An integrated numerical system to estimate air quality effects of forest fires

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. I. Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
World Health ◽  
Plume Dispersion ◽  
Photochemical Pollution ◽  
Meteorological Model ◽  
Atmospheric Flow ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Spread Model ◽  
Smoke Dispersion

Forest fires are an important source of various gases and particles emitted into the atmosphere that may affect the air quality on a local and/or larger scale. Currently, there is a growing awareness that smoke from wildland fires exposes individuals and populations to hazardous air pollutants. In order to understand and to simulate forest fire effects on air quality, several issues should be analysed and integrated: fire progression, fire emissions, atmospheric flow, smoke dispersion and chemical reactions. In spite of the available models to simulate smoke dispersion and the existence of some systems already covering the main questions, there still remains a lack of integration concerning fire progression. Photochemical pollution is also not included in these modelling systems. AIRFIRE is a numerical system, developed to estimate the effects of forest fires on air quality, integrating several components of the problem through the inclusion of different modules, namely the mesoscale meteorological model MEMO, the photochemical model MARS, and the Rothermel fire spread model. The system was applied to simulate plume dispersion from a wildfire that occurred in a coastal area, close to Lisbon city, at the end of September 1991. Results, namely the obtained pollutants concentration fields, point to a significant impact on the local air quality. Obtained wind fields and concentration patterns revealed the presence of sea breezes and also the influence of the fire in the atmospheric flow. Estimated carbon monoxide concentration levels were very high, exceeding the recommended hourly limit value of the World Health Organization, and ozone concentration values pointed to photochemical production.

scholarly journals Impact of wildfires on particulate matter in the Euro-Mediterranean in 2007: sensitivity to the parameterization of emissions in air quality models

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Majdi ◽  
Solene Turquety ◽  
Karine Sartelet ◽  
Carole Legorgeu ◽  
Laurent Menut ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
World Health ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Fire Plumes ◽  
Emissions Modeling ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. This study examines the uncertainties on air quality modeling associated with the integration of wildfire emissions in chemistry-transport models (CTMs). To do so, aerosol concentrations during the summer 2007, which was marked by severe fire episodes in the Euro-Mediterranean region especially in Balkan (20–31 July 2007, 24–30 August 2007) and Greece (24–30 August 2007), are analysed. Through comparisons to observations from surface networks and satellite remote sensing, we evaluate the abilities of two CTMs, Polyphemus/Polair3D and CHIMERE, to simulate the impact of fires on the regional particulate matter (PM) concentrations and optical properties. During the two main fire events, fire emissions may contribute up to 90 % of surface PM2.5 concentrations, with a significant regional impact associated with long-range transport. Good general performances of the models and a clear improvement of PM2.5 and aerosol optical depth (AOD) are shown when fires are taken into account in the models with high correlation coefficients. Two sources of uncertainties are specifically analysed in terms of surface PM concentrations and AOD using sensitivity simulations: secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from intermediate and semi-volatile organic compounds (I/S-VOCs) and emissions' injection heights. The analysis highlights that surface PM2.5 concentrations are highly sensitive to injection heights (with a sensitivity that can be as high as 50 % compared to the sensitivity for I/S-VOCs emissions which is lower than 30 %). However, AOD which is vertically integrated is less sensitive to the injection heights (mostly below 20 %), but highly sensitive to I/S-VOCs emissions (with sensitivity that can be as high as 40 %). The maximum dispersion, which quantifies uncertainties related to fire emissions modeling, is up to 75 % for PM2.5 in Balkan and Greece, and varies between 36 and 45 % for AOD above fire regions. The simulated number of daily exceedance of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for PM2.5 over the considered region reaches 30 days in regions affected by fires and ∼ 10 days in fire plumes which is slightly underestimated compared to available observations. The maximum dispersion (σ) on this indicator is also large (with σ reaching 15 days), showing the need for better understanding of the transport and evolution of fire plumes in addition to fire emissions.

