Australian fire emissions of carbon monoxide estimated by global biomass burning inventories: variability and observational constraints

Abstract. We investigate the relative impacts of biomass burning emissions and dynamics on tropical upper tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3) over western and central Indonesia during the August–November 2006 fires in equatorial Asia by using a global three-dimensional model of tropospheric chemistry (GEOS-Chem) and by comparing model results with Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations of upper tropospheric CO and O3. GEOS-Chem CO and O3 show similarities with MLS observed enhancements from convective lifting of fire emissions. In the tropical upper troposphere (UT), fire effluents from equatorial Asia are primarily transported southwestward to the eastern tropical Indian Ocean, driven by the high-pressure systems along 10° N–15° N and 10° S–15° S latitudes, and northeastward to southeast Asia and beyond, driven by the western North Pacific subtropical high. A characteristic feature of these CO enhancements is that they lag behind biomass burning emissions (by 2–3 weeks) at the three pressure levels 215, 147 and 100 hPa, resulting from the decreasing influence of deep convective lifting with altitude in the tropical UT. Inclusion of biomass burning injection height significantly improves model comparison with observations. We estimate the fire influences by contrasting one model simulation with year-specific and another with climatological biomass burning emissions. Biomass burning accounts for about 50–150 ppbv of CO and 5–15 ppbv of O3 in the tropical UT below 100 hPa during October and November, with temporal variations driven by biomass burning and deep convection. We estimate the dynamic impacts by examining the difference between a model simulation for 2006 (El Niño) and another for 2005 (neutral). The dynamic impacts are far more complex and account for up to 100 ppbv of CO and 30 ppbv of O3 in the tropical UT below 100 hPa. The temporal variation of the dynamic impact on CO is driven by deep convection. The variation of the dynamic impact on O3 depends on deep convection as well as the associated lightning NOx emissions and also reflects non-linearity of O3 chemistry.

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Impacts of 2006 Indonesian fires on tropical upper tropospheric carbon monoxide and ozone

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-11-19357-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 19357-19393

Author(s):

L. Zhang ◽

Q. Li ◽

J. Jin ◽

H. Liu ◽

N. Livesey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Model Simulation ◽

Deep Convection ◽

Temporal Variations ◽

Tropospheric Chemistry ◽

Three Dimensional Model ◽

Dynamic Impact ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Dynamic Impacts

Abstract. We investigate the relative impacts of biomass burning emissions and dynamics on tropical upper tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3) over western and central Indonesia during the August-November 2006 fires in equatorial Asia by using a global three-dimensional model of tropospheric chemistry (GEOS-Chem) and by comparing model results with Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations of upper tropospheric CO and O3. GEOS-Chem CO and O3 reproduce MLS observed enhancements from convective lifting of fire emissions. In the tropical upper troposphere (UT), fire effluents from equatorial Asia are primarily transported southwestward to the eastern tropical Indian Ocean, driven by the high-pressure systems along 10° N–15° N and 10° S–15° S latitudes, and northeastward to southeast Asia and beyond, driven by the western North Pacific subtropical high. A characteristic feature of these CO enhancements is that they lag behind biomass burning emissions (by 2–3 weeks) at the three pressure levels from 215 hPa to 100 hPa, resulting form the decreasing influence of deep convective lifting with altitude in the UT. We estimate the fire influences by contrasting one model simulation with year-specific and another with climatological biomass burning emissions. Biomass burning accounts for about 50–150 ppbv of CO and 5–20 ppbv of O3 in the tropical UT below 100 hPa during October and November, with temporal variations driven by biomass burning and deep convection. We estimate the dynamic impacts by examining the difference between a model simulation for 2006 (El Niño) and another for 2005 (neutral). The dynamic impacts are far more complex and account for up to 100 ppb of CO and 30 ppb of O3 in the tropical UT below 100 hPa. The temporal variation of the dynamic impact on CO is driven by deep convection. The variation of the dynamic impact on O3 not only depends on deep convection but also reflects the non-linearity of O3 chemistry.

