Emission Fluxes from Agricultural Sources and Biomass Burning using the CU Airborne SOF Instrument

Abstract. Natural and anthropogenic emissions of primary aerosols and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are estimated for the year 2010 by assimilating daily total and fine mode aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite instrument into a global aerosol model of intermediate complexity. The system adjusts monthly emission fluxes over a set of predefined regions tiling the globe. The resulting aerosol emissions improve the model performance, as measured from usual skill scores, both against the assimilated observations and a set of independent ground-based measurements. The estimated emission fluxes are 67 Tg S yr−1 for SO2, 12 Tg yr−1 for black carbon (BC), 87 Tg yr−1 for particulate organic matter (POM), 17 000 Tg yr−1 for sea salt (SS, estimated at 80 % relative humidity) and 1206 Tg yr−1 for desert dust (DD). They represent a difference of +53, +73, +72, +1 and −8%, respectively, with respect to the first guess (FG) values. Constant errors throughout the regions and the year were assigned to the a priori emissions. The analysis errors are reduced with respect to the a priori ones for all species and throughout the year, they vary between 3 and 18% for SO2, 1 and 130% for biomass burning, 21 and 90 % for fossil fuel, 1 and 200% for DD and 1 and 5% for SS. The maximum errors on the global-yearly scale for the estimated fluxes (considering temporal error dependence) are 3% for SO2, 14% for BC, 11% for POM, 14% for DD and 2% for SS. These values represent a decrease as compared to the global-yearly errors from the FG of 7% for SO2, 40% for BC, 55% for POM, 81% for DD and 300% for SS. The largest error reduction, both monthly and yearly, is observed for SS and the smallest one for SO2. The sensitivity and robustness of the inversion system to the choice of the first guess emission inventory is investigated by using different combinations of inventories for industrial, fossil fuel and biomass burning sources. The initial difference in the emissions between the various set-ups is reduced after the inversion. Furthermore, at the global scale, the inversion is sensitive to the choice of the BB (biomass burning) inventory and not so much to the industrial and fossil fuel inventory. At the regional scale, however, the choice of the industrial and fossil fuel inventory can make a difference. The estimated baseline emission fluxes for SO2, BC and POM are within the estimated uncertainties of the four experiments. The resulting emissions were compared against projected emissions for the year 2010 for SO2, BC and POM. The new estimate presents larger emissions than the projections for all three species, with larger differences for SO2 than POM and BC. These projected SO2 emissions are outside the uncertainties of the estimated emission inventories.

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

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-16-6961-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. 6961-6975 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Gabriel Pereira ◽

Ricardo Siqueira ◽

Nilton E. Rosário ◽

Karla L. Longo ◽

Saulo R. Freitas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Atmospheric Aerosol ◽