Fire emission uncertainties and their effect on smoke dispersion predictions: a case study at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, USA

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aika Y. Davis ◽  
Roger Ottmar ◽  
Yongqiang Liu ◽  
Scott Goodrick ◽  
Gary Achtemeier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Air Force ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Plume Dispersion ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Smoke Dispersion ◽  
Air Force Base

Prescribed burning is practiced to benefit ecosystems but the resulting emissions can adversely affect air quality. A better understanding of the uncertainties in emission estimates and how these uncertainties affect smoke predictions is critical for model-based decision making. This study examined uncertainties associated with estimating fire emissions and how they affected smoke concentrations downwind from a prescribed burn that was conducted at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, US. Estimated variables used in the modelled emission calculation were compared with field measurements. Fuel loadings, fuel consumption and emission factors were simulated using Photo Series, Consume, and previously published values. A plume dispersion model was used to study the effect of uncertainty in emissions on ground concentration prediction. The fire emission models predicted fuel loading, fuel consumption and emission factor within 15% of measurements. Approximately 18% uncertainty in field measurements of PM2.5 emissions and 36% uncertainty attributed to variability in emission estimating models resulted respectively in 20% and 42% ground level PM2.5 concentration uncertainties in dispersion modelling using Daysmoke. Uncertainty in input emissions influences the concentrations predicted by the smoke dispersion model to the same degree as does the model’s inherent uncertainty due to turbulence.

The impact of wildfires in Ukraine on carbon flux and air quality changes by carbon-containing compounds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Savenets ◽  
Larysa Pysarenko
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Content Increase ◽  
Total Contribution ◽  
Open Burning ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Summer Maximum ◽  
The Impact

<p>Wildfires remain among the most challenging problems in Ukraine. Each year numerous cases of open burning contribute to huge carbon emissions and turn into forest fires. Using the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED4), there were studied an average burned fraction in Ukraine, which equals of about 0.2-0.3. 90% of wildfires appeared on agricultural lands. The total contribution to carbon emissions is 0.2-1.0 g·m<sup>2</sup>·month<sup>-1</sup> with the increasing trend of about 1-2 g·m<sup>2</sup>·month<sup>-1</sup> per decade. There are three periods with the highest carbon emissions: April, July-August and September-October. While a summer maximum is corresponding to unfavorable temperature and moisture regimes, the main reason of wildfires in spring and autumn is the agricultural open burning. Based on the Sentinel-5P data, it was found that wildfires significantly change the seasonality of carbon monoxide (CO) variations. If maximal CO content is mainly observed in winter at the end of the heating season, in Ukraine the highest CO values continue to exist in April until the open burning stops and the resulting forest fires are extinguished. Wildfires caused the CO content increase to 4.0–5.0 mol·m<sup>-2</sup> which is comparable to the most polluted Ukrainian industrial cities. As a result, air quality deterioration observed at the distances more than 200 km from the burned areas. Using the Enviro-HIRLAM simulations, there were estimated black carbon (BC) distribution, which showed elevated content within the lowest 3-km layer. BC content reaches 600 ppbm near the active fires, 150 ppbm at the distance up to 100 km and 30 ppbm at the distance of about 200-500 km.</p>

scholarly journals Impact of wildfires on particulate matter in the Euro-Mediterranean in 2007: sensitivity to some parameterizations of emissions in air quality models

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 785-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Majdi ◽  
Solene Turquety ◽  
Karine Sartelet ◽  
Carole Legorgeu ◽  
Laurent Menut ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
World Health ◽  
Voc Emissions ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Fire Plumes ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Statistical Dispersion ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. This study examines the uncertainties on air quality modeling associated with the integration of wildfire emissions in chemistry-transport models (CTMs). To do so, aerosol concentrations during the summer of 2007, which was marked by severe fire episodes in the Euro-Mediterranean region especially in the Balkans (20–31 July, 24–30 August 2007) and Greece (24–30 August 2007), are analyzed. Through comparisons to observations from surface networks and satellite remote sensing, we evaluate the abilities of two CTMs, Polyphemus/Polair3D and CHIMERE, to simulate the impact of fires on the regional particulate matter (PM) concentrations and optical properties. During the two main fire events, fire emissions may contribute up to 90 % of surface PM2.5 concentrations in the fire regions (Balkans and Greece), with a significant regional impact associated with long-range transport. Good general performances of the models and a clear improvement of PM2.5 and aerosol optical depth (AOD) are shown when fires are taken into account in the models with high correlation coefficients. Two sources of uncertainties are specifically analyzed in terms of surface PM2.5 concentrations and AOD using sensitivity simulations: secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from intermediate and semi-volatile organic compounds (I/S-VOCs) and emissions' injection heights. The analysis highlights that surface PM2.5 concentrations are highly sensitive to injection heights (with a sensitivity that can be as high as 50 % compared to the sensitivity to I/S-VOC emissions which is lower than 30 %). However, AOD which is vertically integrated is less sensitive to the injection heights (mostly below 20 %) but highly sensitive to I/S-VOC emissions (with sensitivity that can be as high as 40 %). The maximum statistical dispersion, which quantifies uncertainties related to fire emission modeling, is up to 75 % for PM2.5 in the Balkans and Greece, and varies between 36 % and 45 % for AOD above fire regions. The simulated number of daily exceedance of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for PM2.5 over the considered region reaches 30 days in regions affected by fires and ∼10 days in fire plumes, which is slightly underestimated compared to available observations. The maximum statistical dispersion (σ) on this indicator is also large (with σ reaching 15 days), showing the need for better understanding of the transport and evolution of fire plumes in addition to fire emissions.