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Model simulated trend of surface carbon monoxide for the 2001–2010 decade

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-14-12409-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 12409-12460

Author(s):

J. Yoon ◽

A. Pozzer

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Atmospheric Chemistry ◽

General Circulation ◽

Western Europe ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Anthropogenic Activity ◽

Surface Carbon ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Eastern Usa

Abstract. We present decadal trend estimates of surface carbon monoxide (CO), simulated using the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model ECHAM5/MESSy (EMAC) based on the emission scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 8.5 for anthropogenic activity and Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED) v3.1 for biomass burning from 2001 through 2010. The spatial distribution of the modelled surface CO is evaluated with monthly Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) thermal infrared product. The global means of correlation coefficient and relative bias for the 2001–2010 are 0.95 and −4.29%, respectively. We also find a reasonable correlation (R = 0.78) between the trends of EMAC surface CO and full 10 year monthly records from ground-based observation (World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases, WDCGG). Over Western Europe, Eastern USA, and Northern Australia, the significant decreases of EMAC surface CO are estimated at −35.5 ± 5.8, −59.6 ± 9.1, and −13.7 ± 9.5 ppbv decade−1, respectively, with a 95% confidence interval. In contrast, the surface CO increases by +8.9 ± 4.8 ppbv decade−1 over South Asia. A high correlation (R = 0.92) between the significant changes in EMAC-simulated surface CO and total emission flux shows that the significant regional trends are attributed to the changes in primary/direct emissions from both anthropogenic activity and biomass burning. In particular, increasing trends of surface hydroxyl radical (OH) partially contribute to the decreasing trends of surface CO in Western Europe and Eastern USA.

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Assessment of fire emissions inventories during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) experiment

10.5194/acp-2015-1053 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

G. Pereira ◽

R. Siqueira ◽

N. E. Rosário ◽

K.L. Longo ◽

S .R. Freitas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Trace Gases ◽

Amazon Forest ◽

South American ◽

Emission Model ◽

The South ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Emissions Inventories

Abstract. Fires associated with land use and land cover changes release into the atmosphere large amounts of aerosols and trace gases. Although there are several inventories of biomass burning emissions covering Brazil, there are still considerable uncertainties and differences among these. While most fire emissions inventories still utilize the parameters of vegetation fuel load, emission factors and other parameters to estimate the biomass burned and its associated emissions, certain more recent inventories tend to 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 Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) are examples of the first, while Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model with FRP assimilation (3BEM_FRP) and Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) are examples of the latter method mentioned. In this paper, the output of four biomass burning emission inventories used during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field campaign are analyzed and intercompared, focusing on eight predefined grids. Aerosol optical thickness derived from measurements made by the MODIS sensor operating onboard the Aqua satellite is applied to assess the inventories consistency. Significant correlation coefficients (r, p>0.05 level, Student t-test) were found between 3BEM and FINN, and between 3BEM_FRP and GFAS, with approximately 0.86 and 0.85, respectively. These results indicate that emissions estimates in this region derived via similar methods tend to agree with one other, but differ more from the estimates derived via the alternative approach. However, correlations in specific grids indicate that 3BEM and FINN typically underestimated the smoke emission loading in the eastern region of Amazon Forest, whilst 3BEM_FRP presents a tendency to overestimate fire emissions in the same area. The relationship between the 3BEM and FINN fire inventories present a correlation coefficient of 0.75-0.92, with a tendency of FINN to overestimate the emission of carbon monoxide by 20-30%. Moreover, 3BEM and GFAS shows a correlation coefficient of between 0.75-0.85, with higher values near the arc of deforestation in Amazon Rainforest. However, GFAS has a tendency to present higher carbon monoxide emissions in this region, and 3BEM_FRP tends to overestimate the emissions in soybean expansion (east of Amazon forest).

