SP2 derived rBC INP contributions from the same fires. The results from the study also support previous findings that prescribed burns and wildfires produce plumes enriched in INPs.
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Xu, Jiao; Li, Mei; Shi, Guoliang; Wang, Haiting; Ma, Xian; Wu, Jianhui; Shi, Xurong; Feng, Yinchang
2017-11-15
In this study, single particle mass spectra signatures of both coal burning boiler and biomass burning boiler emitted particles were studied. Particle samples were suspended in clean Resuspension Chamber, and analyzed by ELPI and SPAMS simultaneously. The size distribution of BBB (biomass burning boiler sample) and CBB (coal burning boiler sample) are different, as BBB peaks at smaller size, and CBB peaks at larger size. Mass spectra signatures of two samples were studied by analyzing the average mass spectrum of each particle cluster extracted by ART-2a in different size ranges. In conclusion, BBB sample mostly consists of OC and EC containing particles, and a small fraction of K-rich particles in the size range of 0.2-0.5μm. In 0.5-1.0μm, BBB sample consists of EC, OC, K-rich and Al_Silicate containing particles; CBB sample consists of EC, ECOC containing particles, while Al_Silicate (including Al_Ca_Ti_Silicate, Al_Ti_Silicate, Al_Silicate) containing particles got higher fractions as size increase. The similarity of single particle mass spectrum signatures between two samples were studied by analyzing the dot product, results indicated that part of the single particle mass spectra of two samples in the same size range are similar, which bring challenge to the future source apportionment activity by using single particle aerosol mass spectrometer. Results of this study will provide physicochemical information of important sources which contribute to particle pollution, and will support source apportionment activities. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tansey, K.; Gregoire, J.M.; Boschetti, L.; Maggi, M.; Binaghi, E.; Brivio, P.A.; Stroppiana, D.; Ershov, D.; Flasse, S.; Fraser, R.; Graetz, D.; Peduzzi, P.; Pereira, J.; Silva, J.; Sousa, A.
2004-01-01
Biomass burning constitutes a major contribution to global emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, greenhouse gases and aerosols. Furthermore, biomass burning has an impact on health, transport, the environment and land use. Vegetation fires are certainly not recent phenomena and the impacts are not always negative. However, evidence suggests that fires are becoming more frequent and there is a large increase in the number of fires being set by humans for a variety of reasons. Knowledge of the interactions and feedbacks between biomass burning, climate and carbon cycling is needed to help the prediction of climate change scenarios. To obtain this knowledge, the scientific community requires, in the first instance, information on the spatial and temporal distribution of biomass burning at the global scale. This paper presents an inventory of burned areas at monthly time periods for the year 2000 at a resolution of 1 kilometer (km) and is available to the scientific community at no cost. The burned area products have been derived from a single source of satellite-derived images, the SPOT VEGETATION S1 1 km product, using algorithms developed and calibrated at regional scales by a network of partners. In this paper, estimates of burned area, number of burn scars and average size of the burn scar are described for each month of the year 2000. The information is reported at the country level. This paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the effect of biomass burning on atmospheric chemistry and the storage and cycling of carbon by constraining one of the main parameters used in the calculation of gas emissions
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Tansey, K. [Department of Geography, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); Gregoire, J.M.; Boschetti, L.; Maggi, M. [European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, I-21020 (Italy); Binaghi, E. [Universita dell' Insubria, Via Ravasi 2, I-21100 Varese (Italy); Brivio, P.A.; Stroppiana, D. [Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment CNR-IREA, Via Bassini 15, I-20133 Milan (Italy); Ershov, D. [International Forest Institute IFI, Novocheriomushkinskaya str. 69a, Moscow, 117418 (Russian Federation); Flasse, S. [Flasse Consulting, 3 Sycamore Crescent, Maidstone, ME16 0AG (United Kingdom); Fraser, R. [Natural Resources Canada, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS), 588 Booth St., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0Y7 (Canada); Graetz, D. [CSIRO Earth Observation Centre GPO 3023, Canberra, ACT, 2601 (Australia); Peduzzi, P. [United Nations Environment Programme UNEP, Early Warning Unit UNEP/DEWA/GRID, International Environment House, 1219 Geneva (Switzerland); Pereira, J. [Tropical Research Institute, Travessa Conde da Ribeira 9, 1300-142 Lisbon (Portugal); Silva, J. [Department of Forestry, Technical University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon (Portugal); Sousa, A. [Department of Rural Engineering, University of Evora, Apartado 94, 7002-554 Evora (Portugal)
2004-12-01
Biomass burning constitutes a major contribution to global emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, greenhouse gases and aerosols. Furthermore, biomass burning has an impact on health, transport, the environment and land use. Vegetation fires are certainly not recent phenomena and the impacts are not always negative. However, evidence suggests that fires are becoming more frequent and there is a large increase in the number of fires being set by humans for a variety of reasons. Knowledge of the interactions and feedbacks between biomass burning, climate and carbon cycling is needed to help the prediction of climate change scenarios. To obtain this knowledge, the scientific community requires, in the first instance, information on the spatial and temporal distribution of biomass burning at the global scale. This paper presents an inventory of burned areas at monthly time periods for the year 2000 at a resolution of 1 kilometer (km) and is available to the scientific community at no cost. The burned area products have been derived from a single source of satellite-derived images, the SPOT VEGETATION S1 1 km product, using algorithms developed and calibrated at regional scales by a network of partners. In this paper, estimates of burned area, number of burn scars and average size of the burn scar are described for each month of the year 2000. The information is reported at the country level. This paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the effect of biomass burning on atmospheric chemistry and the storage and cycling of carbon by constraining one of the main parameters used in the calculation of gas emissions.
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Lavi, Avi; Lin, Peng; Bhaduri, Bhaskar; Laskin, Alexander; Rudich, Yinon
2017-04-01
Dust particles and volatile organic compounds from fuel or biomass burning are two major components that affect air quality in urban polluted areas. We characterized the products from the reaction of soluble Fe(III), a reactive transition metal originating from dust particles dissolution processes, with phenolic compounds , namely, guaiacol, syringol, catechol, o- and p- cresol that are known products of incomplete fuel and biomass combustion but also from other natural sources such as humic compounds degradation. We found that under acidic conditions comparable to those expected on a dust particle surface, phenolic compounds readily react with dissolved Fe(III), leading to the formation of insoluble polymeric compounds. We characterized the insoluble products by x-ray photoelectron microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and thermo-gravimetric analysis. We found that the major chromophores formed are oligomers (from dimers to pentamers) of the reaction precursors that efficiently absorb light between 300nm and 500nm. High variability of the mass absorption coefficient of the reaction products was observed with catechol and guaiacol showing high absorption at the 300-500nm range that is comparable to that of brown carbon (BrC) from biomass burning studies. The studied reaction is a potential source for the in-situ production of secondary BrC material under dark conditions. Our results suggest a reaction path for the formation of bio-available iron in coastal polluted areas where dust particles mix with biomass burning pollution plumes. Such mixing can occur, for instance in the coast of West Africa or North Africa during dust and biomass burning seasons
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
R. Paris
2010-05-01
Full Text Available The chemical composition and the soluble fraction were determined in aerosol samples collected during flights of AMMA-SOP0/DABEX campaign, which were conducted in the West African Sahel during dry season (2006. Two aerosol types are encountered in this period: dust particles (DUST and biomass burning aerosol (BB. Chemical analysis and microscope observations showed that the iron (Fe found in BB samples mainly originates from dust particles mostly internally mixed in the biomass burning layer. Chemical analyses of samples showed that the Fe solubility is lower in African dust samples than in biomass burning aerosols. Our data provide a first idea of the variability of iron dust solubility in the source region (0.1% and 3.4%. We found a relationship between iron solubility/clay content/source which partly confirms that the variability of iron solubility in this source region is related to the character and origin of the aerosols themselves. In the biomass burning samples, no relationship were found between Fe solubility and either the concentrations of acidic species (SO42−, NO3− or oxalate or the content of carbon (TC, OC, BC. Therefore, we were unable to determine what processes are involved in this increase of iron solubility. In terms of supply of soluble Fe to oceanic ecosystems on a global scale, the higher solubility observed for Fe in biomass burning could imply an indirect source of Fe to marine ecosystems. But these aerosols are probably not significant because the Sahara is easily the dominant source of Fe to the Atlantic Ocean.
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Biomass energy, forests and global warming
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rosillo-Calle, Frank; Hall, D.O.
1992-01-01
Biomass in all its forms currently provides about 14% of the world's energy, equivalent to 25 million bbl oil/day; in developing countries where it is the major energy source, biomass supplies 35% of total energy use. Although biomass energy use affects the flux of carbon to the atmosphere, the main carbon emission problem is caused by fossil fuels and land clearance for agriculture. Biomass fuels make no net contribution to atmospheric CO 2 if used sustainably. A major global revegetation and reforestation effort is a possible strategy to reduce CO 2 emissions and to slow the pace of climatic change. However, a more attractive alternative strategy might be to substitute fossil fuels, especially coal, with biomass grown specifically for this purpose producing modern fuels such as electricity, liquids and gases. This paper examines biomass energy use, devegetation, biomass burning, the implications for global warming and the ability of biomass to sequester CO 2 and substitute for fossil fuels. It also discusses some socioeconomic and political issues. (author)
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IASI measurements of reactive trace species in biomass burning plumes
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P.-F. Coheur
2009-08-01
Full Text Available This work presents observations of a series of short-lived species in biomass burning plumes from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI, launched onboard the MetOp-A platform in October 2006. The strong fires that have occurred in the Mediterranean Basin – and particularly Greece – in August 2007, and those in Southern Siberia and Eastern Mongolia in the early spring of 2008 are selected to support the analyses. We show that the IASI infrared spectra in these fire plumes contain distinctive signatures of ammonia (NH3, ethene (C2H4, methanol (CH3OH and formic acid (HCOOH in the atmospheric window between 800 and 1200 cm−1, with some noticeable differences between the plumes. Peroxyacetyl nitrate (CH3COOONO2, abbreviated as PAN was also observed with good confidence in some plumes and a tentative assignment of a broadband absorption spectral feature to acetic acid (CH3COOH is made. For several of these species these are the first reported measurements made from space in nadir geometry. The IASI measurements are analyzed for plume height and concentration distributions of NH3, C2H4 and CH3OH. The Greek fires are studied in greater detail for the days associated with the largest emissions. In addition to providing information on the spatial extent of the plume, the IASI retrievals allow an estimate of the total mass emissions for NH3, C2H4 and CH3OH. Enhancement ratios are calculated for the latter relative to carbon monoxide (CO, giving insight in the chemical processes occurring during the transport, the first day after the emission.
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Gao, Shaopeng; Xu, Baiqing; Dong, Xueling; Zheng, Xiaoyan; Wan, Xin; Kang, Shichang; Song, Qiuyin; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Cong, Zhiyuan
2018-07-01
Biomass burning is a serious problem in the environment and climate system. However, the source identification of biomass-burning aerosols was somewhat impeded, partly due to the difficulty in quantification of relevant molecular markers. In this study, we present reference values for five aromatic acids (including p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, dehydroabietic, syringic and p-coumaric acids) in the NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1649b. The concentration of levoglucosan was also revisited. Notable positive matrix effect was found for vanillic, dehydroabietic, syringic and coumaric acid. Using the standard addition method, the average value of p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, syringic, dehydroabietic and p-coumaric acids in SRM 1649b were found to be 26.9, 9.53, 1.13, 7.60 and 1.66 μg g-1, respectively. The analytical method developed in this study was also applied to the PM10 samples from Beijing and PM2.5 samples from South Asia (Godavari, Nepal). The ratios of vanillic to p-hydroxybenzoic acid and syringic to vanillic acid further suggested that their biomass-burning types are mainly related to hard wood and herbaceous species (i.e., agricultural residues).
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Li, Lingyu; Chen, Yuan; Zeng, Limin; Shao, Min; Xie, Shaodong; Chen, Wentai; Lu, Sihua; Wu, Yusheng; Cao, Wei
2014-12-01
Ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured intensively using an online gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionization detector (GC-MS/FID) at Ziyang in the Chengdu-Chongqing Region (CCR) from 6 December 2012 to 4 January 2013. Alkanes contributed the most (59%) to mixing ratios of measured non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), while aromatics contributed the least (7%). Methanol was the most abundant oxygenated VOC (OVOC), contributing 42% to the total amount of OVOCs. Significantly elevated VOC levels occurred during three pollution events, but the chemical composition of VOCs did not differ between polluted and clean days. The OH loss rates of VOCs were calculated to estimate their chemical reactivity. Alkenes played a predominant role in VOC reactivity, among which ethylene and propene were the largest contributors; the contributions of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were also considerable. Biomass burning had a significant influence on ambient VOCs during our study. We chose acetonitrile as a tracer and used enhancement ratio to estimate the contribution of biomass burning to ambient VOCs. Biomass burning contributed 9.4%-36.8% to the mixing ratios of selected VOC species, and contributed most (>30% each) to aromatics, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Cecinato, A; Mabilia, R [Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto sull' Inquinamento Atmosferico, Monterotondo Scalo, RM (Italy); De Castro Vasconcellos, P [Sao Paulo Universidad, Sao Paulo (Brazil). Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares, Dept. de Engenharia Quimica Ambiental
2001-03-01
A field campaign performed in Southern Brazilian Amazonia in 1993 has proved that this region is subjected to fallout of particulated exhausts released by fires of forestal biomass. In fact, organic content of aerosols collected at urban sites located on the border of pluvial forest, about 50 km from fires, was similar to that of biomass burning exhausts. Aerosol composition is indicative of dolous origin of fires. However, organic contents seems to be influenced by two additional sources, i. e. motor vehicle and high vegetation emission. Chemical pattern of organic aerosols released by biomass burning of forest seems to promote occurrence of photochemical smog episodes in that region. [Italian] Una campagna di misura realizzata nella regione amazzonica nel 1993 ha dimostrato la ricaduta sull'area circostante dei prodotti di combustione della biomassa forestale, attraverso la speciazione degli aerosoli atmosferici raccolti in un sito urbano posto ai margini della foresta, tuttavia le poveri sospese rivelano l'origine dolosa degli incendi. La composizione chimica degli aerosoli organici provenienti dalla combustione di biomassa sembra favorire i processi di smog fotochimico nella regione.