Towards an improved understanding of nitrogen dioxide emissions from forest fires 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Griffin ◽  
Jack Chan ◽  
Enrico Dammers ◽  
Chris McLinden ◽  
Cristen Adams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Vertical Column ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Direct Emission

<p>Smoke from wildfires are a significant source of air pollution, which can adversely impact ecosystems and the air quality in downwind populated areas. With increasing severity of wildfires over the years, these are a significant threat to air quality in densely populated areas. Emissions from wildfires are most commonly estimated by a bottom-up approach, using proxies such fuel type, burn area, and emission factors. Emissions are also commonly derived with a top-down approach, using satellite observed Fire Radiative Power. Furthermore, wildfire emissions can also be estimated directly from satellite-borne measurements.</p><p>Here, we present advancements and improvements of direct emission estimates of forest fire NO<sub>x</sub> emissions by using TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument) high-resolution satellite datasets, including NO<sub>2</sub> vertical column densities (VCDs) and information on plume height and aerosol scattering.  The effect of smoke aerosols on the sensitivity of TROPOMI to NO<sub>2 </sub>(via air mass factors) is estimated with recalculated VCDs, and validated with aircraft observations. Different top-down emission estimation methods are tested on synthetic data to determine the accuracy, and the sensitivity to parameters, such as wind fields, satellite sampling, instrument noise, NO<sub>2</sub>:NO<sub>x</sub> conversion ratio, species atmosphere lifetime and plume spread. Lastly, the top-down, bottom-up and direct emission estimates of fire emissions are quantitatively compared.</p>

scholarly journals Fires in ecosystems and influence on the atmosphere

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Open Burning ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Air Temperature Anomaly ◽  
Maximal Average ◽  
Aerosol Index

Introduction. Fires in ecosystems, mostly after open burning, affect Ukrainian territory each year causing flora and fauna damage, soil degradation, pollutants emission, which impact air quality and human health. Fires influence the atmosphere by adding burned products and its further direct and indirect effects. Despite majority of fires are open burning, research of forest fire emissions prevail among Ukrainian scientists. Therefore, the study aimed to analyze the influence of all-type fires in Ukrainian ecosystems on substances fluxes to the atmosphere and possible changes of meteorological processes. Data and methodology. The study uses GFED4 data and inventories for analyses of forest and agricultural burned fraction, carbon and dry matter emissions for the period of 1997–2016. Additional data includes absorbed aerosol index derived from OMI (Aura) instrument and ground-based meteorological measurements. Results. Burning fraction indicates the 10 to 30% of area influencing in case of active fires. More than 90% of fires in Ukrainian ecosystems happened on the agricultural lands. The highest trends of active fires appear on the western and northern part of Ukraine, whereas burned fraction on the central territories reached up to 60% decreasing per decade. Most fires happened during two periods: March – April and July – September. The most severe fires occurred in 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2012. Average emissions in Ukraine vary from 0.2 to 1.0 g·m2·month-1 for carbon and from 0.001 to 0.003 kg·m2·month-1 for dry matter. There are three localizations of huge burning products emissions, where maximal average values reach 1.8 g·m2·month-1 for carbon and 0.005 kg·m2·month-1 for dry matter. The biggest one occurred in the Polissia forest region. Despite the maximal emission from forest fires, open burning results the biggest coverage and air quality deteriorating. Absorbing aerosol index (AAI) could be good indicator of fires in Ukrainian ecosystems and burning products emissions. Overall, AAI with values more than 0.2 correspond to dry matter emissions of 0.005–0.01 kg·m2·month-1. If AAI exceed 0.4 usual dry matter emissions exceed 0.02 kg·m2·month-1. The study finds local scale changes of air temperature and days with precipitation due to huge burning products emissions. In case of monthly average AAI exceed 1.2 during fires events, positive air temperature anomaly at the ground decrease from 0.7 to 0.1°C. The main reason is absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere. During the next month after intensive fires in ecosystems, days with precipitation have twofold decrease: from 13-14 to 7 days with precipitation more than 0 mm, and from 2-3 to 1 day with precipitation more than 5 mm. The reason might be changes of cloudiness formation due to elevated concentrations of carbonaceous aerosols. The results obtained for atmospheric changes is planned to be verified and compared using online integrated atmospheric modelling.