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Model-simulated trend of surface carbon monoxide for the 2001–2010 decade

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-14-10465-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (19) ◽

pp. 10465-10482 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

J. Yoon ◽

A. Pozzer

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

General Circulation Model ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Atmospheric Chemistry ◽

General Circulation ◽

Western Europe ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Anthropogenic Activity ◽

Surface Carbon ◽

Fire Emissions

Abstract. We present decadal trend estimates of surface carbon monoxide (CO) simulated using the atmospheric chemistry general circulation model ECHAM5/MESSy (EMAC; ECHAM5 and MESSy stand for fifth-generation European Centre Hamburg general circulation model and Modular Earth Submodel System, respectively) based on the emission scenarios Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 8.5 for anthropogenic activity and Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED) v3.1 for biomass burning from 2001 through 2010. The spatial distribution of the modeled surface CO is evaluated with monthly data from the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) thermal infrared product. The global means of correlation coefficient and relative bias for the decade 2001–2010 are 0.95 and −4.29%, respectively. We also find a reasonable correlation (R = 0.78) between the trends of EMAC surface CO and full 10-year monthly records from ground-based observation (World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases, WDCGG). Over western Europe, eastern USA, and northern Australia, the significant decreases in EMAC surface CO are estimated at −35.5 ± 5.8, −59.6 ± 9.1, and −13.7 ± 9.5 ppbv decade−1, respectively. In contrast, the surface CO increases by +8.9 ± 4.8 ppbv decade−1 over southern Asia. A high correlation (R = 0.92) between the changes in EMAC-simulated surface CO and total emission flux shows that the significant regional trends are attributed to the changes in primary and direct emissions from both anthropogenic activity and biomass burning.

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A review of biomass burning emissions, part I: gaseous emissions of carbon monoxide, methane, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen containing compounds

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-5-10455-2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 10455-10516 ◽

Cited By ~ 146

Author(s):

R. Koppmann ◽

K. von Czapiewski ◽

J. S. Reid

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Oh Radicals ◽

Emission Rates ◽

Gaseous Emissions ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Global Emission ◽

Wide Range ◽

Nitrogen Containing Compounds

Abstract. Biomass burning is the burning of living and dead vegetation. Ninety percent of all biomass-burning events are thought to be human initiated. Human induced fires are used for a variety of ''applications'' such as agricultural expansion, deforestation, bush control, weed and residue burning, and harvesting practices. Natural fires are grassland and forest fires mainly induced by lightning. It is estimated that 8700 Tg of dry matter/year are burnt each year in total. Emissions from biomass burning include a wide range of gaseous compounds and particles that contribute significantly to the tropospheric budgets on a local, regional, and even global scales. The emission of CO, CH4 and VOC affect the oxidation capacity of the troposphere by reacting with OH radicals, and emissions of nitric oxide and VOC lead to the formation of ozone and other photo oxidants. For a large number of compounds biomass burning is one of the largest single sources in the troposphere, especially in the tropics. Biomass-burning emissions play an important role in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen. Following the first systematic investigations on fire emissions in laboratory experiments in the 1960's, the last 20 years saw an increasing number in studies on biomass-burning emissions in various ecosystems. Recently, our knowledge of the emissions of gaseous compounds in the troposphere from fires has increased considerably. This manuscript is the first of four describing the properties biomass burning emissions. The properties of biomass-burning particles are discussed in part II and III of this review series which have been recently published, and their direct radiative effects are in part IV. This paper focuses on the review of emission ratios and emission rates of carbon monoxide, methane, volatile organics, and nitrogen containing compounds and should not be seen as a review of global emission estimates, even though we discuss the implications of our results on such studies.

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Improved estimates of future fire emissions under CMIP6 scenarios and implications for aerosol radiative forcing

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13822 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew Kasoar ◽

Douglas Hamilton ◽

Daniela Dalmonech ◽

Stijn Hantson ◽

Gitta Lasslop ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Learning Methods ◽

Aerosol Radiative Forcing ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Machine Learning Methods ◽