Trace Gases ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Amazon Forest ◽

South American ◽

Emission Model ◽

Emission Inventories ◽

Emission Fluxes ◽

Co Emission

Abstract. Fires associated with land use and land cover changes release large amounts of aerosols and trace gases into the atmosphere. Although several inventories of biomass burning emissions cover Brazil, there are still considerable uncertainties and differences among them. While most fire emission inventories utilize the parameters of burned area, vegetation fuel load, emission factors, and other parameters to estimate the biomass burned and its associated emissions, several more recent inventories 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 the Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) are examples of the first, while the Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model with FRP assimilation (3BEM_FRP) and the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) are examples of the latter. These four biomass burning emission inventories were used during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field campaign. This paper analyzes and inter-compared them, focusing on eight regions in Brazil and the time period of 1 September–31 October 2012. Aerosol optical thickness (AOT550 nm) derived from measurements made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) operating on board the Terra and Aqua satellites is also applied to assess the inventories' consistency. The daily area-averaged pyrogenic carbon monoxide (CO) emission estimates exhibit significant linear correlations (r, p  >  0.05 level, Student t test) between 3BEM and FINN and between 3BEM_ FRP and GFAS, with values of 0.86 and 0.85, respectively. These results indicate that emission estimates in this region derived via similar methods tend to agree with one other. However, they differ more from the estimates derived via the alternative approach. The evaluation of MODIS AOT550 nm indicates that model simulation driven by 3BEM and FINN typically underestimate the smoke particle loading in the eastern region of Amazon forest, while 3BEM_FRP estimations to the area tend to overestimate fire emissions. The daily regional CO emission fluxes from 3BEM and FINN have linear correlation coefficients of 0.75–0.92, with typically 20–30 % higher emission fluxes in FINN. The daily regional CO emission fluxes from 3BEM_FRP and GFAS show linear correlation coefficients between 0.82 and 0.90, with a particularly strong correlation near the arc of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. In this region, GFAS has a tendency to present higher CO emissions than 3BEM_FRP, while 3BEM_FRP yields more emissions in the area of soybean expansion east of the Amazon forest. Atmospheric aerosol optical thickness is simulated by using the emission inventories with two operational atmospheric chemistry transport models: the IFS from Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) and the Coupled Aerosol and Tracer Transport model to the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (CCATT-BRAMS). Evaluation against MODIS observations shows a good representation of the general patterns of the AOT550 nm time series. However, the aerosol emissions from fires with particularly high biomass consumption still lead to an underestimation of the atmospheric aerosol load in both models.

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Atmospheric nitrogen budget in Sahelian dry savannas

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-9-14189-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 14189-14233 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

C. Delon ◽

C. Galy-Lacaux ◽

A. Boone ◽

C. Liousse ◽

D. Serça ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Dry Deposition ◽

Nitrogen Budget ◽

Deposition Flux ◽

Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽

Emission Flux ◽

Deposition Fluxes ◽

Biogenic Emission ◽

Emission Fluxes ◽

N Compounds

Abstract. The atmospheric nitrogen budget depends on emission and deposition fluxes both as reduced and oxidized nitrogen compounds. In this study, a first attempt at estimating the Sahel nitrogen budget for the year 2006 is made, through measurements and simulations at three stations from the IDAF network situated in dry savanna ecosystems. Dry deposition fluxes are estimated from measurements of NO2, HNO3 and NH3 gaseous concentrations, and wet deposition fluxes are calculated from NH4+ and NO3− concentrations in samples of rain. Emission fluxes are estimated including biogenic emission of NO from soils (an Artificial Neural Network module has been inserted into the ISBA-SURFEX surface model), emission of NOx and NH3 from domestic fires and biomass burning, and volatilization of NH3 from animal excreta. This study uses original and unique data from remote and hardly-ever-explored regions. The monthly evolution of oxidized N compounds shows that deposition increases at the beginning of the rainy season because of large emissions of biogenic NO (pulse events). Emission of oxidized compounds is dominated by biogenic emission from soils (domestic fires and biomass burning account for 27% at the most, depending on the station), whereas emission of NH3 is dominated by the process of volatilization. Deposition fluxes are dominated by gaseous dry deposition processes (58% of the total), for both oxidized and reduced compounds. The average deposition flux in dry savanna ecosystems ranges from 8.6 to 10.9 kgN ha−1 yr−1, with 30% attributed to oxidized compounds, and the other 70% attributed to NHx. The average emission flux ranges from 7.8 to 9.7 kgN ha−1 yr−1, dominated by NH3 volatilization (67%) and biogenic emission from soils (24%). The annual budget is then balanced, with emission fluxes on the same order of magnitude as deposition fluxes. When scaled up to the Sahelian region (10° N:20° N, 15° W:10° E), the estimates of total emission range from 3.6 to 4.5 TgN yr−1 and total deposition ranges from 3.9 to 5 TgN yr−1. The N budget gives a net deposition flux ranging from 0.2 to 0.6 TgN yr−1. If scaled up to the global scale (in the tropical band), it is possible to calculate a total budget of oxidized and reduced N compounds for dry savannas, with a global nitrogen deposition flux ranging from 11.1 to 14.1 TgN yr−1, and a global emission flux ranging from 10.1 to 12.5 TgN yr−1. These ecosystems contribute a significant amount (around 12%) to the global nitrogen budget.