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Fleming, Lauren T.; Lin, Peng; Laskin, Alexander; Laskin, Julia; Weltman, Robert; Edwards, Rufus D.; Arora, Narendra K.; Yadav, Ankit; Meinardi, Simone; Blake, Donald R.; Pillarisetti, Ajay; Smith, Kirk R.; Nizkorodov, Sergey A.
2018-02-01
Emissions of airborne particles from biomass burning are a significant source of black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) in rural areas of developing countries where biomass is the predominant energy source for cooking and heating. This study explores the molecular composition of organic aerosols from household cooking emissions with a focus on identifying fuel-specific compounds and BrC chromophores. Traditional meals were prepared by a local cook with dung and brushwood-fueled cookstoves in a village in Palwal district, Haryana, India. Cooking was done in a village kitchen while controlling for variables including stove type, fuel moisture, and meal. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions were collected on filters, and then analyzed via nanospray desorption electrospray ionization-high-resolution mass spectrometry (nano-DESI-HRMS) and high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-HRMS) techniques. The nano-DESI-HRMS analysis provided an inventory of numerous compounds present in the particle phase. Although several compounds observed in this study have been previously characterized using gas chromatography methods a majority of the species in the nano-DESI spectra were newly observed biomass burning compounds. Both the stove (chulha or angithi) and the fuel (brushwood or dung) affected the composition of organic aerosols. The geometric mean of the PM2.5 emission factor and the observed molecular complexity increased in the following order: brushwood-chulha (7.3 ± 1.8 g kg-1 dry fuel, 93 compounds), dung-chulha (21.1 ± 4.2 g kg-1 dry fuel, 212 compounds), and dung-angithi (29.8 ± 11.5 g kg-1 dry fuel, 262 compounds). The mass-normalized absorption coefficient (MACbulk) for the organic-solvent extractable material for brushwood PM2.5 was 3.7 ± 1.5 and 1.9 ± 0.8 m2 g-1 at 360 and 405 nm, respectively, which was approximately a factor of two higher than that for dung PM2.5. The HPLC-PDA-HRMS analysis
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Kecorius, Simonas; Ma, Nan; Teich, Monique; van Pinxteren, Dominik; Zhang, Shenglan; Gröβ, Johannes; Spindler, Gerald; Müller, Konrad; Iinuma, Yoshiteru; Hu, Min; Herrmann, Hartmut; Wiedensohler, Alfred
2017-09-01
Particulate emissions from crop residue burning decrease the air quality as well as influence aerosol radiative properties on a regional scale. The North China Plain (NCP) is known for the large scale biomass burning (BB) of field residues, which often results in heavy haze pollution episodes across the region. We have been able to capture a unique BB episode during the international CAREBeijing-NCP intensive field campaign in Wangdu in the NCP (38.6°N, 115.2°E) from June to July 2014. It was found that aerosol particles originating from this BB event showed a significantly different mixing state compared with clean and non-BB pollution episodes. BB originated particles showed a narrower probability density function (PDF) of shrink factor (SF). And the maximum was found at shrink factor of 0.6, which is higher than in other episodes. The non-volatile particle number fraction during the BB episode decreased to 3% and was the lowest measured value compared to all other predefined episodes. To evaluate the influence of particle mixing state on aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA), SSA at different RHs was simulated using the measured aerosol physical-chemical properties. The differences between the calculated SSA for biomass burning, clean and pollution episodes are significant, meaning that the variation of SSA in different pollution conditions needs to be considered in the evaluation of aerosol direct radiative effects in the NCP. And the calculated SSA was found to be quite sensitive on the mixing state of BC, especially at low-RH condition. The simulated SSA was also compared with the measured values. For all the three predefined episodes, the measured SSA are very close to the calculated ones with assumed mixing states of homogeneously internal and core-shell internal mixing, indicating that both of the conception models are appropriate for the calculation of ambient SSA in the NCP.
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Kim, Yumi; Seo, Jihoon; Kim, Jin Young; Lee, Ji Yi; Kim, Hwajin; Kim, Bong Mann
2018-02-01
The chemical and seasonal characteristics of fine particulates in Seoul, Korea, were investigated based on 24-h integrated PM 2.5 measurements made over four 1-month periods in each season between October 2012 and September 2013. The four-season average concentration of PM 2.5 was 37 μg m -3 , and the major chemical components were secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) species of sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium (49%), followed by organic matter (34%). The mass concentration and most of the chemical components of PM 2.5 showed clear seasonal variation, with a winter-high and summer-low pattern. The winter-to-summer sulfate ratio and the winter organic carbon (OC)-to-elemental carbon (EC) ratio were unusually high compared with those in previous studies. Strong correlations of both the sulfate level and the sulfur oxidation ratio with relative humidity, and between water-soluble OC (WSOC) and SIA in winter, suggest the importance of aqueous phase chemistry for secondary aerosols. A strong correlation between non-sea salt sulfate and Na + levels, a high Cl - /Na + ratio, and an unusual positive correlation between the nitrogen oxidation ratio and temperature during the winter indicate the influence of transported secondary emission sources from upwind urban areas and from China across the Yellow Sea. Despite the absence of local forest fires and the regulation of wood burning, a high levoglucosan concentration and its correlations with OC and WSOC indicate that Seoul was affected by biomass burning sources in the winter. The unusually high water-insoluble OC (WIOC)-to-EC ratio in winter implies additional transported combustion sources of WIOC. The strong correlation between WIOC and levoglucosan suggests the likely influence of transported biomass burning sources on the high WIOC/EC ratio during the winter.
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Geostationary satellite estimation of biomass burning in Amazonia during BASE-A
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Menzel, W.P.; Cutrim, E.C.; Prins, E.M.
1991-01-01
This chapter presents the results of using Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) infrared window (3.9 and 11.2 microns) data to monitor biomass burning several times per day in Amazonia. The technique of Matson and Dozier using two window channels was adapted to GOES VAS infrared data to estimate the size and temperature of fires associated with deforestation in the vicinity of Alta Floresta, Brazil, during the Biomass Burning Airborne and Spaceborne Experiment - Amazonia (BASE-A). Although VAS data do not offer the spatial resolution available with AVHRR data 97 km versus 1 km, respectively, this decreased resolution does not seem to hinder the ability of the VAS instrument to detect fires; in some cases it proves to be advantageous in that saturation does not occur as often. VAS visible data are additionally helpful in verifying that the hot spots sensed in the infrared are actually related to fires. Furthermore, the fire plumes can be tracked in time to determine their motion and extent. In this way, the GOES satellite offers a unique ability to monitor diurnal variations in fire activity and transport of related aerosols
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Lee, Hsiang-He; Iraqui, Oussama; Gu, Yefu; Hung-Lam Yim, Steve; Chulakadabba, Apisada; Yiu-Ming Tonks, Adam; Yang, Zhengyu; Wang, Chien
2018-05-01
Severe haze events in Southeast Asia caused by particulate pollution have become more intense and frequent in recent years. Widespread biomass burning occurrences and particulate pollutants from human activities other than biomass burning play important roles in degrading air quality in Southeast Asia. In this study, numerical simulations have been conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a chemistry component (WRF-Chem) to quantitatively examine the contributions of aerosols emitted from fire (i.e., biomass burning) versus non-fire (including fossil fuel combustion, and road dust, etc.) sources to the degradation of air quality and visibility over Southeast Asia. These simulations cover a time period from 2002 to 2008 and are driven by emissions from (a) fossil fuel burning only, (b) biomass burning only, and (c) both fossil fuel and biomass burning. The model results reveal that 39 % of observed low-visibility days (LVDs) can be explained by either fossil fuel burning or biomass burning emissions alone, a further 20 % by fossil fuel burning alone, a further 8 % by biomass burning alone, and a further 5 % by a combination of fossil fuel burning and biomass burning. Analysis of an 24 h PM2.5 air quality index (AQI) indicates that the case with coexisting fire and non-fire PM2.5 can substantially increase the chance of AQI being in the moderate or unhealthy pollution level from 23 to 34 %. The premature mortality in major Southeast Asian cities due to degradation of air quality by particulate pollutants is estimated to increase from ˜ 4110 per year in 2002 to ˜ 6540 per year in 2008. In addition, we demonstrate the importance of certain missing non-fire anthropogenic aerosol sources including anthropogenic fugitive and industrial dusts in causing urban air quality degradation. An experiment of using machine learning algorithms to forecast the occurrence of haze events in Singapore is also explored in this study. All of these
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
H.-H. Lee
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Severe haze events in Southeast Asia caused by particulate pollution have become more intense and frequent in recent years. Widespread biomass burning occurrences and particulate pollutants from human activities other than biomass burning play important roles in degrading air quality in Southeast Asia. In this study, numerical simulations have been conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model coupled with a chemistry component (WRF-Chem to quantitatively examine the contributions of aerosols emitted from fire (i.e., biomass burning versus non-fire (including fossil fuel combustion, and road dust, etc. sources to the degradation of air quality and visibility over Southeast Asia. These simulations cover a time period from 2002 to 2008 and are driven by emissions from (a fossil fuel burning only, (b biomass burning only, and (c both fossil fuel and biomass burning. The model results reveal that 39 % of observed low-visibility days (LVDs can be explained by either fossil fuel burning or biomass burning emissions alone, a further 20 % by fossil fuel burning alone, a further 8 % by biomass burning alone, and a further 5 % by a combination of fossil fuel burning and biomass burning. Analysis of an 24 h PM2.5 air quality index (AQI indicates that the case with coexisting fire and non-fire PM2.5 can substantially increase the chance of AQI being in the moderate or unhealthy pollution level from 23 to 34 %. The premature mortality in major Southeast Asian cities due to degradation of air quality by particulate pollutants is estimated to increase from ∼ 4110 per year in 2002 to ∼ 6540 per year in 2008. In addition, we demonstrate the importance of certain missing non-fire anthropogenic aerosol sources including anthropogenic fugitive and industrial dusts in causing urban air quality degradation. An experiment of using machine learning algorithms to forecast the occurrence of haze events in Singapore is
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Pommier, Matthieu; Clerbaux, Cathy; Coheur, Pierre-Francois
2017-09-01
Formic acid (HCOOH) concentrations are often underestimated by models, and its chemistry is highly uncertain. HCOOH is, however, among the most abundant atmospheric volatile organic compounds, and it is potentially responsible for rain acidity in remote areas. HCOOH data from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) are analyzed from 2008 to 2014 to estimate enhancement ratios from biomass burning emissions over seven regions. Fire-affected HCOOH and CO total columns are defined by combining total columns from IASI, geographic location of the fires from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the surface wind speed field from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Robust correlations are found between these fire-affected HCOOH and CO total columns over the selected biomass burning regions, allowing the calculation of enhancement ratios equal to 7.30 × 10-3 ± 0.08 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over Amazonia (AMA), 11.10 × 10-3 ± 1.37 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over Australia (AUS), 6.80 × 10-3 ± 0.44 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over India (IND), 5.80 × 10-3 ± 0.15 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over Southeast Asia (SEA), 4.00 × 10-3 ± 0.19 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over northern Africa (NAF), 5.00 × 10-3 ± 0.13 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over southern Africa (SAF), and 4.40 × 10-3 ± 0.09 × 10-3 mol mol-1 over Siberia (SIB), in a fair agreement with previous studies. In comparison with referenced emission ratios, it is also shown that the selected agricultural burning plumes captured by IASI over India and Southeast Asia correspond to recent plumes where the chemistry or the sink does not occur. An additional classification of the enhancement ratios by type of fuel burned is also provided, showing a diverse origin of the plumes sampled by IASI, especially over Amazonia and Siberia. The variability in the enhancement ratios by biome over the different regions show that the levels of HCOOH and CO do not only depend on the fuel types.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Z. B. Wang
2013-02-01
Full Text Available In order to characterise the features of particle pollution in the Pearl River Delta (PRD region, a 1-month intensive campaign was conducted at the rural supersite (Kaiping in the autumn of 2008. In total, 12 new particle formation (NPF events are identified out of 30 campaign days. The results show that in the case of higher source and sink values, the result of the competition between source and sink is more likely the key limiting factor to determine the observation of NPF events at Kaiping. One episode with consecutive NPF events in the presence of strong biomass burning plume was observed between 10 and 15 November. The elevation of particle volume concentration (6.1 µm3/cm3/day is due to the coaction by the local biomass burning and secondary transformation. Organics and sulphates are the major components in PM1, accounting for 42 and 35% of the mass concentration, respectively. In this study, a rough estimation is applied to quantify the contributions of diverse sources to the particle number concentration. On average, the primary emission and secondary formation provide 28 and 72% of particle number concentration and 21 and 79% of mass concentration, respectively.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wang, Z. B.; Hu, M.; Yue, D. L.; Yang, Q.; Zhang, Y. H. [State Key Joint Lab. of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Coll. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking Univ., Beijing (China)], e-mail: minhu@pku.edu.cn; He, L. Y.; Huang, X. F. [Key Lab. for Urban Habitat Environmental Science and Technology, School of Environment and Energy, Peking Univ. Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen (China); Zheng, J. [Dept. of Atmospheric Science, Texas AandM Univ., College Station, Texas (United States); Zhang, R. Y. [State Key Joint Lab. of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Coll. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking Univ., Beijing (China); Department of Atmospheric Science, Texas AandM Univ., College Station, Texas (United States))
2013-09-15
In order to characterise the features of particle pollution in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, a 1-month intensive campaign was conducted at the rural supersite (Kaiping) in the autumn of 2008. In total, 12 new particle formation (NPF) events are identified out of 30 campaign days. The results show that in the case of higher source and sink values, the result of the competition between source and sink is more likely the key limiting factor to determine the observation of NPF events at Kaiping. One episode with consecutive NPF events in the presence of strong biomass burning plume was observed between 10 and 15 November. The elevation of particle volume concentration (6.1 mm{sup 3}/cm{sup 3}/day) is due to the coaction by the local biomass burning and secondary transformation. Organics and sulphates are the major components in PM{sub 1}, accounting for 42% and 35% of the mass concentration, respectively. In this study, a rough estimation is applied to quantify the contributions of diverse sources to the particle number concentration. On average, the primary emission and secondary formation provide 28 and 72% of particle number concentration and 21% and 79% of mass concentration, respectively.