The Tropics ◽

In Fire ◽

Aerosol Radiative

The CMIP6 Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios include projections of future changes in anthropogenic biomass-burning.&#160; Globally, they assume a decrease in total fire emissions over the next century under all scenarios.&#160; However, fire regimes and emissions are expected to additionally change with future climate, and the methodology used to project fire emissions in the SSP scenarios is opaque.We aim to provide a more traceable estimate of future fire emissions under CMIP6 scenarios and evaluate the impacts for aerosol radiative forcing. &#160;We utilise interactive wildfire emissions from four independent land-surface models (CLM5, JSBACH3.2, LPJ-GUESS, and ISBA-CTRIP) used within CMIP6 ESMs, and two different machine-learning methods (a random forest, and a generalised additive model) trained on historical data, to predict year 2100 biomass-burning aerosol emissions consistent with the CMIP6-modelled climate for three different scenarios: SSP126, SSP370, and SSP585.&#160; This multi-method approach provides future fire emissions integrating information from observations, projections of climate, socioeconomic parameters and changes in vegetation distribution and fuel loads.Our analysis shows a robust increase in fire emissions for large areas of the extra-tropics until the end of this century for all methods.&#160; Although this pattern was present to an extent in the original SSP projections, both the interactive fire models and machine-learning methods predict substantially higher increases in extra-tropical emissions in 2100 than the corresponding SSP datasets.&#160; Within the tropics the signal is mixed. Increases in emissions are largely driven by the temperature changes, while in some tropical areas reductions in fire emissions are driven by human factors and changes in precipitation, with the largest reductions in Africa. The machine-learning methods show a stronger reduction in the tropics than the interactive fire models, however overall there is strong agreement between both the models and the machine-learning methods.We then use additional nudged atmospheric simulations with two state-of-the-art composition-climate models, UKESM1 and CESM2, to diagnose the impact of these updated fire emissions on aerosol burden and radiative forcing, compared with the original SSP prescribed emissions.&#160; We provide estimates of future fire radiative forcing, compared to modern-day, under these CMIP6 scenarios which span both the severity of climate change in 2100, and the rate of reduction of other aerosol species.

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Combining fire radiative power observations with the fire weather index improves the estimation of fire emissions

10.5194/acp-2017-790 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Francesca Di Giuseppe ◽

Samuel Rémy ◽

Florian Pappenberger ◽

Fredrik Wetterhall

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Atmospheric Composition ◽

Composition Analysis ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Atmospheric Conditions ◽

Weather Index ◽

Fire Weather Index ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Radiative Power ◽

Fire Radiative Power

Abstract. The atmospheric composition analysis and forecast for the European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Services (CAMS) relies on biomass burning fire emission estimates from the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS). GFAS converts fire radiative power (FRP) observations from MODIS satellites into smoke constituents. Missing observations are filled in using persistence where observed FRP from the previous day are progressed in time until a new observation is recorded. One of the consequences of this assumption is an overestimation of fire duration, which in turn translates into an overestimation of emissions from fires. In this study persistence is replaced by modelled predictions using the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI), which describes how atmospheric conditions affect the vegetation moisture content and ultimately fire duration. The skill in predicting emissions from biomass burning is improved with the new technique, which indicates that using an FWI-based model to infer emissions from FRP is better than persistence when observations are not available.

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Tropical biomass burning smoke plume size, shape, reflectance, and age based on 2001–2009 MISR imagery of Borneo

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-12-3437-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 3437-3454 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

C. S. Zender ◽

A. G. Krolewski ◽

M. G. Tosca ◽

J. T. Randerson

Keyword(s):

Optical Properties ◽

Tropical Forests ◽

Optical Depth ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Single Scattering ◽