scholarly journals Regional atmospheric composition modeling with CHIMERE

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Menut ◽  
B. Bessagnet ◽  
D. Khvorostyanov ◽  
M. Beekmann ◽  
A. Colette ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Meteorological Model ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. Tropospheric trace gas and aerosol pollutants have adverse effects on health, environment and climate. In order to quantify and mitigate such effects, a wide range of processes leading to the formation and transport of pollutants must be considered, understood and represented in numerical models. Regional scale pollution episodes result from the combination of several factors: high emissions (from anthropogenic or natural sources), stagnant meteorological conditions, velocity and efficiency of the chemistry and the deposition. All these processes are highly variable in time and space, and their relative importance to the pollutants budgets can be quantified within a chemistry-transport models (CTM). The offline CTM CHIMERE model uses meteorological model fields and emissions fluxes and calculates deterministically their behavior in the troposphere. The calculated three-dimensional fields of chemical concentrations can be compared to measurements to analyze past periods or used to make air quality forecasts and CHIMERE has enabled a fine understanding of pollutants transport during numerous measurements campaigns. It is a part of the PREVAIR french national forecast platform, delivering pollutant concentrations up to three days in advance. The model also allows scenario studies and long term simulations for pollution trends. The modelling of photochemical air pollution has reached a good level of maturity, and the latest projects involving CHIMERE now aim at increasing our understanding of pollution impact on health at the urban scale or at the other end of the spectrum for long term air quality and climate change interlinkage studies, quantifying the emissions and transport of pollen, but also, at a larger scale, analyzing the transport of pollutants plumes emitted by volcanic eruptions and forest fires.

scholarly journals Forest-fire aerosol–weather feedbacks over western North America using a high-resolution, online coupled air-quality model

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 10557-10587
Author(s):  
Paul A. Makar ◽  
Ayodeji Akingunola ◽  
Jack Chen ◽  
Balbir Pabla ◽  
Wanmin Gong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Plume Rise ◽  
Air Quality Model ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Fire Plume ◽  
Fire Emissions

Abstract. The influence of both anthropogenic and forest-fire emissions, and their subsequent chemical and physical processing, on the accuracy of weather and air-quality forecasts, was studied using a high-resolution, online coupled air-quality model. Simulations were carried out for the period 4 July through 5 August 2019, at 2.5 km horizontal grid cell size, over a 2250×3425 km2 domain covering western Canada and USA, prior to the use of the forecast system as part of the FIREX-AQ ensemble forecast. Several large forest fires took place in the Canadian portion of the domain during the study period. A feature of the implementation was the incorporation of a new online version of the Canadian Forest Fire Emissions Prediction System (CFFEPSv4.0). This inclusion of thermodynamic forest-fire plume-rise calculations directly into the online air-quality model allowed us to simulate the interactions between forest-fire plume development and weather. Incorporating feedbacks resulted in weather forecast performance that exceeded or matched the no-feedback forecast, at greater than 90 % confidence, at most times and heights in the atmosphere. The feedback forecast outperformed the feedback forecast at 35 out of 48 statistical evaluation scores, for PM2.5, NO2, and O3. Relative to the climatological cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and aerosol optical properties used in the no-feedback simulations, the online coupled model's aerosol indirect and direct effects were shown to result in feedback loops characterized by decreased surface temperatures in regions affected by forest-fire plumes, decreases in stability within the smoke plume, increases in stability further aloft, and increased lower troposphere cloud droplet and raindrop number densities. The aerosol direct and indirect effect reduced oceanic cloud droplet number densities and increased oceanic raindrop number densities, relative to the no-feedback climatological simulation. The aerosol direct and indirect effects were responsible for changes to the near-surface PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations at greater than the 90 % confidence level near the forest fires, with O3 changes remaining below the 90 % confidence level. The simulations show that incorporating aerosol direct and indirect effect feedbacks can significantly improve the accuracy of weather and air-quality forecasts and that forest-fire plume-rise calculations within an online coupled model change the predicted fire plume dispersion and emissions, the latter through changing the meteorology driving fire intensity and fuel consumption.