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Chang, Shun-Shiang; Lee, Wen-Jhy; Wang, Lin-Chi; Lin, Neng-Huei; Chang-Chien, Guo-Ping
2013-10-01
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PBDD/Fs, PBBs and PBDEs are bio-accumulative, toxic, and susceptible to long-range transport (LRT). This study is the first that comprehensively discusses the long-range atmospheric transport behavior of these five groups of POPs. The main goal is to investigate the atmospheric characteristics of these POPs at the biomass burning sites of Chiang Mai in Thailand, and Da Nang in Vietnam, as well as the influence of the Southeast Asian biomass burnings on the Lulin Atmospheric Background Station (LABS) in Taiwan. Biomass burning in Southeast Asia is usually carried to remove the residues of agricultural activities. The ambient air in Da Nang seems to be more seriously affected by the local biomass burnings than that in Chiang Mai. The elevated atmospheric brominated POP (PBDD/Fs, PBBs and PBDEs) concentrations in Da Nang were attributed to the biomass burning and viewed as mostly unrelated to the local use of brominated flame retardants. In the spring of 2010, the mean atmospheric concentrations in LABS during the first and second Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs) were 0.00428 and 0.00232 pg I-TEQ Nm-3 for PCDD/Fs, 0.000311 and 0.000282 pg WHO-TEQ m-3 for PCBs, 0.000379 and 0.000449 pg TEQ Nm-3 for total PBDD/Fs, 0.0208 and 0.0163 pg Nm-3 for total PBBs, and 109 and 18.2 pg Nm-3 for total PBDEs, respectively. These values represent the above concentrations due to the Southeast Asian biomass burnings. The affected atmospheric POP concentrations at the LABS were still at least one order lower than those in other atmospheric environments, except for the PBDE concentrations during the first IOP (109 pg Nm-3), which was surprisingly higher than those in Taiwanese metal complex areas (93.9 pg Nm-3) and urban areas (34.7 pg Nm-3). Atmospheric POP concentrations do not seem to dramatically decrease during long-range transport, and the reasons for this need to be further investigated.
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The composition of ambient and fresh biomass burning aerosols at a savannah site, South Africa
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Minna Aurela
2016-05-01
Full Text Available Atmospheric aerosols play a key role in climate change, and have adverse effects on human health. Given South Africa�s status as a rapidly-developing country with increasing urbanisation and industrial growth, information on the quality of ambient air is important. In this study, the chemical composition of ambient particles and the particles in fresh biomass burning plumes were studied at a savannah environment in Botsalano, South Africa. The results showed that Botsalano was regularly affected by air masses that had passed over several large point sources. Air masses that had passed over the coal-fired Matimba power station in the Waterberg, or over the platinum group metal smelters in the western Bushveld Igneous Complex, contained high sulfate concentrations in the submicron ranges. These concentrations were 14 to 37 times higher compared with air masses that had passed only over rural areas. Because of the limited nature of this type of data in literature for the interior regions of southern Africa, our report serves as a valuable reference for future studies. In addition, our biomass burning study showed that potassium in the fresh smoke of burning savannah grass was likely to take the form of KCl. Clear differences were found in the ratios for potassium and levoglucosan in the smouldering and flaming phases. Our findings highlight the need for more comprehensive chamber experiments on various fuel types used in southern Africa, to confirm the ratio of important biomass burning tracer species that can be used in source apportionment studies in the future.
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Converting Biomass and Waste Plastic to Solid Fuel Briquettes
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
F. Zannikos
2013-01-01
Full Text Available This work examines the production of briquettes for household use from biomass in combination with plastic materials from different sources. Additionally, the combustion characteristics of the briquettes in a common open fireplace were studied. It is clear that the geometry of the briquettes has no influence on the smoke emissions. When the briquettes have a small amount of polyethylene terephthalate (PET, the behavior in the combustion is steadier because of the increase of oxygen supply. The smoke levels are between the 3rd and 4th grades of the smoke number scale. Measuring the carbon monoxide emission, it was observed that the burning of the plastic in the mixture with biomass increases the carbon monoxide emissions from 10% to 30% as compared to carbon monoxide emission from sawdust biomass emissions which was used as a reference.
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Biomass District Energy Trigeneration Systems: Emissions Reduction and Financial Impact
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rentizelas, A.; Tolis, A.; Tatsiopoulos, I.
2009-01-01
Biomass cogeneration is widely used for district heating applications in central and northern Europe. Biomass trigeneration on the other hand, constitutes an innovative renewable energy application. In this work, an approved United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change baseline methodology has been extended to allow the examination of biomass trigeneration applications. The methodology is applied to a case study in Greece to investigate various environmental and financial aspects of this type of applications. The results suggest that trigeneration may lead to significant emissions reduction compared to using fossil fuels or even biomass cogeneration and electricity generation. The emissions reduction achieved may be materialized into a considerable revenue stream for the project, if traded through a trading mechanism such as the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme. A sensitivity analysis has been performed to compensate for the high volatility of the emission allowances' value and the immaturity of the EU Trading Scheme, which prevent a reliable estimation of the related revenue. The work concludes that emission allowances trading may develop into one of the major revenue streams of biomass trigeneration projects, significantly increasing their financial yield and attractiveness. The impact on the yield is significant even for low future values of emission allowances and could become the main income revenue source of such projects, if emission allowances increase their value substantially. The application of trigeneration for district energy proves to lead to increased environmental and financial benefits compared to the cogeneration or electricity generation cases
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P. Acharya
2016-10-01
Full Text Available Emission of smoke and aerosol from open field burning of crop residue is a long-standing subject matter of atmospheric pollution. In this study, we proposed a new approach of estimating fuel load in the fire pixels and corresponding emissions of selected GHGs and aerosols i.e. CO2, CO, NO2, SO2, and total particulate matter (TPM due to burning of crop residue under rice and wheat cropping systems in Punjab in north-west India from 2002 to 2012. In contrasts to the conventional method that uses RPR ratio to estimate the biomass, fuel load in the fire pixels was estimated as a function of enhanced vegetation index (EVI. MODIS fire products were used to detect the fire pixels during harvesting seasons of rice and wheat. Based on the field measurements, fuel load in the fire pixels were modelled as a function of average EVI using second order polynomial regression. Average EVI for rice and wheat crops that were extracted through Fourier transformation were computed from MODIS time series 16 day EVI composites. About 23 % of net shown area (NSA during rice and 11 % during wheat harvesting seasons are affected by field burning. The computed average fuel loads are 11.32 t/ha (±17.4 during rice and 10.89 t/ha (±8.7 during wheat harvesting seasons. Calculated average total emissions of CO2, CO, NO2, SO2 and TPM were 8108.41, 657.85, 8.10, 4.10, and 133.21 Gg during rice straw burning and 6896.85, 625.09, 1.42, 1.77, and 57.55 Gg during wheat burning. Comparison of estimated values shows better agreement with the previous concurrent estimations. The method, however, shows its efficiency parallel to the conventional method of estimation of fuel load and related pollutant emissions.
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Effects of vegetation burning on the atmospheric chemistry of the Venezuelan savanna
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sanhueza, E.
1991-01-01
Biomass burning in tropical savanna and rainforest regions is an important factor in the chemical composition of the atmosphere. On the global scale, burning of savanna grass procedures three to four times greater emission of trace gases than deforestation processes of tropical rainforest. As part of a comprehensive study of the Venezuelan savanna atmosphere, measurements of gases and particles, chemical composition of rain, and biogenic soil emission were made during burning and nonburning periods at several rural savanna sites. A review of the most significant findings is presented in this chapter, and their regional and global implications are discussed
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Bluvshtein, Nir [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel; Lin, Peng [Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Flores, J. Michel [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel; Segev, Lior [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel; Mazar, Yinon [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel; Tas, Eran [The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot Israel; Snider, Graydon [Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Weagle, Crystal [Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Brown, Steven S. [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado USA; Chemical Sciences Division, Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder Colorado USA; Laskin, Alexander [Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland Washington USA; Rudich, Yinon [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel
2017-05-23
The radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols on regional and global scale is substantial. Accurate modeling of the radiative effects of smoke aerosols require wavelength-dependent measurements and parameterizations of their optical properties in the UV and visible spectral ranges along with improved description of their chemical composition. To address this issue, we used a recently developed approach to retrieve the time- and spectral-dependent optical properties of ambient biomass burning aerosols between 300 and 650 nm wavelength during a regional bonfire festival in Israel. During the biomass burning event, the overall absorption at 400 nm increased by about two orders of magnitude, changing the size-weighted single scattering albedo from a background level of 0.95 to 0.7. Based on the new retrieval method, we provide parameterizations of the wavelength-dependent effective complex refractive index from 350 to 650 nm for freshly emitted and aged biomass burning aerosols. In addition, PM2.5 filter samples were collected for detailed off-line chemical analysis of the water soluble organics that contribute to light absorption. Nitrophenols were identified as the main organic species responsible for the increased absorption at 400-500 nm. These include species such as 4- nitrocatechol, 4-nitrophenol, nitro-syringol and nitro-guaiacol; oxidation-nitration products of methoxyphenols, known products of lignin pyrolysis. Our findings emphasize the importance of both primary and secondary organic aerosol from biomass burning in absorption of solar radiation and in effective radiative forcing.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luiz Drude de Lacerda
2007-04-01
Full Text Available Increasing natural gas use in Brazil triggered a discussion of its role as a Hg source. We show that Hg emissions to the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion for power generation in Brazil contribute with 6.2% (4.2 t yr-1 to the total anthropogenic Hg atmospheric emissions, with coal combustion and biomass burning as major sources. Natural gas contributes with 0.04 t yr-1, mostly from electricity generation (88% and industrial uses (7.6%. Preliminary results on Hg concentrations in natural gas suggest that a large fraction of it is trapped during refining and transport, which may create Hg point sources between extraction and consumption.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. Bougiatioti
2016-06-01
Full Text Available This study investigates the concentration, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN activity and hygroscopic properties of particles influenced by biomass burning in the eastern Mediterranean and their impacts on cloud droplet formation. Air masses sampled were subject to a range of atmospheric processing (several hours up to 3 days. Values of the hygroscopicity parameter, κ, were derived from CCN measurements and a Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (HTDMA. An Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM was also used to determine the chemical composition and mass concentration of non-refractory components of the submicron aerosol fraction. During fire events, the increased organic content (and lower inorganic fraction of the aerosol decreases the values of κ, for all particle sizes. Particle sizes smaller than 80 nm exhibited considerable chemical dispersion (where hygroscopicity varied up to 100 % for particles of same size; larger particles, however, exhibited considerably less dispersion owing to the effects of condensational growth and cloud processing. ACSM measurements indicate that the bulk composition reflects the hygroscopicity and chemical nature of the largest particles (having a diameter of ∼ 100 nm at dry conditions sampled. Based on positive matrix factorization (PMF analysis of the organic ACSM spectra, CCN concentrations follow a similar trend as the biomass-burning organic aerosol (BBOA component, with the former being enhanced between 65 and 150 % (for supersaturations ranging between 0.2 and 0.7 % with the arrival of the smoke plumes. Using multilinear regression of the PMF factors (BBOA, OOA-BB and OOA and the observed hygroscopicity parameter, the inferred hygroscopicity of the oxygenated organic aerosol components is determined. We find that the transformation of freshly emitted biomass burning (BBOA to more oxidized organic aerosol (OOA-BB can result in a 2-fold increase of the inferred organic
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Zheng, Lishan; Yang, Xiaoyang; Lai, Senchao; Ren, Hong; Yue, Siyao; Zhang, Yingyi; Huang, Xin; Gao, Yuanguan; Sun, Yele; Wang, Zifa; Fu, Pingqing
2018-06-01
Fine particles (PM 2.5 ) samples, collected at Weizhou Island over the Gulf of Tonkin on a daytime and nighttime basis in the spring of 2015, were analyzed for primary and secondary organic tracers, together with organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and stable carbon isotopic composition (δ 13 C) of total carbon (TC). Five organic compound classes, including saccharides, lignin/resin products, fatty acids, biogenic SOA tracers and phthalic acids, were quantified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Levoglucosan was the most abundant organic species, indicating that the sampling site was under strong influence of biomass burning. Based on the tracer-based methods, the biomass-burning-derived fraction was estimated to be the dominant contributor to aerosol OC, accounting for 15.7% ± 11.1% and 22.2% ± 17.4% of OC in daytime and nighttime samples, respectively. In two episodes E1 and E2, organic aerosols characterized by elevated concentrations of levoglucosan as well as its isomers, sugar compounds, lignin products, high molecular weight (HMW) fatty acids and β-caryophyllinic acid, were attributed to the influence of intensive biomass burning in the northern Southeast Asia (SEA). However, the discrepancies in the ratios of levoglucosan to mannosan (L/M) and OC (L/OC) as well as the δ 13 C values suggest the type of biomass burning and the sources of organic aerosols in E1 and E2 were different. Hardwood and/or C 4 plants were the major burning materials in E1, while burning of softwood and/or C 3 plants played important role in E2. Furthermore, more complex sources and enhanced secondary contribution were found to play a part in organic aerosols in E2. This study highlights the significant influence of springtime biomass burning in the northern SEA to the organic molecular compositions of marine aerosols over the Gulf of Tonkin. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Mohr, Claudia; Huffman, Alex; Cubison, Michael J; Aiken, Allison C; Docherty, Kenneth S; Kimmel, Joel R; Ulbrich, Ingrid M; Hannigan, Michael; Jimenez, Jose L
2009-04-01
Organic aerosol (OA) emissions from motor vehicles, meat-cooking and trash burning are analyzed here using a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). High resolution data show that aerosols emitted by combustion engines and plastic burning are dominated by hydrocarbon-like organic compounds. Meat cooking and especially paper burning emissions contain significant fractions of oxygenated organic compounds; however, their unit-resolution mass spectral signatures are very similar to those from ambient hydrocarbon-like OA, and very different from the mass spectra of ambient secondary or oxygenated OA (OOA). Thus, primary OA from these sources is unlikelyto be a significant direct source of ambient OOA. There are significant differences in high-resolution tracer m/zs that may be useful for differentiating some of these sources. Unlike in most ambient spectra, all of these sources have low total m/z 44 and this signal is not dominated by the CO2+ ion. All sources have high m/z 57, which is low during high OOA ambient periods. Spectra from paper burning are similar to some types of biomass burning OA, with elevated m/z 60. Meat cooking aerosols also have slightly elevated m/z 60, whereas motor vehicle emissions have very low signal at this m/z.
