AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Examination of Airborne-Based Smoke Marker Ratios from Prescribed Burning
AMY P. SULLIVAN, Taehyoung Lee, Gavin McMeeking, Sonia Kreidenweis, Sheryl K. Akagi, Robert J. Yokelson, Shawn P. Urbanski, Jeffrey L. Collett, Jr., Colorado State University
Abstract Number: 205 Working Group: Source Apportionment
Abstract Biomass burning is one of the main sources of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and organic carbon (OC) aerosols. Therefore, it is important to be able to determine the contribution of biomass burning to the WSOC or OC concentrations. The most common approach used to make this determination is through the use of smoke marker measurements. The key to this approach is that the ratio of the smoke marker to the total WSOC or OC concentration must be known at the source. However, there is still much uncertainty in these source ratios, especially from prescribed burning and wildfires. Therefore, in this work, we collected smoke marker data from aboard the Twin Otter aircraft as it flew through smoke from prescribed burning activities taking place in South Carolina in November 2011. Results were obtained by coupling a Particle-into-Liquid Sampler (PILS) with a Total Organic Carbon analyzer for real-time measurement of WSOC and a fraction collector to provide off-line samples for smoke marker analysis by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Airborne results for smoke markers, including levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan, and potassium, from a number of different prescribed burns will be presented. Smoke marker ratios from controlled laboratory burn source samples collected at the Fire Science Lab in Missoula, MT during the FLAME (Fire Science at Missoula Experiment) studies will be compared to the results from the airborne measurements. How parameters such as aging and fuel type might play a role will also be discussed.