AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Constraining Emissions from Open Burning Sources and Their Atmospheric Impacts
CHRISTINE WIEDINMYER, Serena H. Chung, Robert J. Yokelson, Elena McDonald-Buller, Tomohiro Oda, Christopher Elvidge, Louisa Emmons, John Orlando, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Abstract Number: 243 Working Group: Biomass Burning Aerosol: From Emissions to Impacts
Abstract Open burning of biomass and other materials contributes significantly to the atmospheric aerosol budget. However, estimates of emissions from these sources are highly uncertain, posing challenges to quantifying their impacts in the atmosphere. Uncertainties in the estimates are associated with fire location, timing and area, as well as the vegetation burned and the amount consumed. Changes in the model inputs can lead to factors of two to 10 differences in regional emission estimates. For example, in the western United States, monthly fire emissions can vary by as much as three when different land cover and burned area inputs are applied. Recent satellite products, such as the VIIRS, can provide data on fire location, timing and area burned, particularly for smaller fires that are challenging to detect. These new products have been implemented within the Fire Inventory from NCAR to provide emission estimates in Indonesia and results will be shown.
Uncertainties in the impacts of the fire emissions on atmospheric aerosol are also associated with estimates of primary particulate emissions as well as the gas-phase constituents that can react and form secondary particles in the fire plume. Recent efforts to more accurately represent the volatile organic compound emissions from burning improve the modeled plume chemistry and can lead to better predictions of the atmospheric impacts of biomass burning emissions.