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Modification of Local Urban Aerosol Properties by Long-Range Transport of Biomass Burning Aerosol
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Iwona S. Stachlewska
2018-03-01
Full Text Available During August 2016, a quasi-stationary high-pressure system spreading over Central and North-Eastern Europe, caused weather conditions that allowed for 24/7 observations of aerosol optical properties by using a complex multi-wavelength PollyXT lidar system with Raman, polarization and water vapour capabilities, based at the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET network urban site in Warsaw, Poland. During 24–30 August 2016, the lidar-derived products (boundary layer height, aerosol optical depth, Ångström exponent, lidar ratio, depolarization ratio were analysed in terms of air mass transport (HYSPLIT model, aerosol load (CAMS data and type (NAAPS model and confronted with active and passive remote sensing at the ground level (PolandAOD, AERONET, WIOS-AQ networks and aboard satellites (SEVIRI, MODIS, CATS sensors. Optical properties for less than a day-old fresh biomass burning aerosol, advected into Warsaw’s boundary layer from over Ukraine, were compared with the properties of long-range transported 3–5 day-old aged biomass burning aerosol detected in the free troposphere over Warsaw. Analyses of temporal changes of aerosol properties within the boundary layer, revealed an increase of aerosol optical depth and Ångström exponent accompanied by an increase of surface PM10 and PM2.5. Intrusions of advected biomass burning particles into the urban boundary layer seem to affect not only the optical properties observed but also the top height of the boundary layer, by moderating its increase.
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Pokhrel, Rudra P.; Beamesderfer, Eric R.; Wagner, Nick L.; Langridge, Justin M.; Lack, Daniel A.; Jayarathne, Thilina; Stone, Elizabeth A.; Stockwell, Chelsea E.; Yokelson, Robert J.; Murphy, Shane M.
2017-04-01
A wide range of globally significant biomass fuels were burned during the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME-4). A multi-channel photoacoustic absorption spectrometer (PAS) measured dry absorption at 405, 532, and 660 nm and thermally denuded (250 °C) absorption at 405 and 660 nm. Absorption coefficients were broken into contributions from black carbon (BC), brown carbon (BrC), and lensing following three different methodologies, with one extreme being a method that assumes the thermal denuder effectively removes organics and the other extreme being a method based on the assumption that black carbon (BC) has an Ångström exponent of unity. The methodologies employed provide ranges of potential importance of BrC to absorption but, on average, there was a difference of a factor of 2 in the ratio of the fraction of absorption attributable to BrC estimated by the two methods. BrC absorption at shorter visible wavelengths is of equal or greater importance to that of BC, with maximum contributions of up to 92 % of total aerosol absorption at 405 nm and up to 58 % of total absorption at 532 nm. Lensing is estimated to contribute a maximum of 30 % of total absorption, but typically contributes much less than this. Absorption enhancements and the estimated fraction of absorption from BrC show good correlation with the elemental-carbon-to-organic-carbon ratio (EC / OC) of emitted aerosols and weaker correlation with the modified combustion efficiency (MCE). Previous studies have shown that BrC grows darker (larger imaginary refractive index) as the ratio of black to organic aerosol (OA) mass increases. This study is consistent with those findings but also demonstrates that the fraction of total absorption attributable to BrC shows the opposite trend: increasing as the organic fraction of aerosol emissions increases and the EC / OC ratio decreases.
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A pervasive role for biomass burning in tropical high ozone/low water structures
Anderson, Daniel C.; Nicely, Julie M.; Salawitch, Ross J.; Canty, Timothy P.; Dickerson, Russell R.; Hanisco, Thomas F.; Wolfe, Glenn M.; Apel, Eric C.; Atlas, Elliot; Bannan, Thomas; Bauguitte, Stephane; Blake, Nicola J.; Bresch, James F.; Campos, Teresa L.; Carpenter, Lucy J.; Cohen, Mark D.; Evans, Mathew; Fernandez, Rafael P.; Kahn, Brian H.; Kinnison, Douglas E.; Hall, Samuel R.; Harris, Neil R. P.; Hornbrook, Rebecca S.; Lamarque, Jean-Francois; Le Breton, Michael; Lee, James D.; Percival, Carl; Pfister, Leonhard; Pierce, R. Bradley; Riemer, Daniel D.; Saiz-Lopez, Alfonso; Stunder, Barbara J. B.; Thompson, Anne M.; Ullmann, Kirk; Vaughan, Adam; Weinheimer, Andrew J.
2016-01-01
Air parcels with mixing ratios of high O3 and low H2O (HOLW) are common features in the tropical western Pacific (TWP) mid-troposphere (300-700 hPa). Here, using data collected during aircraft sampling of the TWP in winter 2014, we find strong, positive correlations of O3 with multiple biomass burning tracers in these HOLW structures. Ozone levels in these structures are about a factor of three larger than background. Models, satellite data and aircraft observations are used to show fires in tropical Africa and Southeast Asia are the dominant source of high O3 and that low H2O results from large-scale descent within the tropical troposphere. Previous explanations that attribute HOLW structures to transport from the stratosphere or mid-latitude troposphere are inconsistent with our observations. This study suggest a larger role for biomass burning in the radiative forcing of climate in the remote TWP than is commonly appreciated.
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Integrated biomass energy systems and emissions of carbon dioxide
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Boman, U.R.; Turnbull, J.H.
1997-01-01
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) have been funding a number of case studies under the initiative entitled ''Economic Development through Biomass Systems Integration'', with the objective of investigating the feasibility of integrated biomass energy systems utilizing a dedicated feedstock supply system (DFSS) for energy production. This paper deals with the full fuel cycle for four of these case studies, which have been examined with regard to the emissions of carbon dioxide., CO 2 . Although the conversion of biomass to electricity in itself does not emit more CO 2 than is captured by the biomass through photosynthesis, there will be some CO 2 emissions from the DFSS. External energy is required for the production and transportation of the biomass feedstock, and this energy is mainly based on fossil fuels. By using this input energy, CO 2 and other greenhouse gases are emitted. However, by utilizing biomass with fossil fuels as external input fuels, we would get about 10-15 times more electric energy per unit fossil fuel, compared with a 100% coal power system. By introducing a DFSS on former farmland the amount of energy spent for production of crops can be reduced, the amount of fertilizers can be decreased, the soil can be improved and a significant amount of energy will be produced compared with an ordinary farm crop. Compared with traditional coal-based electricity production, the CO 2 emissions are in the most cases reduced significantly by as much as 95%. The important conclusion is the great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the offset of coal by biomass. (author)
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Integrated biomass energy systems and emissions of carbon dioxide
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Boman, U.R.; Turnbull, J.H.
1996-01-01
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and US Department of Energy (DOE) have been funding a number of case studies under the initiative entitled 'Economic Development through Biomass Systems Integration', with the objective to investigate the feasibility of integrated biomass energy systems, utilizing a dedicated feedstock supply system (DFSS) for energy production. This paper deals with the full cycle for four of these case studies, which have been examined with regard to the emissions of greenhouse gases, especially CO 2 . Although the conversion of biomass to electricity in itself does not emit more CO 2 than is captured by the biomass through photosynthesis, there will be some CO 2 -emissions from DFSS. External energy is required for the production and transportation of the biomass feedstock, and this energy is mainly based on fossil fuels. By using this input energy, CO 2 and other greenhouse gases are emitted. But, by utilizing biomass with fossil fuels as external input fuels, we would get about 10-15 times more electric energy per unit fossil fuel, compared to a 100% coal power system. By introducing a DFSS on former farmland, the amount of energy spent for production of crops can be reduced, the amount of fertilizers can be decreased, the soil can be improved, and a significant amount of energy will be produced, compared to an ordinary farm crop. Compared to traditional coal based electricity production, the CO 2 -emissions are in most cases reduced significantly, as much as 95%. The important conclusion is the great potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the offset of coal by biomass. 23 refs,, 8 figs, 2 tabs
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SAFARI 2000 Gas Emissions from Biofuel Use and Production, September 2000
National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Domestic biomass fuels (biofuels) are estimated to be the second largest source of carbon emissions from global biomass burning. Wood and charcoal provide...
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CO Emissions from Gas Engines Operating on Biomass Producer Gas
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ahrenfeldt, Jesper; Jensen, T. K.; Henriksen, Ulrik Birk
2004-01-01
High carbon monoxide (CO) emission from gas engines fueled by producer gas is a concerning problem in the struggle to make biomass gasification for heat and power production a success. CO emissions from engines operating on biomass producer gases are high, especially at very lean conditions where...
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Reduction of CO{sub 2} emission and oil dependency with biomass-based polygeneration
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Joelsson, Jonas M; Gustavsson, Leif [Ecotechnology and Environmental Science, Department of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Oestersund (Sweden)
2010-07-15
We compare different options for the use of lignocellulosic biomass to reduce CO{sub 2} emission and oil use, focusing on polygeneration of biomass-based motor fuels and electricity, and discuss methodological issues related to such comparisons. The use of biomass can significantly reduce CO{sub 2} emission and oil use, but there is a trade-off between the reductions in CO{sub 2} emission and oil use. Bioelectricity from stand-alone plants replacing coal-based electricity reduced CO{sub 2} emission by 99 kg per GJ biomass input but gave no oil use reduction. Stand-alone produced methanol replacing diesel reduced the CO{sub 2} emission with 38 kg and the oil use with 0.67 GJ per GJ biomass, indicating that a potential CO{sub 2} emission reduction of 90 kg is lost per GJ oil reduced. CO{sub 2} emission and oil use reduction for alternatives co-producing fuel and electricity fall between the stand-alone alternatives. Plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles using bioelectricity reduced CO{sub 2} emission by 75-88 kg and oil use by 0.99-1.2 GJ, per GJ biomass input. Biomass can also reduce CO{sub 2} emission and/or oil use more efficiently if fossil-fuel-fired boilers or electric heating is replaced by district heating from biomass-based combined heat and power generation. This is also true if electricity or motor fuel is produced from black liquor gasification in pulp mills or if wood is used instead of concrete in building construction. Biomass gasification is an important technology to achieve large reductions, irrespective of whether CO{sub 2} emission or oil use reduction is prioritised. (author)
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Biomass burning and urban air pollution over the central Mexican Plateau [Discussions
J. D. Crounse; P. F. DeCarlo; D. R. Blake; L. K. Emmons; T. L. Campos; E. C. Apel; A. D. Clarke; A. J. Weinheimer; D. C. McCabe; R. J. Yokelson; J. L. Jimenez; P. O. Wennberg
2009-01-01
Observations during the 2006 dry season of highly elevated concentrations of cyanides in the atmosphere above Mexico City (MC) and the surrounding plains, demonstrate that biomass burning (BB) significantly impacted air quality in the region. We find that during the period of our measurements, fires contribute more than half of the organic aerosol mass and submicron...
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Emission of nitrogen oxides from small biomass-fired grate boilers - a literature survey
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Olsson, Daniel
1999-05-01
A literature study has been carried out to find mechanisms for control of nitrogen oxide emissions from small-scale biomass fired combustion devices. The underlying nitrogen chemistry has been studied. Three paths of nitrogen oxide formation has been identified: 1. Thermal NO x , 2, Prompt NO x , and, 3. Fuel NO x . Out of these three mechanisms only fuel NO x is of interest, and the others are neglected at the temperature level concerned. The results from this study have been used to identify limitations and possibilities for NO x and CO abatement. A beacon has been to find efficient methods for NO x abatement at the same time as complete burn-out of the fuel is of greatest importance. The NO x abatement work of many of the Swedish manufacturers of small-scale combustion devices is described. This gives valuable insight in the practical possibilities and limitations in strive for low NOx emissions. From the literature and the contacts with manufacturers some factors of great importance for NO x emission control have been identified. These are: * The fuel (nitrogen content, shape, size, the height of the fuel layer and the tendency of the fuel to stick), * The stoichiometry in the volume above the fuel bed (should be 0.6 - 0.8), * The mixing of the gases above the fuel bed, * The mixing of tertiary air into the main gas flow, and * The thermal load of the combustion chamber (residence time). All the secondary measures studied but selective catalytic reduction have been rejected. Selective catalytic reduction could be a possible solution to the NO x emission problem if it is necessary to further lower the emissions from these small-scale biomass combustion devices despite the cost Project report from the program: Small scale combustion of biofuels. 22 refs, 30 figs, 4 tabs
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Danielle N. Medgyesi
2017-06-01
Full Text Available The use of solid biomass fuels in cookstoves has been associated with chronic health impacts that disproportionately affect women worldwide. Solid fuel stoves that use wood, plant matter, and cow dung are commonly used for household cooking in rural Bangladesh. This study investigates the immediate effects of acute elevated cookstove emission exposures on pulmonary function. Pulmonary function was measured with spirometry before and during cooking to assess changes in respiratory function during exposure to cookstove emissions for 15 females ages 18–65. Cookstove emissions were characterized using continuous measurements of particulate matter (PM2.5—aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm concentrations at a 1 s time resolution for each household. Several case studies were observed where women ≥40 years who had been cooking for ≥25 years suffered from severe pulmonary impairment. Forced expiratory volume in one second over forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC was found to moderately decline (p = 0.06 during cooking versus non-cooking in the study cohort. The study found a significant (α < 0.05 negative association between 3- and 10-min maximum PM2.5 emissions during cooking and lung function measurements of forced vital capacity (FVC, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1, and FEV1/FVC obtained during cooking intervals. This study found that exposure to biomass burning emissions from solid fuel stoves- associated with acute elevated PM2.5 concentrations- leads to a decrease in pulmonary function, although further research is needed to ascertain the prolonged (e.g., daily, for multiple years impacts of acute PM2.5 exposure on immediate and sustained respiratory impairment.