scholarly journals The Environmental Effects of the April 2020 Wildfires and the Cs-137 Re-Suspension in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: A Multi-Hazard Threat

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 467
Author(s):  
Rocío Baró ◽  
Christian Maurer ◽  
Jerome Brioude ◽  
Delia Arnold ◽  
Marcus Hirtl
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Atmospheric Transport ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Plume Dispersion ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
Fire Plume ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
The Impact

This paper demonstrates the environmental impacts of the wildfires occurring at the beginning of April 2020 in and around the highly contaminated Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). Due to the critical fire location, concerns arose about secondary radioactive contamination potentially spreading over Europe. The impact of the fire was assessed through the evaluation of fire plume dispersion and re-suspension of the radionuclide Cs-137, whereas, to assess the smoke plume effect, a WRF-Chem simulation was performed and compared to Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) satellite columns. The results show agreement of the simulated black carbon and carbon monoxide plumes with the plumes as observed by TROPOMI, where pollutants were also transported to Belarus. From an air quality and health perspective, the wildfires caused extremely bad air quality over Kiev, where the WRF-Chem model simulated mean values of PM2.5 up to 300 µg/m3 (during the first fire outbreak) over CEZ. The re-suspension of Cs-137 was assessed by a Bayesian inverse modelling approach using FLEXPART as the atmospheric transport model and Ukraine observations, yielding a total release of 600 ± 200 GBq. The increase in both smoke and Cs-137 emissions was only well correlated on the 9 April, likely related to a shift of the focus area of the fires. From a radiological point of view even the highest Cs-137 values (average measured or modelled air concentrations and modelled deposition) at the measurement site closest to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, i.e., Kiev, posed no health risk.

scholarly journals Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality for Sustainable Life: A Case Study of Rural and Urban Settlements in Poor Neighbourhoods in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2417
Author(s):  
Anne Wambui Mutahi ◽  
Laura Borgese ◽  
Claudio Marchesi ◽  
Michael J. Gatari ◽  
Laura E. Depero
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Elemental Composition ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Heavy Traffic ◽  
World Health ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
Outdoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor

This paper reports on the indoor and outdoor air quality in informal urban and rural settlements in Kenya. The study is motivated by the need to improve consciousness and to understand the harmful health effects of air quality to vulnerable people, especially in poor communities. Ng’ando urban informal settlement and Leshau Pondo rural village in Kenya are selected as representative poor neighborhoods where unclean energy sources are used indoor for cooking, lighting and heating. Filter based sampling for gravimetrical, elemental composition and black carbon (BC) analysis of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) is performed. findings from Ng’ando and Leshau Pondo showed levels exceeding the limit suggested by the world health organization (WHO), with rare exceptions. Significantly higher levels of PM2.5 and black carbon are observed in indoors than outdoor samples, with a differences in the orders of magnitudes and up to 1000 µg/m3 for PM2.5 in rural settlements. The elemental composition reveals the presence of potentially toxic elements, in addition to characterization, emission sources were also identified. Levels of Pb exceeding the WHO limit are found in the majority of samples collected in the urban locations near major roads with heavy traffic. Our results demonstrate that most of the households live in deplorable air quality conditions for more than 12 h a day and women and children are more affected. Air quality condition is much worse in rural settlements where wood and kerosene are the only available fuels for their energy needs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document