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Atmospheric inversion of SO<sub>2</sub> and primary aerosol emissions for the year 2010

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-13-6165-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 6165-6218

Author(s):

N. Huneeus ◽

O. Boucher ◽

F. Chevallier

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

A Priori ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Model Performance ◽

Global Scale ◽

Aerosol Model ◽

Skill Scores ◽

Emission Fluxes ◽

Aerosol Emissions

Abstract. Natural and anthropogenic emissions of primary aerosols and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are estimated for the year 2010 by assimilating daily total and fine mode aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite instrument into a global aerosol model of intermediate complexity. The system adjusts monthly emission fluxes over a set of predefined regions tiling the globe. The resulting aerosol emissions improve the model performance, as measured from usual skill scores, both against the assimilated observations and a set of independent ground-based measurements. The estimated emission fluxes are 67 Tg S yr−1 for SO2, 12 Tg yr−1 for black carbon (BC), 87 Tg yr−1 for particulate organic matter (POM), 17 Pg yr−1 for sea salt (SS, estimated at 80% relative humidity) and 1206 Tg yr−1 for desert dust (DD). They represent a difference of +53%, +73%, +72%, +1% and −8%, respectively, with respect to the first guess (FG) values. Constant errors throughout the regions and the year were assigned to the a priori emissions. The analysis errors are reduced for all species and throughout the year, they vary between 3% and 17% for SO2, 1% and 130% for biomass burning, 25% and 89% for fossil fuel, 1% and 200% for DD and 1% and 5% for SS. The maximum errors on the global-annual scale for the estimated fluxes (considering temporal error dependence) are 12% for SO2, 39% for BC, 41% for POM, 43% for DD and 40% for SS. These values represent a decrease as compared to the global-annual errors from the FG of 12% for SO2, 42% for BC, 47% for POM, 50% for DD and 95% for SS. The largest error reduction, both monthly and yearly, is observed for SS and the smallest one for SO2. The sensitivity and robustness of the inversion system to the choice of the first guess emission inventory is investigated by using different combinations of inventories for industrial, fossil fuel and biomass burning sources. The initial difference in the emissions between the various setups is reduced after the inversion. Furthermore, at the global scale, the inversion is sensitive to the choice of the BB inventory and not so much to the industrial and fossil fuel inventory. At the regional scale, however, the choice of the industrial and fossil fuel inventory can make a difference. The estimated baseline emission fluxes for SO2, BC and POM are within the estimated uncertainties of the four experiments. The resulting emissions were compared against projected emissions for the year 2010 for SO2, BC and POM. The new estimate present larger emissions than the projections for all three species, with larger differences for SO2 than POM and BC. These projected emissions are in general outside the uncertainties of the estimated emission inventories.

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Atmospheric nitrogen budget in Sahelian dry savannas

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-10-2691-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 2691-2708 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