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Ahmadov, R.; Grell, G. A.; James, E.; Alexander, C.; Stewart, J.; Benjamin, S.; McKeen, S. A.; Csiszar, I. A.; Tsidulko, M.; Pierce, R. B.; Pereira, G.; Freitas, S. R.; Goldberg, M.
2017-12-01
We present a new real-time smoke modeling system, the High Resolution Rapid Refresh coupled with smoke (HRRR-Smoke), to simulate biomass burning (BB) emissions, plume rise and smoke transport in real time. The HRRR is the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's 3km grid spacing version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model used for weather forecasting. Here we make use of WRF-Chem (the WRF model coupled with chemistry) and simulate fine particulate matter (smoke) emissions emitted by BB. The HRRR-Smoke modeling system ingests fire radiative power (FRP) data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite to calculate BB emissions. The FRP product is based on processing 750m resolution "M" bands. The algorithms for fire detection and FRP retrieval are consistent with those used to generate the MODIS fire detection data. For the purpose of ingesting VIIRS fire data into the HRRR-Smoke model, text files are generated to provide the location and detection confidence of fire pixels, as well as FRP. The VIIRS FRP data from the text files are processed and remapped over the HRRR-Smoke model domains. We process the FRP data to calculate BB emissions (smoldering part) and fire size for the model input. In addition, HRRR-Smoke uses the FRP data to simulate the injection height for the flaming emissions using concurrently simulated meteorological fields by the model. Currently, there are two 3km resolution domains covering the contiguous US and Alaska which are used to simulate smoke in real time. In our presentation, we focus on the CONUS domain. HRRR-Smoke is initialized 4 times per day to forecast smoke concentrations for the next 36 hours. The VIIRS FRP data, as well as near-surface and vertically integrated smoke mass concentrations are visualized for every forecast hour. These plots are provided to the public via the HRRR-Smoke web-page: https
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Proinflammatory effects of cookstove emissions on human bronchial epithelial cells.
Hawley, B; Volckens, J
2013-02-01
Approximately half of the world's population uses biomass fuel for indoor cooking and heating. This form of combustion typically occurs in open fires or primitive stoves. Human exposure to emissions from indoor biomass combustion is a global health concern, causing an estimated 1.5 million premature deaths each year. Many 'improved' stoves have been developed to address this concern; however, studies that examine exposure-response with cleaner-burning, more efficient stoves are few. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of traditional and cleaner-burning stove emissions on an established model of the bronchial epithelium. We exposed well-differentiated, normal human bronchial epithelial cells to emissions from a single biomass combustion event using either a traditional three-stone fire or one of two energy-efficient stoves. Air-liquid interface cultures were exposed using a novel, aerosol-to-cell deposition system. Cellular expression of a panel of three pro-inflammatory markers was evaluated at 1 and 24 h following exposure. Cells exposed to emissions from the cleaner-burning stoves generated significantly fewer amounts of pro-inflammatory markers than cells exposed to emissions from a traditional three-stone fire. Particulate matter emissions from each cookstove were substantially different, with the three-stone fire producing the largest concentrations of particles (by both number and mass). This study supports emerging evidence that more efficient cookstoves have the potential to reduce respiratory inflammation in settings where solid fuel combustion is used to meet basic domestic needs. Emissions from more efficient, cleaner-burning cookstoves produced less inflammation in well-differentiated bronchial lung cells. The results support evidence that more efficient cookstoves can reduce the health burden associated with exposure to indoor pollution from the combustion of biomass. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
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The sectoral trends of multigas emissions inventory of India
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Garg, A.; Shukla, P.R.; Kapshe, M.
2006-01-01
This paper provides the trends of greenhouse gas (GHG) and local air pollutant emissions of India for 1985-2005. The GHGs covered are six Kyoto gases, namely carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6...... in the same sector is the major source of N2O emissions. PFC emissions are dominated by C2F6 and CF4 emissions from aluminum production. The majority of HFC emissions are contributed by HFC-23, a by-product during the production of HCFC-22 that is widely used in refrigeration industry. CO emissions have...... dominance from biomass burning. Particulate emissions are dominated by biomass burning (residential sector), road transport and coal combustion in large plants. These varied emission patterns provide interesting policy links and disjoints, such as-which and where mitigation flexibility for the Kyoto gases...
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Stockwell, Chelsea E.; Christian, Ted J.; Goetz, J. Douglas; Jayarathne, Thilina; Bhave, Prakash V.; Praveen, Puppala S.; Adhikari, Sagar; Maharjan, Rashmi; DeCarlo, Peter F.; Stone, Elizabeth A.; Saikawa, Eri; Blake, Donald R.; Simpson, Isobel J.; Yokelson, Robert J.; Panday, Arnico K.
2016-09-01
contribute to satellite observations of high levels of HCN in the lower stratosphere above the Asian monsoon. HCN was also emitted in significant quantities by several non-biomass burning sources. BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) were major emissions from both dung- (˜ 4.5 g kg-1) and wood-fuel (˜ 1.5 g kg-1) cooking fires, and a simple method to estimate indoor exposure to the many measured important air toxics is described. Biogas emerged as the cleanest cooking technology of approximately a dozen stove-fuel combinations measured. Crop residue burning produced relatively high emissions of oxygenated organic compounds (˜ 12 g kg-1) and SO2 (2.54 ± 1.09 g kg-1). Two brick kilns co-firing different amounts of biomass with coal as the primary fuel produced contrasting results. A zigzag kiln burning mostly coal at high efficiency produced larger amounts of BC, HF, HCl, and NOx, with the halogenated emissions likely coming from the clay. The clamp kiln (with relatively more biomass fuel) produced much greater quantities of most individual organic gases, about twice as much BrC, and significantly more known and likely organic aerosol precursors. Both kilns were significant SO2 sources with their emission factors averaging 12.8 ± 0.2 g kg-1. Mixed-garbage burning produced significantly more BC (3.3 ± 3.88 g kg-1) and BTEX (˜ 4.5 g kg-1) emissions than in previous measurements. For all fossil fuel sources, diesel burned more efficiently than gasoline but produced larger NOx and aerosol emission factors. Among the least efficient sources sampled were gasoline-fueled motorcycles during start-up and idling for which the CO EF was on the order of ˜ 700 g kg-1 - or about 10 times that of a typical biomass fire. Minor motorcycle servicing led to minimal if any reduction in gaseous pollutants but reduced particulate emissions, as detailed in a companion paper (Jayarathne et al., 2016). A small gasoline-powered generator and an "insect repellent fire" were
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Transition to an intelligent use of cleaner biomass stoves
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Luis Teles de Carvalho, Ricardo; Jensen, Ole Michael; Vicent, Estela D.
2016-01-01
are relevant issues to save energy and avoid greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions. This work compares the operating performance of 3 types of biomass stoves used in Europe in their interaction with dwellings. Field studies were conducted in 24 houses in Portugal and Denmark to analyse wood-burning behaviours......In Europe, inappropriate user behaviours in the operation of wood-burning stoves (WBSs) results in substantial energy losses where fireplaces and conventional stoves are major contributors to undue emissions of health damaging fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The design and adoption of cleaner WBSs...
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Effects of olive tree branches burning emissions on PM2.5 concentrations
Papadakis, G. Z.; Megaritis, A. G.; Pandis, S. N.
2015-07-01
An olive tree branches burning emission inventory for Greece is developed based on recently measured emission factors and the spatial distribution of olive trees. A three-dimensional chemical transport model (CTM), PMCAMx, is used to estimate the corresponding impact on PM2.5 concentrations during a typical winter period. Assuming that burning of olive tree branches takes place only during days with low wind speed and without precipitation, the contribution of olive tree branches burning emissions on PM2.5 levels is more significant during the most polluted days. Increases of hourly PM2.5 exceeding 50% and locally reaching up to 150% in Crete are predicted during the most polluted periods. On a monthly-average basis, the corresponding emissions are predicted to increase PM2.5 levels up to 1.5 μg m-3 (20%) in Crete and Peloponnese, where the largest fraction of olive trees is located, and by 0.4 μg m-3 (5%) on average over Greece. OA and EC levels increase by 20% and 13% respectively on average over Greece, and up to 70% in Crete. The magnitude of the effect is quite sensitive to burning practices. Assuming that burning of olive tree branches takes place during all days results in a smaller effect of burning on PM2.5 levels (9% increase instead of 20%). These results suggest that this type of agricultural waste burning is a major source of particulate pollution in the Mediterranean countries where this practice is prevalent during winter.
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Biomass burning aerosols characterization from ground based and profiling measurements
Marin, Cristina; Vasilescu, Jeni; Marmureanu, Luminita; Ene, Dragos; Preda, Liliana; Mihailescu, Mona
2018-04-01
The study goal is to assess the chemical and optical properties of aerosols present in the lofted layers and at the ground. The biomass burning aerosols were evaluated in low level layers from multi-wavelength lidar measurements, while chemical composition at ground was assessed using an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) and an Aethalometer. Classification of aerosol type and specific organic markers were used to explore the potential to sense the particles from the same origin at ground base and on profiles.
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Eck, T. F.; Holben, B. N.; Giles, D. M.; Smirnov, A.; Slutsker, I.; Sinyuk, A.; Schafer, J.; Sorokin, M. G.; Reid, J. S.; Sayer, A. M.; Hsu, N. Y. C.; Levy, R. C.; Lyapustin, A.; Wang, Y.; Rahman, M. A.; Liew, S. C.; Salinas Cortijo, S. V.; Li, T.; Kalbermatter, D.; Keong, K. L.; Elifant, M.; Aditya, F.; Mohamad, M.; Mahmud, M.; Chong, T. K.; Lim, H. S.; Choon, Y. E.; Deranadyan, G.; Kusumaningtyas, S. D. A.
2016-12-01
The strong El Nino event in 2015 resulted in below normal rainfall throughout Indonesia, which in turn allowed for exceptionally large numbers of biomass burning fires (including much peat burning) from Aug though Oct 2015. Over the island of Borneo, three AERONET sites measured monthly mean fine mode aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm from the spectral deconvolution algorithm in Sep and Oct ranging from 1.6 to 3.7, with daily average AOD as high as 6.1. In fact, the AOD was sometimes too high to obtain significant signal at mid-visible, therefore a newly developed algorithm in the AERONET Version 3 database was invoked to retain the measurements in as many of the longer wavelengths as possible. The AOD at longer wavelengths were then utilized to provide estimates of AOD at 550 nm with maximum values of 9 to 11. Additionally, satellite retrievals of AOD at 550 nm from MODIS data and the Dark Target, Deep Blue, and MAIAC algorithms were analyzed and compared to AERONET measured AOD. The AOD was sometimes too high for the satellite algorithms to make retrievals in the densest smoke regions. Since the AOD was often extremely high there was often insufficient AERONET direct sun signal at 440 nm for the larger solar zenith angles (> 50 degrees) required for almucantar retrievals. However, new hybrid sky radiance scans can attain sufficient scattering angle range even at small solar zenith angles when 440 nm direct beam irradiance can be accurately measured, thereby allowing for more retrievals and at higher AOD levels. The retrieved volume median radius of the fine mode increased from 0.18 to 0.25 micron as AOD increased from 1 to 3 (at 440 nm). These are very large size particles for biomass burning aerosol and are similar in size to smoke particles measured in Alaska during the very dry years of 2004 and 2005 (Eck et al. 2009) when peat soil burning also contributed to the fuel burned. The average single scattering albedo over the wavelength range of 440 to 1020 nm
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C. A. Randles; V. Ramaswamy
2010-01-01
Tropospheric aerosols emitted from biomass burning reduce solar radiation at the surface and locally heat the atmosphere. Equilibrium simulations using an atmospheric general circulation model (GFDL AGCM) indicate that strong atmospheric absorption from these particles can cool the surface and increase upward motion and low-level convergence over southern Africa during the dry season. These changes increase sea level pressure over land in the biomass burning region and spin-up the hydrologic ...
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Biomass burning in the Amazon-fertilizer for the mountaineous rain forest in Ecuador.
Fabian, Peter; Kohlpaintner, Michael; Rollenbeck, Ruetger
2005-09-01
Biomass burning is a source of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen compounds which, along with their photochemically generated reaction products, can be transported over very long distances, even traversing oceans. Chemical analyses of rain and fogwater samples collected in the mountaineous rain forest of south Ecuador show frequent episodes of high sulfate and nitrate concentration, from which annual deposition rates are derived comparable to those found in polluted central Europe. As significant anthropogenic sources are lacking at the research site it is suspected that biomass burning upwind in the Amazon basin is the major source of the enhanced sulfate and nitrate imput. Regular rain and fogwater sampling along an altitude profile between 1800 and 3185 m has been carried out in the Podocarpus National Park close to the Rio SanFrancisco (3 degrees 58'S, 79 degrees 5'W) in southern Ecuador. pH values, electrical conductivity and chemical ion composition were measured at the TUM-WZW using standard methods. Results reported cover over one year from March 2002 until May 2003. Annual deposition rates of sulfate were calculated ranging between 4 and 13 kg S/ha year, almost as high as in polluted central Europe. Nitrogen deposition via ammonia (1.5-4.4 kg N/ha year) and nitrate (0.5-0.8 kg N/ha year) was found to be lower but still much higher than to be expected in such pristine natural forest environment. By means of back trajectory analyses it can be shown that most of the enhanced sulfur and nitrogen deposition is most likely due to forest fires far upwind of the ecuadorian sampling site, showing a seasonal variation, with sources predominantly found in the East/North East during January-March (Colombia, Venezuala, Northern Brazil) and East/SouthEast during July-September (Peru, Brazil). Our results show that biomass burning in the Amazon basin is the predominant source of sulfur and nitrogen compounds that fertilize the mountaineous rain forest in south Ecuador. The
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Zhou, L.; Baker, K. R.; Napelenok, S. L.; Pouliot, G.; Elleman, R. A.; ONeill, S. M.; Urbanski, S. P.; Wong, D. C.
