Characterization of Biomass Burning Influence in Houston and El Paso, TX Utilizing Aerosol Optical Properties and Offline Filter Analysis
MACKENZIE GRAHAM, Manisha Mehra, Subin Yoon, James Flynn, Rebecca J. Sheesley, Sascha Usenko,
Baylor University Abstract Number: 489
Working Group: Biomass Combustion: Outdoor/Indoor Transport and Indoor Air Quality
AbstractBiomass burning (BB) releases large quantities of fine particulate matter and gas- phase pollutants, which can undergo long-range transport and negatively influence urban air quality. To address this problem, the Black and Brown Carbon aerosol optical study (BC)
2, in its fourth year of development, utilizes a combination of real-time aerosol optical measurements, offline filter analysis, back trajectories, and NOAA HMS smoke product at multiple urban sites in Houston and El Paso, TX. The (BC)
2 sites are equipped with two tricolor absorption photometers (TAP), a three-wavelength nephelometer, and an automated high-volume filter sampler. The TAPs and nephelometer measure absorption and scattering coefficients that are used to calculate intensive aerosol optical properties: Absorption and Scattering Ångström Exponents (AAE and SAE), which are used to identify periods of BB influence for a site with high time resolution. The high resolution of the dataset allowed us to look at time-of-day as well as long-term trends with relation to other meteorological conditions. The events identified by the optical measurements were explored further for trends in time-of-day to investigate how variation in boundary layer height and vertical mixing contributes to BB signal at ground-level. Understanding the factors that contribute to BB influence in urban areas can help us better characterize the seasonality of such events. Results from the (BC)
2 2021 field campaign, March through October, will be presented.