Particle Dispersion ◽

Hygroscopic Growth ◽

Smoke Plume ◽

Fire Emissions ◽

Plume Geometry

Abstract. Land clearing for crops, plantations and grazing results in anthropogenic burning of tropical forests and peatlands in Indonesia, where images of fire-generated aerosol plumes have been captured by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) since 2001. Here we analyze the size, shape, optical properties, and age of distinct fire-generated plumes in Borneo from 2001–2009. The local MISR overpass at 10:30 a.m. misses the afternoon peak of Borneo fire emissions, and may preferentially sample longer plumes from persistent fires burning overnight. Typically the smoke flows with the prevailing southeasterly surface winds at 3–4 m s−1, and forms ovoid plumes whose mean length, height, and cross-plume width are 41 km, 708 m, and 27% of the plume length, respectively. 50% of these plumes have length between 24 and 50 km, height between 523 and 993 m and width between 18% and 30% of plume length. Length and cross-plume width are lognormally distributed, while height follows a normal distribution. Borneo smoke plume heights are similar to previously reported plume heights, yet Borneo plumes are on average nearly three times longer than previously studied plumes. This could be due to sampling or to more persistent fires and greater fuel loads in peatlands than in other tropical forests. Plume area (median 169 km2, with 25th and 75th percentiles at 99 km2 and 304 km2, respectively) varies exponentially with length, though for most plumes a linear relation provides a good approximation. The MISR-estimated plume optical properties involve greater uncertainties than the geometric properties, and show patterns consistent with smoke aging. Optical depth increases by 15–25% in the down-plume direction, consistent with hygroscopic growth and nucleation overwhelming the effects of particle dispersion. Both particle single-scattering albedo and top-of-atmosphere reflectance peak about halfway down-plume, at values about 3% and 10% greater than at the origin, respectively. The initially oblong plumes become brighter and more circular with time, increasingly resembling smoke clouds. Wind speed does not explain a significant fraction of the variation in plume geometry. We provide a parameterization of plume shape that can help atmospheric models estimate the effects of plumes on weather, climate, and air quality. Plume age, the age of smoke furthest down-plume, is lognormally distributed with a median of 2.8 h (25th and 75th percentiles at 1.3 h and 4.0 h), different from the median ages reported in other studies. Intercomparison of our results with previous studies shows that the shape, height, optical depth, and lifetime characteristics reported for tropical biomass burning plumes on three continents are dissimilar and distinct from the same characteristics of non-tropical wildfire plumes.

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Carbon monoxide and related trace gases and aerosols over the Amazon Basin during the wet and dry seasons

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-12-6041-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (13) ◽

pp. 6041-6065 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

M. O. Andreae ◽

P. Artaxo ◽

V. Beck ◽

M. Bela ◽

S. Freitas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Large Scale ◽

Amazon Basin ◽

Photochemical Degradation ◽

Wet Season ◽

Biomass Smoke ◽

Airborne Measurements ◽

Basin Scale

Abstract. We present the results of airborne measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol particle number concentration (CN) made during the Balanço Atmosférico Regional de Carbono na Amazônia (BARCA) program. The primary goal of BARCA is to address the question of basin-scale sources and sinks of CO2 and other atmospheric carbon species, a central issue of the Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (LBA) program. The experiment consisted of two aircraft campaigns during November–December 2008 (BARCA-A) and May–June 2009 (BARCA-B), which covered the altitude range from the surface up to about 4500 m, and spanned most of the Amazon Basin. Based on meteorological analysis and measurements of the tracer, SF6, we found that airmasses over the Amazon Basin during the late dry season (BARCA-A, November 2008) originated predominantly from the Southern Hemisphere, while during the late wet season (BARCA-B, May 2009) low-level airmasses were dominated by northern-hemispheric inflow and mid-tropospheric airmasses were of mixed origin. In BARCA-A we found strong influence of biomass burning emissions on the composition of the atmosphere over much of the Amazon Basin, with CO enhancements up to 300 ppb and CN concentrations approaching 10 000 cm−3; the highest values were in the southern part of the Basin at altitudes of 1–3 km. The ΔCN/ΔCO ratios were diagnostic for biomass burning emissions, and were lower in aged than in fresh smoke. Fresh emissions indicated CO/CO2 and CN/CO emission ratios in good agreement with previous work, but our results also highlight the need to consider the residual smoldering combustion that takes place after the active flaming phase of deforestation fires. During the late wet season, in contrast, there was little evidence for a significant presence of biomass smoke. Low CN concentrations (300–500 cm−3) prevailed basinwide, and CO mixing ratios were enhanced by only ~10 ppb above the mixing line between Northern and Southern Hemisphere air. There was no detectable trend in CO with distance from the coast, but there was a small enhancement of CO in the boundary layer suggesting diffuse biogenic sources from photochemical degradation of biogenic volatile organic compounds or direct biological emission. Simulations of CO distributions during BARCA-A using a range of models yielded general agreement in spatial distribution and confirm the important contribution from biomass burning emissions, but the models evidence some systematic quantitative differences compared to observed CO concentrations. These mismatches appear to be related to problems with the accuracy of the global background fields, the role of vertical transport and biomass smoke injection height, the choice of model resolution, and reliability and temporal resolution of the emissions data base.

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