2017-12-01
Crop residue burning has long been a common practice in agriculture with the smoke emissions from the burning linked to negative health impacts. A field study in eastern Washington and northern Idaho in August 2013 consisted of multiple burns of well characterized fuels with nearby surface and aerial measurements including trace species concentrations, plume rise height and boundary layer structure. The chemical transport model CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality Model) was used to assess the fire emissions and subsequent vertical plume transport. The study first compared assumptions made by the 2014 National Emission Inventory approach for crop residue burning with the fuel and emissions information obtained from the field study and then investigated the sensitivity of modeled carbon monoxide (CO) and PM2.5 concentrations to these different emission estimates and plume rise treatment with CMAQ. The study suggests that improvements to the current parameterizations are needed in order for CMAQ to reliably reproduce smoke plumes from burning. In addition, there is enough variability in the smoke emissions, stemming from variable field-specific information such as field size, that attempts to model crop residue burning should use field-specific information whenever possible.
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Light hydrocarbon emissions from African savanna burnings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bonsang, B.; Lambert, G.; Boissard, C.C.
1991-01-01
A study was undertaken in West Africa to determine the background mixing ratio of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) during the dry season and to measure the composition of savanna burnings. The experiment was conducted from 13 to 22 January 1989 in the experimental station located at the border of the tropical rainforest and savanna. Samples were collected during aircraft flights at 2,400 m in the free troposphere, at 400 m in the haze layer and in a smoke plume at 200 m altitude. Samples representing the ground-level evolution of the local background were collected at 10 m altitude. Fire samples were collected at a short distance from the fires during the intensive experiments. Results are presented in tables and indicate that the effect of NMHC produced by biomass burning on the tropospheric photochemistry is limited to a few species, namely, C 2 -C 4 alkenes
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Northeast Regional Biomass Program
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
O' Connell, R.A.
1991-11-01
The management structure and program objectives for the Northeast Regional Biomass Program (NRBP) remain unchanged from previous years. Additional funding was provided by the Bonneville Power Administration Regional Biomass Program to continue the publication of articles in the Biologue. The Western Area Power Administration and the Council of Great Lakes Governors funded the project Characterization of Emissions from Burning Woodwaste''. A grant for the ninth year was received from DOE. The Northeast Regional Biomass Steering Committee selected the following four projects for funding for the next fiscal year. (1) Wood Waste Utilization Conference, (2) Performance Evaluation of Wood Systems in Commercial Facilities, (3) Wood Energy Market Utilization Training, (4) Update of the Facility Directory.
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Northeast Regional Biomass Program
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
O'Connell, R.A.
1991-11-01
The management structure and program objectives for the Northeast Regional Biomass Program (NRBP) remain unchanged from previous years. Additional funding was provided by the Bonneville Power Administration Regional Biomass Program to continue the publication of articles in the Biologue. The Western Area Power Administration and the Council of Great Lakes Governors funded the project ''Characterization of Emissions from Burning Woodwaste''. A grant for the ninth year was received from DOE. The Northeast Regional Biomass Steering Committee selected the following four projects for funding for the next fiscal year. (1) Wood Waste Utilization Conference, (2) Performance Evaluation of Wood Systems in Commercial Facilities, (3) Wood Energy Market Utilization Training, (4) Update of the Facility Directory
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zou, Linda Y.; Zhang Weidong; Atkiston, Steven
2003-01-01
Emission levels for PAHs varied with the type of wood burned. - Four kinds of woods used for residential heating in Australia were selected and burned under two burning conditions in a domestic wood heater installed in a laboratory. The selected wood species included pine (Pinus radiata), red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), sugar gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) and yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora). The two different burning conditions represented fast burning and slow burning, with the air inlet of the combustion chamber respectively 'full open' and 'half open'. By sampling and analysing particulate and gaseous emissions from the burning of each load of wood under defined experimental conditions, PAHs emissions and their profiles in the particulate and gaseous phases were obtained. 16 species out of the 18 selected PAHs were detected. Of these, seven species were detected in the gaseous phase and most were lower molecular weight compounds. Similarly, more than 10 species of PAHs were detected in the particulate phase and these were mostly heavier molecular weight compounds. Under both burning conditions, emission levels for total PAHs and total genotoxic PAHs were the highest for pine and lowest for sugar gum, with red gum being the second highest, followed by yellow box. Using the specific sampling method, gaseous PAHs accounted for above 90% mass fraction of total PAHs in comparison to particulate PAHs (10%). The majority of the genotoxic PAHs were present in the particulate phase. PAHs emission levels in slow burning conditions were generally higher than those in fast burning conditions
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Adachi, K.; Ishimoto, H.; Sedlacek, A. J., III; Kleinman, L. I.; Chand, D.; Hubbe, J. M.; Buseck, P. R.
2017-12-01
Aerosol samples were collected from wildland and agricultural biomass fires in North America during the 2013 Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP). We show in-situ shape and size changes and variations in the compositions of individual particles before and after heating using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The responses of aerosol particles to heating are important for measurements of their chemical, physical, and optical properties, classification, and determination of origin. However, the thermal behavior of organic aerosol particles is largely unknown. We provide a method to analyze such thermal behavior through heating from room temperature to >600°C by using a heating holder within TEM. The results indicate that individual tar balls (TB; spherical organic material) from biomass burning retained, on average, up to 30% of their volume when heated to 600°C. Chemical analysis reveals that K and Na remained in the residues, whereas S and O were lost. In contrast to bulk sample measurements of carbonaceous particles using thermal/optical carbon analyzers, our single-particle results imply that many individual organic particles consist of multiple types of organic matter having different thermal stabilities. Our results also suggest that because of their thermal stability, some organic particles may not be detectable by using aerosol mass spectrometry or thermal/optical carbon analyzers. This result can lead to an underestimate of the abundance of TBs and other organic particles, and therefore biomass burning may have a greater influence than is currently recognized in regional and global climate models.
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Development of biomass energy lacks a clear direction
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1998-01-01
By the year 2020, 4.4% of total energy consumption in the Netherlands must be generated from biomass. That means that biomass will be the most important form of renewable energy for this country. But, with 20 years to go, there is still no generally accepted strategy for the technological and economical development of bio-energy. The most important questions are discussed: is biomass sustainable or not, is it better to burn biomass or to gasify, must one built large-scale or small-scale biomass conversion plants, should the Netherlands import or biomass or cultivate biomass themselves, should biomass wastes be incinerated or recycled, must the emission standard for SO2 be 40 or 200 mg, and, finally, is bio-energy economically feasible?
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Biomass Cofiring in Coal-Fired Boilers
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
2004-06-01
Cofiring biomass-for example, forestry residues such as wood chips-with coal in existing boilers is one of the easiest biomass technologies to implement in a federal facility. The current practice is to substitute biomass for up to 20% of the coal in the boiler. Cofiring has many benefits: it helps to reduce fuel costs as well as the use of landfills, and it curbs emissions of sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, and the greenhouse gases associated with burning fossil fuels. This Federal Technology Alert was prepared by the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program to give federal facility managers the information they need to decide whether they should pursue biomass cofiring at their facilities.
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Particulate and gaseous emissions from residential biomass combustion
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Boman, Christoffer
2005-04-01
Biomass is considered to be a sustainable energy source with significant potentials for replacing electricity and fossil fuels, not at least in the residential sector. However, present wood combustion is a major source of ambient concentrations of hydrocarbons (e.g. VOC and PAH) and particulate matter (PM) and exposure to these pollutants have been associated with adverse health effects. Increased focus on combustion related particulate emissions has been seen concerning the formation, characteristics and implications to human health. Upgraded biomass fuels (e.g. pellets) provide possibilities of more controlled and optimized combustion with less emission of products of incomplete combustion (PICs). For air quality and health impact assessments, regulatory standards and evaluations concerning residential biomass combustion, there is still a need for detailed emission characterization and quantification when using different fuels and combustion techniques. This thesis summarizes the results from seven different papers. The overall objective was to carefully and systematically study the emissions from residential biomass combustion with respect to: i) experimental characterization and quantification, ii) influences of fuel, appliance and operational variables and iii) aspects of ash and trace element transformations and aerosol formation. Special concern in the work was on sampling, quantification and characterization of particulate emissions using different appliances, fuels and operating procedures. An initial review of health effects showed epidemiological evidence of potential adverse effect from wood smoke exposure. A robust whole flow dilution sampling set-up for residential biomass appliances was then designed, constructed and evaluated, and subsequently used in the following emission studies. Extensive quantifications and characterizations of particulate and gases emissions were performed for residential wood and pellet appliances. Emission factor ranges for
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Estimation of black carbon content for biomass burning aerosols from multi-channel Raman lidar data
Talianu, Camelia; Marmureanu, Luminita; Nicolae, Doina
2015-04-01
Biomass burning due to natural processes (forest fires) or anthropical activities (agriculture, thermal power stations, domestic heating) is an important source of aerosols with a high content of carbon components (black carbon and organic carbon). Multi-channel Raman lidars provide information on the spectral dependence of the backscatter and extinction coefficients, embedding information on the black carbon content. Aerosols with a high content of black carbon have large extinction coefficients and small backscatter coefficients (strong absorption), while aerosols with high content of organic carbon have large backscatter coefficients (weak absorption). This paper presents a method based on radiative calculations to estimate the black carbon content of biomass burning aerosols from 3b+2a+1d lidar signals. Data is collected at Magurele, Romania, at the cross-road of air masses coming from Ukraine, Russia and Greece, where burning events are frequent during both cold and hot seasons. Aerosols are transported in the free troposphere, generally in the 2-4 km altitude range, and reaches the lidar location after 2-3 days. Optical data are collected between 2011-2012 by a multi-channel Raman lidar and follows the quality assurance program of EARLINET. Radiative calculations are made with libRadTran, an open source radiative model developed by ESA. Validation of the retrievals is made by comparison to a co-located C-ToF Aerosol Mass Spectrometer. Keywords: Lidar, aerosols, biomass burning, radiative model, black carbon Acknowledgment: This work has been supported by grants of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, Programme for Research- Space Technology and Advanced Research - STAR, project no. 39/2012 - SIAFIM, and by Romanian Partnerships in priority areas PNII implemented with MEN-UEFISCDI support, project no. 309/2014 - MOBBE
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Emissions from prescribed burning of timber slash piles in Oregon.
Emissions from burning piles of post-harvest timber slash (Douglas fir) in Grande Ronde, Oregon were sampled using an instrument platform lofted into the plume using a tether-controlled aerostat or balloon. Emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, particulate matte...
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Fachinger, Friederike; Drewnick, Frank; Gieré, Reto; Borrmann, Stephan
2017-06-01
For a common household wood stove and a pellet stove we investigated the dependence of emission factors for various gaseous and particulate pollutants on burning phase, burning condition, and fuel. Ideal and non-ideal burning conditions (dried wood, under- and overload, small logs, logs with bark, excess air) were used. We tested 11 hardwood species (apple, ash, bangkirai, birch, beech, cherry, hickory, oak, olive, plum, sugar maple), 4 softwood species (Douglas fir, pine, spruce, spruce/fir), treated softwood, beech and oak wood briquettes, paper briquettes, brown coal, wood chips, and herbaceous species (miscanthus, Chinese silver grass) as fuel. Particle composition (black carbon, non-refractory, and some semi-refractory species) was measured continuously. Repeatability was shown to be better for the pellet stove than for the wood stove. It was shown that the user has a strong influence on wood stove emission behavior both by selection of the fuel and of the burning conditions: Combustion efficiency was found to be low at both very low and very high burn rates, and influenced particle properties such as particle number, mass, and organic content in a complex way. No marked differences were found for the emissions from different wood species. For non-woody fuels, much higher emission factors could be observed (up to five-fold increase). Strongest enhancement of emission factors was found for burning of small or dried logs (up to six-fold), and usage of excess air (two- to three-fold). Real world pellet stove emissions can be expected to be much closer to laboratory-derived emission factors than wood stove emissions, due to lower dependence on user operation.
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Oliveira, Beatriz Fátima Alves de; Ignotti, Eliane; Hacon, Sandra S
2011-09-01
The aim of this study was to carry out a review of scientific literature published in Brazil between 2000 and 2009 on the characteristics of air pollutants from different emission sources, especially particulate matter (PM) and its effects on respiratory health. Using electronic databases, a systematic literature review was performed of all research related to air pollutant emissions. Publications were analyzed to identify the physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants from different emission sources and their related effects on the respiratory system. The PM2.5 is composed predominantly of organic compounds with 20% of inorganic elements. Higher concentrations of metals were detected in metropolitan areas than in biomass burning regions. The relative risk of hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases in children was higher than in the elderly population. The results of studies of health effects of air pollution are specific to the region where the emissions occurred and should not be used to depict the situation in other areas with different emission sources.
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Biomass burning aerosol detection over Buenos Aires City, August 2009
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Otero, L A; Ristori, P R; Pawelko, E E; Pallotta, J V; D'Elia, R L; Quel, E J
2011-01-01
At the end of August 2009, a biomass burning aerosol intrusion event was detected at the Laser and Applications Research Center, CEILAP (CITEFA-CONICET) (34.5 deg. S - 58.5 deg. W) at Villa Martelli, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This center has a sunphotometer from the AERONET-NASA global network, UV solar radiation sensors, a meteorological station and an aerosol lidar system. The aerosol origin was determined by means of back-trajectories and satellite images. This work studies the aerosol air mass optical characterization and their effect in UV solar radiation.
