AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Smoke Marker Ratios from Controlled Laboratory Burns, Prescribed Burns, and Wildfires
AMY P. SULLIVAN, Sonia Kreidenweis, Bret Schichtel, Jeffrey Collett, Colorado State University
Abstract Number: 40 Working Group: Biomass Burning Aerosol: From Emissions to Impacts
Abstract One of the main sources of organic carbon (OC) aerosols is biomass burning. Therefore, it is important to be able to determine the contribution of biomass burning to the total OC concentration. Smoke marker measurements provide one of the most common methods to make this determination. Key to using smoke markers for ambient aerosol source apportionment is knowledge of the smoke marker to OC concentration ratio at the source. There is still much uncertainty in these smoke marker ratios, especially for biomass burning emissions from prescribed burning and wildfires. Therefore, in this work, we aim to try to better understand the constraints and variability that should be placed on smoke marker ratios when trying to determine the contribution of smoke from prescribed burning and wildfires. Comparisons between source samples collected at the Fire Science Lab in Missoula, MT from the FLAME (Fire Science at Missoula Experiment) studies and samples collected from various prescribed burns and wildfires across the U.S. will be made. Smoke markers such as potassium and various carbohydrates (e.g., levoglucosan and galactosan) will be presented. Our results suggest that most smoke marker ratios depend more on the type of fuel involved in the burn than fire dynamics and that controlled laboratory burns can represent prescribed burns for a number of smoke marker ratios.