C. Delon ◽

C. Galy-Lacaux ◽

A. Boone ◽

C. Liousse ◽

D. Serça ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Dry Deposition ◽

Nitrogen Budget ◽

Surface Model ◽

Deposition Flux ◽

Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽

Deposition Fluxes ◽

Biogenic Emission ◽

Emission Fluxes ◽

Annual Scale

Abstract. The atmospheric nitrogen budget depends on emission and deposition fluxes both as reduced and oxidized nitrogen compounds. In this study, a first attempt at estimating the Sahel nitrogen budget for the year 2006 is made, through measurements and simulations at three stations from the IDAF network situated in dry savanna ecosystems. Dry deposition fluxes are estimated from measurements of NO2, HNO3 and NH3 gaseous concentrations and from simulated dry deposition velocities, and wet deposition fluxes are calculated from NH4+ and NO3− concentrations in samples of rain. Emission fluxes are estimated including biogenic emission of NO from soils (an Artificial Neural Network module has been inserted into the ISBA-SURFEX surface model), emission of NOx and NH3 from domestic fires and biomass burning, and volatilization of NH3 from animal excreta. Uncertainties are calculated for each contribution of the budget. This study uses original and unique data from remote and hardly-ever-explored regions.The monthly evolution of oxidized N compounds shows that emission and deposition increase at the beginning of the rainy season because of large emissions of biogenic NO (pulse events). Emission of oxidized compounds is dominated by biogenic emission from soils (domestic fires and biomass burning of oxidized compounds account for 0 to 13% at the most at the annual scale, depending on the station), whereas emission of NH3 is dominated by the process of volatilization from soils. At the annual scale, the average gaseous dry deposition accounts for 47% of the total estimated deposition flux, for both oxidized and reduced compounds. The average estimated wet plus dry deposition flux in dry savanna ecosystems is 7.5±1.8 kgN ha−1 yr−1, with approximately 30% attributed to oxidized compounds, and the rest attributed to NHx. The average estimated emission flux ranges from 8.4(±3.8) to 12.4(±5.9) kgN ha−1 yr−1, dominated by NH3 volatilization (72–82%) and biogenic emission from soils (11–17%), depending on the applied volatilization rate of NH3. While larger, emission fluxes are on the same order of magnitude as deposition fluxes. The main uncertainties are linked to the NH3 emission from volatilization. When scaled up from the 3 measurement sites to the Sahelian region (12° N:18° N, 15° W:10° E), the estimated total emission ranges from 2(±0.9) to 3(±1.4) TgN yr−1, depending on the applied volatilization rate of NH3 and estimated total deposition is 1.8(±0.4) TgN yr−1. The dry savanna ecosystems of the Sahel contribute around 2% to the global (biogenic + anthropogenic) nitrogen budget.

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Regional modelling of Saharan dust and biomass-burning smoke Part I: Model description and evaluation

Tellus B ◽

10.3402/tellusb.v63i4.16387 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Bernd Heinold ◽

Ina Tegen ◽

Kerstin Schepanski ◽

Matthias Tesche ◽

Michael Esselborn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Saharan Dust ◽

Model Description ◽

Regional Modelling

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The radiative effect of an aged, internally mixed Arctic aerosol originating from lower-latitude biomass burning

Tellus B ◽

10.3402/tellusb.v61i4.16864 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 61 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ann-Christine Engvall ◽

Johan Ström ◽

Peter Tunved ◽

Radovan Krejci ◽

Hans Schlager ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Lower Latitude ◽

Radiative Effect ◽

Arctic Aerosol

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Secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass burning emissions

10.5194/acp-2019-326 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Christopher Y. Lim ◽

David H. Hagan ◽

Matthew M. Coggon ◽

Abigail R. Koss ◽

Kanako Sekimoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biomass Burning ◽

Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽

Total Concentration ◽

Organic Aerosol ◽

Oh Radicals ◽

Aerosol Formation ◽

Atmospheric Aging ◽

Aerosol Mass ◽

Photochemical Aging ◽

Organic Gases

Abstract. Biomass burning is an important source of aerosol and trace gases to the atmosphere, but how these emissions change chemically during their lifetimes is not fully understood. As part of the Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX 2016), we investigated the effect of photochemical aging on biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), with a focus on fuels from the western United States. Emissions were sampled into a small (150 L) environmental chamber and photochemically aged via the addition of ozone and irradiation by 254 nm light. While some fraction of species undergoes photolysis, the vast majority of aging occurs via reaction with OH radicals, with total OH exposures corresponding to the equivalent of up to 10 days of atmospheric oxidation. For all fuels burned, large and rapid changes are seen in the ensemble chemical composition of BBOA, as measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation is seen for all aging experiments and continues to grow with increasing OH exposure, but the magnitude of the SOA formation is highly variable between experiments. This variability can be explained well by a combination of experiment-to-experiment differences in OH exposure and the total concentration of non-methane organic gases (NMOGs) in the chamber before oxidation, measured by PTR-ToF-MS (r2 values from 0.64 to 0.83). From this relationship, we calculate the fraction of carbon from biomass burning NMOGs that is converted to SOA as a function of equivalent atmospheric aging time, with carbon yields ranging from 24 ± 4 % after 6 hours to 56 ± 9 % after 4 days.

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Aerosol Characterization during the Summer 2017 Huge Fire Event on Mount Vesuvius (Italy) by Remote Sensing and In Situ Observations

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13102001 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 2001

Author(s):

Antonella Boselli ◽

Alessia Sannino ◽

Mariagrazia D’Emilio ◽

Xuan Wang ◽

Salvatore Amoruso

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Ground Level ◽

Large Area ◽

Fire Event ◽

Near Surface ◽

Mean Values ◽

Microphysical Properties ◽

Observational Site ◽

Biomass Burning Aerosol

During the summer of 2017, multiple huge fires occurred on Mount Vesuvius (Italy), dispersing a large quantity of ash in the surrounding area ensuing the burning of tens of hectares of Mediterranean scrub. The fires affected a very large area of the Vesuvius National Park and the smoke was driven by winds towards the city of Naples, causing daily peak values of particulate matter (PM) concentrations at ground level higher than the limit of the EU air quality directive. The smoke plume spreading over the area of Naples in this period was characterized by active (lidar) and passive (sun photometer) remote sensing as well as near-surface (optical particle counter) observational techniques. The measurements allowed us to follow both the PM variation at ground level and the vertical profile of fresh biomass burning aerosol as well as to analyze the optical and microphysical properties. The results evidenced the presence of a layer of fine mode aerosol with large mean values of optical depth (AOD > 0.25) and Ångstrom exponent (γ > 1.5) above the observational site. Moreover, the lidar ratio and aerosol linear depolarization obtained from the lidar observations were about 40 sr and 4%, respectively, consistent with the presence of biomass burning aerosol in the atmosphere.

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Biomass Burning and Water Balance Dynamics in the Lake Chad Basin in Africa

Earth ◽

10.3390/earth2020020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 340-356

Author(s):

Forrest W. Black ◽

Jejung Lee ◽

Charles M. Ichoku ◽

Luke Ellison ◽

Charles K. Gatebe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Balance ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Potential Evapotranspiration ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Wet Season ◽

Lake Chad ◽

Chad Basin ◽

Lake Chad Basin ◽

Logone Catchment

The present study investigated the effect of biomass burning on the water cycle using a case study of the Chari–Logone Catchment of the Lake Chad Basin (LCB). The Chari–Logone catchment was selected because it supplies over 90% of the water input to the lake, which is the largest basin in central Africa. Two water balance simulations, one considering burning and one without, were compared from the years 2003 to 2011. For a more comprehensive assessment of the effects of burning, albedo change, which has been shown to have a significant impact on a number of environmental factors, was used as a model input for calculating potential evapotranspiration (ET). Analysis of the burning scenario showed that burning grassland, which comprises almost 75% of the total Chari–Logone land cover, causes increased ET and runoff during the dry season (November–March). Recent studies have demonstrated that there is an increasing trend in the LCB of converting shrubland, grassland, and wetlands to cropland. This change from grassland to cropland has the potential to decrease the amount of water available to water bodies during the winter. All vegetative classes in a burning scenario showed a decrease in ET during the wet season. Although a decrease in annual precipitation in global circulation processes such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation would cause droughts and induce wildfires in the Sahel, the present study shows that a decrease in ET by the human-induced burning would cause a severe decrease in precipitation as well.

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