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Zhang, Zhisheng; Engling, Guenter; Lin, Chuan-Yao; Chou, Charles C.-K.; Lung, Shih-Chun C.; Chang, Shih-Yu; Fan, Shaojia; Chan, Chuen-Yu; Zhang, Yuan-Hang
2010-08-01
Intensive measurements of aerosol (PM 10) and associated water-soluble ionic and carbonaceous species were conducted in Guangzhou, a mega city of China, during summer 2006. Elevated levels of most chemical species were observed especially at nighttime during two episodes, characterized by dramatic build-up of the biomass burning tracers levoglucosan and non-sea-salt potassium, when the prevailing wind direction had changed due to two approaching tropical cyclones. High-resolution air mass back trajectories based on the MM5 model revealed that air masses with high concentrations of levoglucosan (43-473 ng m -3) and non-sea-salt potassium (0.83-3.2 μg m -3) had passed over rural regions of the Pearl River Delta and Guangdong Province, where agricultural activities and field burning of crop residues are common practices. The relative contributions of biomass burning smoke to organic carbon in PM 10 were estimated from levoglucosan data to be on average 7.0 and 14% at daytime and nighttime, respectively, with maxima of 9.7 and 32% during the episodic transport events, indicating that biomass and biofuel burning activities in the rural parts of the Pearl River Delta and neighboring regions could have a significant impact on ambient urban aerosol levels.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Aunan, Kristin
2004-01-01
Emission of soot particles and other air pollution indoors constitutes a considerable health hazard for a major part of the population in many developing countries, one of them being China. In these countries problems relating to poverty are the most important risk factors, undernourishment being the dominating reason. Number four on the list of the most serious health hazards is indoor air pollution caused by burning of coal and biomass in the households. Very high levels of soot particles occur indoors because of incomplete combustion in old-fashioned stoves and by use of low quality fuel such as sticks and twigs and straw and other waste from agriculture. This leads to an increase in a series of acute and chronic respiratory diseases, including lung cancer. It has been pointed out in recent years that emissions due to incomplete combustion of coal and biomass can contribute considerably to climate changes
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Thermal remote sensing of active vegetation fires and biomass burning events [Chapter 18
Martin J. Wooster; Gareth Roberts; Alistair M.S. Smith; Joshua Johnston; Patrick Freeborn; Stefania Amici; Andrew T. Hudak
2013-01-01
Thermal remote sensing is widely used in the detection, study, and management of biomass burning occurring in open vegetation fires. Such fires may be planned for land management purposes, may occur as a result of a malicious or accidental ignition by humans, or may result from lightning or other natural phenomena. Under suitable conditions, fires may spread rapidly...
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Mok, Jungbin; Krotkov, Nickolay A.; Arola, Antti; Torres, Omar; Jethva, Hiren; Andrade, Marcos; Labow, Gordon; Eck, Thomas F.; Li, Zhangqing; Dickerson, Russell R.;
2016-01-01
The spectral dependence of light absorption by atmospheric particulate matter has major implications for air quality and climate forcing, but remains uncertain especially in tropical areas with extensive biomass burning. In the September-October 2007 biomass-burning season in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, we studied light absorbing (chromophoric) organic or brown carbon (BrC) with surface and space-based remote sensing. We found that BrC has negligible absorption at visible wavelengths, but significant absorption and strong spectral dependence at UV wavelengths. Using the ground-based inversion of column effective imaginary refractive index in the range 305368nm, we quantified a strong spectral dependence of absorption by BrC in the UV and diminished ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation reaching the surface. Reduced UV-B means less erythema, plant damage, and slower photolysis rates. We use a photochemical box model to show that relative to black carbon (BC) alone, the combined optical properties of BrC and BC slow the net rate of production of ozone by up to 18 and lead to reduced concentrations of radicals OH, HO2, and RO2 by up to 17, 15, and 14, respectively. The optical properties of BrC aerosol change in subtle ways the generally adverse effects of smoke from biomass burning.
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Mok, Jungbin
2016-11-11
The spectral dependence of light absorption by atmospheric particulate matter has major implications for air quality and climate forcing, but remains uncertain especially in tropical areas with extensive biomass burning. In the September-October 2007 biomass-burning season in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, we studied light absorbing (chromophoric) organic or “brown” carbon (BrC) with surface and space-based remote sensing. We found that BrC has negligible absorption at visible wavelengths, but significant absorption and strong spectral dependence at UV wavelengths. Using the ground-based inversion of column effective imaginary refractive index in the range 305–368 nm, we quantified a strong spectral dependence of absorption by BrC in the UV and diminished ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation reaching the surface. Reduced UV-B means less erythema, plant damage, and slower photolysis rates. We use a photochemical box model to show that relative to black carbon (BC) alone, the combined optical properties of BrC and BC slow the net rate of production of ozone by up to 18% and lead to reduced concentrations of radicals OH, HO2, and RO2 by up to 17%, 15%, and 14%, respectively. The optical properties of BrC aerosol change in subtle ways the generally adverse effects of smoke from biomass burning.
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Nielsen, Ingeborg E.; Eriksson, Axel C.; Lindgren, Robert; Martinsson, Johan; Nyström, Robin; Nordin, Erik Z.; Sadiktsis, Ioannis; Boman, Christoffer; Nøjgaard, Jacob K.; Pagels, Joakim
2017-09-01
Time-resolved particle emissions from a conventional wood stove were investigated with aerosol mass spectrometry to provide links between combustion conditions, emission factors, mixing state of refractory black carbon and implications for organic tracer methods. The addition of a new batch of fuel results in low temperature pyrolysis as the fuel heats up, resulting in strong, short-lived, variable emission peaks of organic aerosol-containing markers of anhydrous sugars, such as levoglucosan (fragment at m/z 60). Flaming combustion results in emissions dominated by refractory black carbon co-emitted with minor fractions of organic aerosol and markers of anhydrous sugars. Full cycle emissions are an external mixture of larger organic aerosol-dominated and smaller thinly coated refractory black carbon particles. A very high burn rate results in increased full cycle mass emission factors of 66, 2.7, 2.8 and 1.3 for particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, refractory black carbon, total organic aerosol and m/z 60, respectively, compared to nominal burn rate. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are primarily associated with refractory black carbon-containing particles. We hypothesize that at very high burn rates, the central parts of the combustion zone become air starved, leading to a locally reduced combustion temperature that reduces the conversion rates from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to refractory black carbon. This facilitates a strong increase of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emissions. At nominal burn rates, full cycle emissions based on m/z 60 correlate well with organic aerosol, refractory black carbon and particulate matter. However, at higher burn rates, m/z 60 does not correlate with increased emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, refractory black carbon and organic aerosol in the flaming phase. The new knowledge can be used to advance source apportionment studies, reduce emissions of genotoxic compounds and model the climate impacts of
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. L. Mkoma
2013-10-01
Full Text Available Atmospheric aerosol samples of PM2.5 and PM10 were collected at a rural site in Tanzania, East Africa, in 2011 during wet and dry seasons and were analysed for carbonaceous components, levoglucosan, mannosan and water-soluble inorganic ions. The contributions of biomass/biofuel burning to the organic carbon (OC and particulate matter (PM mass were estimated to be 46–52% and 87–13%, respectively. The mean mass concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were 28 ± 6 μg m−3 and 47 ± 8 μg m−3 in wet season, and 39 ± 10 μg m−3 and 61 ± 19 μg m−3 in dry season, respectively. Total carbon (TC accounted for 16–19% of the PM2.5 mass and 13–15% of the PM10 mass. On average, 86 to 89% of TC in PM2.5 and 87 to 90% of TC in PM10 was OC, of which 67–72% and 63% was found to be water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC in PM2.5 and PM10, respectively. We found that concentrations of levoglucosan and mannosan (specific organic tracers of pyrolysis of cellulose well correlated with non-sea-salt potassium (nss-K+ (r2 = 0.56–0.75, OC (r2 = 0.75–0.96 and WSOC (r2 = 0.52–0.78. The K+ / OC ratios varied from 0.06 to 0.36 in PM2.5 and from 0.03 to 0.36 in PM10 with slightly higher ratios in dry season. Mean percent ratios of levoglucosan and mannosan to OC were found to be 3–4% for PM2.5 and PM10 in both seasons. We found lower levoglucosan / K+ ratios and higher K+ / EC (elemental carbon ratios in the biomass-burning aerosols from Tanzania than those reported from other regions. This feature is consistent with the high levels of potassium reported in the soils of Morogoro, Tanzania, suggesting an importance of direct emission of potassium by soil resuspension although K+ is present mostly in fine particles. It is also likely that biomass burning of vegetation of Tanzania emits high levels of potassium that may be enriched in plant tissues. The present study demonstrates that emissions from mixed biomass- and biofuel-burning activities largely
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Mkoma, S. L.; Kawamura, K.; Fu, P. Q.
2013-10-01
Atmospheric aerosol samples of PM2.5 and PM10 were collected at a rural site in Tanzania, East Africa, in 2011 during wet and dry seasons and were analysed for carbonaceous components, levoglucosan, mannosan and water-soluble inorganic ions. The contributions of biomass/biofuel burning to the organic carbon (OC) and particulate matter (PM) mass were estimated to be 46-52% and 87-13%, respectively. The mean mass concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were 28 ± 6 μg m-3 and 47 ± 8 μg m-3 in wet season, and 39 ± 10 μg m-3 and 61 ± 19 μg m-3 in dry season, respectively. Total carbon (TC) accounted for 16-19% of the PM2.5 mass and 13-15% of the PM10 mass. On average, 86 to 89% of TC in PM2.5 and 87 to 90% of TC in PM10 was OC, of which 67-72% and 63% was found to be water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in PM2.5 and PM10, respectively. We found that concentrations of levoglucosan and mannosan (specific organic tracers of pyrolysis of cellulose) well correlated with non-sea-salt potassium (nss-K+) (r2 = 0.56-0.75), OC (r2 = 0.75-0.96) and WSOC (r2 = 0.52-0.78). The K+ / OC ratios varied from 0.06 to 0.36 in PM2.5 and from 0.03 to 0.36 in PM10 with slightly higher ratios in dry season. Mean percent ratios of levoglucosan and mannosan to OC were found to be 3-4% for PM2.5 and PM10 in both seasons. We found lower levoglucosan / K+ ratios and higher K+ / EC (elemental carbon) ratios in the biomass-burning aerosols from Tanzania than those reported from other regions. This feature is consistent with the high levels of potassium reported in the soils of Morogoro, Tanzania, suggesting an importance of direct emission of potassium by soil resuspension although K+ is present mostly in fine particles. It is also likely that biomass burning of vegetation of Tanzania emits high levels of potassium that may be enriched in plant tissues. The present study demonstrates that emissions from mixed biomass- and biofuel-burning activities largely influence the air quality in Tanzania.
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Distributions of trace gases and aerosols during the dry biomass burning season in southern Africa
Sinha, Parikhit; Hobbs, Peter V.; Yokelson, Robert J.; Blake, Donald R.; Gao, Song; Kirchstetter, Thomas W.
2003-09-01
Vertical profiles in the lower troposphere of temperature, relative humidity, sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), condensation nuclei (CN), and carbon monoxide (CO), and horizontal distributions of twenty gaseous and particulate species, are presented for five regions of southern Africa during the dry biomass burning season of 2000. The regions are the semiarid savannas of northeast South Africa and northern Botswana, the savanna-forest mosaic of coastal Mozambique, the humid savanna of southern Zambia, and the desert of western Namibia. The highest average concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), CO, methane (CH4), O3, black particulate carbon, and total particulate carbon were in the Botswana and Zambia sectors (388 and 392 ppmv, 369 and 453 ppbv, 1753 and 1758 ppbv, 79 and 88 ppbv, 2.6 and 5.5 μg m-3, and 13.2 and 14.3 μg m-3). This was due to intense biomass burning in Zambia and surrounding regions. The South Africa sector had the highest average concentrations of SO2, sulfate particles, and CN (5.1 ppbv, 8.3 μg m-3, and 6400 cm-3, respectively), which derived from biomass burning and electric generation plants and mining operations within this sector. Air quality in the Mozambique sector was similar to the neighboring South Africa sector. Over the arid Namibia sector there were polluted layers aloft, in which average SO2, O3, and CO mixing ratios (1.2 ppbv, 76 ppbv, and 310 ppbv, respectively) were similar to those measured over the other more polluted sectors. This was due to transport of biomass smoke from regions of widespread savanna burning in southern Angola. Average concentrations over all sectors of CO2 (386 ± 8 ppmv), CO (261 ± 81 ppbv), SO2 (2.5 ± 1.6 ppbv), O3 (64 ± 13 ppbv), black particulate carbon (2.3 ± 1.9 μg m-3), organic particulate carbon (6.2 ± 5.2 μg m-3), total particle mass (26.0 ± 4.7 μg m-3), and potassium particles (0.4 ± 0.1 μg m-3) were comparable to those in polluted, urban air. Since the majority of the measurements
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Yadav, Ishwar Chandra; Linthoingambi Devi, Ningombam; Li, Jun; Syed, Jabir Hussain; Zhang, Gan; Watanabe, Hirozumi
2017-08-01
Although, many biomass burning (BB) emissions products (particulate matter and trace gases) are believed to be trans-boundary pollutants that originates from India and China (the two most populous countries in Asia), the information about BB emission and related contents is limited for Indo-China Peninsula (ICP) region. This motivated us to review this region pertaining to BB emission. The main objective of the review is to document the current status of BB emission in ICP region. In order to highlight the impact of BB on regional air quality and global climate change, the role of BB emission in ICP region is also discussed. Based on the available literature and modeling simulations studies, it is evidenced that ICP is one of the hotspot regional source for aerosols in terms of BB emissions. In addition, regional emissions through BB have significant implications for regional air quality especially in the neighboring countries such as China, Taiwan and India. Our assessment highlight that there is still a general lack of reliable data and research studies addressing BB related issues in context of environmental and human health. There is therefore a critical need to improve the current knowledge base, which should build upon the research experience and further research into these issues is considered vital to help inform future policies/control strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Biomass fuel characterization for NOx emissions in cofiring applications
Di Nola, G.
2007-01-01
This dissertation investigates the impact of various biomass fuels and combustion conditions on the NOx emissions during biomass co-firing. Fossil fuels dominated the energy scenario since the industrial revolution. However, in the last decades, increasing concerns about their availability and
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Data supporting the assessment of biomass based electricity and reduced GHG emissions in Cuba.
Sagastume Gutiérrez, Alexis; Cabello Eras, Juan J; Vandecasteele, Carlo; Hens, Luc
2018-04-01
Assessing the biomass based electricity potential of developing nations like Cuba can help to reduce the fossil fuels dependency and the greenhouse gas emissions. The data included in this study present the evolution of electricity production and greenhouse gas emissions in Cuba. Additionally, the potentialities to produce biomass based electricity by using the most significant biomass sources in Cuba are estimated. Furthermore, estimations of the potential reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, resulting from implementing the biomass based electricity potential of the different sources discussed in the study, are included. Results point to the most promising biomass sources for electricity generation and their potential to reduce GHG emissions.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
H. Jethva
2011-10-01
Full Text Available We provide satellite-based evidence of the spectral dependence of absorption in biomass burning aerosols over South America using near-UV measurements made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI during 2005–2007. In the current near-UV OMI aerosol algorithm (OMAERUV, it is implicitly assumed that the only absorbing component in carbonaceous aerosols is black carbon whose imaginary component of the refractive index is wavelength independent. With this assumption, OMI-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD is found to be significantly over-estimated compared to that of AERONET at several sites during intense biomass burning events (August-September. Other well-known sources of error affecting the near-UV method of aerosol retrieval do not explain the large observed AOD discrepancies between the satellite and the ground-based observations. A number of studies have revealed strong spectral dependence in carbonaceous aerosol absorption in the near-UV region suggesting the presence of organic carbon in biomass burning generated aerosols. A sensitivity analysis examining the importance of accounting for the presence of wavelength-dependent aerosol absorption in carbonaceous particles in satellite-based remote sensing was carried out in this work. The results convincingly show that the inclusion of spectrally-dependent aerosol absorption in the radiative transfer calculations leads to a more accurate characterization of the atmospheric load of carbonaceous aerosols. The use of a new set of aerosol models assuming wavelength-dependent aerosol absorption in the near-UV region (Absorption Angstrom Exponent λ−2.5 to −3.0 improved the OMAERUV retrieval results by significantly reducing the AOD bias observed when gray aerosols were assumed. In addition, the new retrieval of single-scattering albedo is in better agreement with those of AERONET within the uncertainties (ΔSSA = ±0.03. The new colored carbonaceous aerosol model was also found to
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The direct radiative effect of biomass burning aerosols over southern Africa
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S. J. Abel
2005-01-01
Full Text Available A multi-column radiative transfer code is used to assess the direct radiative effect of biomass burning aerosols over the southern African region during September. The horizontal distribution of biomass smoke is estimated from two sources; i General Circulation Model (GCM simulations combined with measurements from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET of Sun photometers; ii data from the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS satellite. Aircraft and satellite measurements are used to constrain the cloud fields, aerosol optical properties, vertical structure, and land surface albedo included in the model. The net regional direct effect of the biomass smoke is -3.1 to -3.6 Wm-2 at the top of atmosphere, and -14.4 to -17.0 Wm-2 at the surface for the MODIS and GCM distributions of aerosol. The direct radiative effect is shown to be highly sensitive to the prescribed vertical profiles and aerosol optical properties. The diurnal cycle of clouds and the spectral dependency of surface albedo are also shown to play an important role.
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Greenhouse-gas emissions from biomass energy use: Comparison with other energy technologies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Morris, G.P.; Norman, N.A.; Gleick, P.H.
1991-01-01
Recently a major new concern has arisen: the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is now generally believed that continued emissions of these gases are current or increasing levels will lead to significant climatic changes with the potential for dramatic, adverse impacts. Since the major anthropogenic source of greenhouse gas emissions is energy production and use, it is essential to future energy policy to understand how energy sources differ with respect to greenhouse gas emissions. Characterizing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with biomass energy use is extremely complicated. It is necessary to consider both the source and alternative use of the biomass material and its alternative disposal (if any), as well as the biomass energy application itself. It is desirable also to consider not just CO 2 emissions, but also CH 4 and N 2 O, both potent greenhouse gases. The authors' analysis shows that in many cases biomass energy use can actually help to ameliorate the greenhouse effect by converting emissions that would have been CH 4 into the less potent greenhouse gas CO 2 . In many cases the beneficial effect is very dramatic. This major new research result should help increase public support for biomass research and development, and for further development of waste conversion technology and installations
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OVOC Emissions and Atmospheric Transformations.
Yokelson, R. J.; Christian, T. J.; Bertschi, I. T.; Ward, D. E.; Field, R. J.; Hobbs, P. V.; Goode, J.; Mason, S.; Susott, R.; Babbitt, R.; Hao, W. M.
2002-12-01
We quantified the main emissions from a few vegetation samples and many biomass fires using ground-based, open-path FTIR and airborne, closed-cell FTIR. The two instruments have been rigorously compared to each other and to PTR-MS and canister sampling. OVOC are major emissions from plants. OVOC account for about 70 percent of NMOC from savanna fires (the largest type of biomass burning) and 70-80 percent of NMOC from production and use of domestic biofuels (the second largest type of biomass burning). A table of average biofuel emissions is presented. Data from laboratory and free-burning fires, obtained from Alaska to South Africa, is used to develop equations that predict OVOC emissions from a wide variety of global fires. The impact of OVOC on smoke plume chemistry and the post-emission transformations of OVOC were investigated with two models. Addition of HCHO alone to the simple chemistry used in some global models dramatically reduces NOx lifetime and speeds up O3 formation rates in plumes. A detailed model verifies these effects and shows that OVOC profoundly affect formation of HOx, peroxide, and nitrogen reservoir species. The modeled photochemical transformations of OVOC are diverse, but some key pathways are unknown. We observed rapid production of both O3 and additional OVOC and OH of 1.7E7 in smoke plumes in Alaska and Africa; all reasonably consistent with model predictions. In addition, we found that cloud processing caused large post-emission changes in smoke trace gases including removal of nearly all methanol, a decrease in acetic acid, and a large increase in HCHO. These observations suggest that OVOC could react in cloud droplets and lead to production of modified aerosol. In addition, transport of OVOC by deep convection may be associated with large effects not explained by solubility alone.
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Identifying key drivers of greenhouse gas emissions from biomass feedstocks for energy production
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Johnson, David R.; Curtright, Aimee E.; Willis, Henry H.
2013-01-01
Highlights: • Production emissions dominate transportation and processing emissions. • Choice of feedstock, geographic location and prior land use drive emissions profile. • Within scenarios, emissions variability is driven by uncertainty in yields. • Favorable scenarios maximize carbon storage from direct land-use change. • Similarly, biomass production should attempt to minimize indirect land-use change. -- Abstract: Many policies in the United States, at both the federal and state levels, encourage the adoption of renewable energy from biomass. Though largely motivated by a desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, these policies do not explicitly identify scenarios in which the use of biomass will produce the greatest benefits. We have modeled “farm-to-hopper” emissions associated with seven biomass feedstocks, under a wide variety of scenarios and production choices, to characterize the uncertainty in emissions. We demonstrate that only a handful of factors have a significant impact on life cycle emissions: choice of feedstock, geographic location, prior land use, and time dynamics. Within a given production scenario, the remaining variability in emissions is driven by uncertainty in feedstock yields and the release rate of N 2 O into the atmosphere from nitrogen fertilizers. With few exceptions, transport and processing choices have relatively little impact on total emissions. These results illustrate the key decisions that will determine the success of biomass programs in reducing the emissions profile of energy production, and our publicly available model provides a useful tool for identifying the most beneficial production scenarios. While model data and results are restricted to biomass production in the contiguous United States, we provide qualitative guidance for identifying favorable production scenarios that should be applicable in other regions
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Vilén, Terhi; Fernandes, Paulo M
2011-09-01
Forest fires are an integral part of the ecology of the Mediterranean Basin; however, fire incidence has increased dramatically during the past decades and fire is expected to become more prevalent in the future due to climate change. Fuel modification by prescribed burning reduces the spread and intensity potential of subsequent wildfires. We used the most recently published data to calculate the average annual wildfire CO(2) emissions in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain following the IPCC guidelines. The effect of prescribed burning on emissions was calculated for four scenarios of prescribed burning effectiveness based on data from Portugal. Results show that prescribed burning could have a considerable effect on the carbon balance of the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in Mediterranean countries. However, uncertainty in emission estimates remains large, and more accurate data is needed, especially regarding fuel load and fuel consumption in different vegetation types and fuel layers and the total area protected from wildfire per unit area treated by prescribed burning, i.e. the leverage of prescribed burning.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Samin Poudel
2017-11-01
Full Text Available The refractive index (RI is an important parameter in describing the radiative impacts of aerosols. It is important to constrain the RI of aerosol components, since there is still significant uncertainty regarding the RI of biomass burning aerosols. Experimentally measured extinction cross-sections, scattering cross-sections, and single scattering albedos for white pine biomass burning (BB aerosols under two different burning and sampling conditions were modeled using T-matrix theory. The refractive indices were extracted from these calculations. Experimental measurements were conducted using a cavity ring-down spectrometer to measure the extinction, and a nephelometer to measure the scattering of size-selected aerosols. BB aerosols were obtained by burning white pine using (1 an open fire in a burn drum, where the aerosols were collected in distilled water using an impinger, and then re-aerosolized after several days, and (2 a tube furnace to directly introduce the BB aerosols into an indoor smog chamber, where BB aerosols were then sampled directly. In both cases, filter samples were also collected, and electron microscopy images were used to obtain the morphology and size information used in the T-matrix calculations. The effective radius of the particles collected on filter media from the open fire was approximately 245 nm, whereas it was approximately 76 nm for particles from the tube furnace burns. For samples collected in distilled water, the real part of the RI increased with increasing particle size, and the imaginary part decreased. The imaginary part of the RI was also significantly larger than the reported values for fresh BB aerosol samples. For the particles generated in the tube furnace, the real part of the RI decreased with particle size, and the imaginary part was much smaller and nearly constant. The RI is sensitive to particle size and sampling method, but there was no wavelength dependence over the range considered (500
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Fu, H B; Shang, G F; Lin, J; Hu, Y J; Hu, Q Q; Guo, L; Zhang, Y C; Chen, J M
2014-05-15
In terms of understanding Fe mobilization from aerosol particles in East China, the PM2.5 particles were collected in spring at Shanghai. Combined with the backtrajectory analysis, the PM2.5/PM10 and Ca/Al ratios, a serious dust-storm episode (DSE) during the sampling was identified. The single-particle analysis showed that the major iron-bearing class is the aluminosilicate dust during DSE, while the Fe-bearing aerosols are dominated by coal fly ash, followed by a minority of iron oxides during the non-dust storm days (NDS). Chemical analyses of samples showed that the fractional Fe solubility (%FeS) is much higher during NDS than that during DSE, and a strong inverse relationship of R(2)=0.967 between %FeS and total atmospheric iron loading were found, suggested that total Fe (FeT) is not controlling soluble Fe (FeS) during the sampling. Furthermore, no relationship between FeS and any of acidic species was established, suggesting that acidic process on aerosol surfaces are not involved in the trend of iron solubility. It was thus proposed that the source-dependent composition of aerosol particles is a primary determinant for %FeS. Specially, the Al/Fe ratio is poorly correlated (R(2)=0.113) with %FeS, while the apparent relationship between %FeS and the calculated KBB(+)/Fe ratio (R(2)=0.888) and the V/Fe ratio (R(2)=0.736) were observed, reflecting that %FeS could be controlled by both biomass burning and oil ash from ship emission, rather than mineral particles and coal fly ash, although the latter two are the main contributors to the atmospheric Fe loading during the sampling. Such information can be useful improving our understanding on iron solubility on East China, which may further correlate with iron bioavailability to the ocean, as well as human health effects associated with exposure to fine Fe-rich particles in densely populated metropolis in China. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Near-field emission profiling of tropical forest and Cerrado fires in Brazil during SAMBBA 2012
Hodgson, Amy K.; Morgan, William T.; O'Shea, Sebastian; Bauguitte, Stéphane; Allan, James D.; Darbyshire, Eoghan; Flynn, Michael J.; Liu, Dantong; Lee, James; Johnson, Ben; Haywood, Jim M.; Longo, Karla M.; Artaxo, Paulo E.; Coe, Hugh
2018-04-01
We profile trace gas and particulate emissions from near-field airborne measurements of discrete smoke plumes in Brazil during the 2012 biomass burning season. The South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) Project conducted during September and October 2012 sampled across two distinct fire regimes prevalent in the Amazon Basin. Combined measurements from a Compact Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (C-ToF-AMS) and a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) are reported for the first time in a tropical biomass burning environment. Emissions from a mostly smouldering tropical forest wildfire in Rondônia state and numerous smaller flaming Cerrado fires in Tocantins state are presented. While the Cerrado fires appear to be representative of typical fire conditions in the existing literature, the tropical forest wildfire likely represents a more extreme example of biomass burning with a bias towards mostly smouldering emissions. We determined fire-integrated modified combustion efficiencies, emission ratios and emission factors for trace gas and particulate components for these two fire types, alongside aerosol microphysical properties. Seven times more black carbon was emitted from the Cerrado fires per unit of fuel combustion (EFBC of 0.13 ± 0.04 g kg-1) compared to the tropical forest fire (EFBC of 0.019 ± 0.006 g kg-1), and more than 6 times the amount of organic aerosol was emitted from the tropical forest fire per unit of fuel combustion (EFOM of 8.00 ± 2.53 g kg-1, EFOC of 5.00 ± 1.58 g kg-1) compared to the Cerrado fires (EFOM of 1.31 ± 0.42 g kg-1, EFOC of 0.82 ± 0.26 g kg-1). Particulate-phase species emitted from the fires sampled are generally lower than those reported in previous studies and in emission inventories, which is likely a combination of differences in fire combustion efficiency and fuel mixture, along with different measurement techniques. Previous modelling studies focussed on the biomass burning season in tropical South
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Zou, Linda Y; Zhang, Weidong; Atkiston, Steven
2003-01-01
Four kinds of woods used for residential heating in Australia were selected and burned under two burning conditions in a domestic wood heater installed in a laboratory. The selected wood species included pine (Pinus radiata), red gum (Eucalvptus camaldulensis), sugar gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) and yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora). The two different burning conditions represented fast burning and slow burning, with the air inlet of the combustion chamber respectively 'full open' and 'half open'. By sampling and analysing particulate and gaseous emissions from the burning of each load of wood under defined experimental conditions, PAHs emissions and their profiles in the particulate and gaseous phases were obtained. 16 species out of the 18 selected PAHs were detected. Of these, seven species were detected in the gaseous phase and most were lower molecular weight compounds.Similarly, more than 10 species of PAHs were detected in the particulate phase and these were mostly heavier molecular weight compounds. Under both burning conditions, emission levels for total PAHs and total genotoxic PAHs were the highest for pine and lowest for sugar gum, with red gum being the second highest, followed by yellow box. Using the specific sampling method, gaseous PAHs accounted for above 90% mass fraction of total PAHs in comparison to particulate PAHs (10%). The majority of the genotoxic PAHs were present in the particulate phase. PAHs emission levels in slow burning conditions were generally higher than those in fast burning conditions.