Rapid evolution of aerosol particles and their optical properties downwind of wildfires in the western US

During the first phase of the Biomass Burn Operational Project (BBOP) field campaign, conducted in the Pacific Northwest, the DOE G-1 aircraft was used to follow the time evolution of wildfire smoke from near the point of emission to locations 2–3.5 h downwind. In nine flights we made repeated transects of wildfire plumes at varying downwind distances and could thereby follow the plume's time evolution. On average there was little change in dilution-normalized aerosol mass concentration as a function of downwind distance. This consistency hides a dynamic system in which primary aerosol particles are evaporating and secondary ones condensing. Organic aerosol is oxidized as a result. On all transects more than 90 % of aerosol is organic. In freshly emitted smoke aerosol, NH4+ is approximately equivalent to NO3. After 2 h of daytime aging, NH4+ increased and is approximately equivalent to the sum of Cl, SO42, and NO3. Particle size increased with downwind distance, causing particles to be more efficient scatters. Averaged over nine flights, mass scattering efficiency (MSE) increased in ∼ 2 h by 56 % and doubled in one flight. Mechanisms for redistributing mass from small to large particles are discussed. Coagulation is effective at moving aerosol from the Aitken to accumulation modes but yields only a minor increase in MSE. As absorption remained nearly constant with age, the time evolution of single scatter albedo was controlled by age-dependent scattering. Near-fire aerosol had a single scatter albedo (SSA) of 0.8–0.9. After 1 to 2 h of aging SSAs were typically 0.9 and greater. Assuming global-average surface and atmospheric conditions, the observed age dependence in SSA would change the direct radiative effect of a wildfire plume from near zero near the fire to a cooling effect downwind.

Rapid Evolution of Aerosol Particles and their Optical Properties Downwind of Wildfires in the Western U.S.

During the first phase of the Biomass Burn Operational Project (BBOP) field campaign, conducted in the Pacific Northwest, the DOE G-1 aircraft was used to follow the time evolution of wildfire smoke from near the point of emission to locations 2–3.5 hours downwind. In nine flights we made repeated transects of wildfire plumes at varying downwind distances and could thereby follow the plume's time evolution. On average there was little change in dilution-normalized aerosol mass concentration as a function of downwind distance. This consistency hides a dynamic system in which primary aerosol particles are evaporating and secondary ones condensing. Organic aerosol is oxidized as a result. On all transect more than 90 % of aerosol is organic. In freshly emitted smoke aerosol, NH4+ is approximately equivalent to NO3−. After two hours of daytime aging, NH4+ increased and is approximately equivalent to the sum of Cl−, SO42− and NO3−. Particle size increased with downwind distance causing particles to be more efficient scatters. Averaged over nine flights, mass scattering efficiency increased in ~ two hours by 56 % and in one fight doubled. Coagulation and material transport from small to large particles are discussed as mechanisms for increasing particle size. As absorption remained nearly constant with age the time evolution of single scatter albedo was controlled by age-dependent scattering. Near-fire aerosol had a single scatter albedo (SSA) of 0.8–0.9. After one to two hours of aging SSAs were typically 0.9 and greater. Assuming global-average surface and atmospheric conditions, the observed age-dependence in SSA would change the direct radiative effect of a wildfire plume from near zero near the fire to a cooling effect downwind.

Off-target movement assessment of dicamba in North America

Six experiments were conducted in 2018 on field sites located in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ontario, and Wisconsin to evaluate the off-target movement (OTM) of dicamba under field-scale conditions. The highest estimated percentages of dicamba injury in non–dicamba-resistant (DR) soybean were 55%, 44%, 39%, 67%, 15%, and 44% injury for noncovered areas and 55%, 5%, 13%, 42%, 0%, and 41% injury for covered areas during dicamba application in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ontario, and Wisconsin, respectively. The level of injury generally decreased as the downwind distance increased under covered and noncovered areas at all sites. There was an estimated 10% injury in non-DR soybean at 113, 8, 11, 8, and 8 m; and estimated 1% injury at 293, 28, 71, 15, and 19 m from the edge of treated fields downwind when plants were not covered during dicamba application in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, and Wisconsin, respectively. Assessment of filter-paper collectors placed from 4 to 137 m downwind from the edge of the sprayed area suggested the dicamba deposition reduced exponentially with distance. The greatest injury to non-DR soybean from dicamba OTM occurred at Nebraska and Arkansas (as far as 250 m). Non-DR soybean injury was greatest adjacent to the dicamba sprayed area, but injury decreased with no injury beyond 20 m downwind or in any other direction from the dicamba sprayed area in Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, and Wisconsin. The presence of soybean injury under covered and noncovered areas during the spray period for primary drift suggests that secondary movement of dicamba was evident at five sites. Additional research is needed to determine the exact forms of secondary movement of dicamba under different environmental conditions.

Diffusion Law and Simulation Analysis of Radon in Uranium Tailings Based on Multiple Gauss Plume Model

The radon from uranium tailings spreads fast and has a wide range of pollution, which poses a potential radiation hazard to the environment and the public in downwind region. In this paper, the open and naked uranium tailings are selected as research object. By setting up multiple Gaussian plume models with single point source, the diffusion of radon in the uranium tailings is simulated with different atmospheric stability, average wind speed, height and downwind distance. The results show that the maximum radon concentration increases while the related downwind distance decreases as the atmospheric becoming stable. The higher wind speed does not affect the downwind distance where the maximum radon concentration occurs, but it decreases the maximum radon concentration. The concentration of radon in residential area decreases but the decreasing rate speeds up with height going up. The distribution of radon in vertical and horizontal direction tends to be homogeneous while the near-surface area concentration decreases rapidly as farther downwind distance.

Downwind evolution of the volatility and mixing state of near-road aerosols near a US interstate highway

We present spatial measurements of particle volatility and mixing state at a site near a North Carolina interstate highway (I-40) applying several heating (thermodenuder; TD) experimental approaches. Measurements were conducted in summer 2015 and winter 2016 in a roadside trailer (10 m from road edge) and during downwind transects at different distances from the highway under favorable wind conditions using a mobile platform. Results show that the relative abundance of semi-volatile species (SVOCs) in ultrafine particles decreases with downwind distance, which is consistent with the dilution and mixing of traffic-sourced particles with background air and evaporation of semi-volatile species during downwind transport. An evaporation kinetics model was used to derive particle volatility distributions by fitting TD data. While the TD-derived distribution apportions about 20–30 % of particle mass as semi-volatile (SVOCs; effective saturation concentration, C∗ ≥ 1µm−3) at 10 m from the road edge, approximately 10 % of particle mass is attributed to SVOCs at 220 m, showing that the particle-phase semi-volatile fraction decreases with downwind distance. The relative abundance of semi-volatile material in the particle phase increased during winter. Downwind spatial gradients of the less volatile particle fraction (that remaining after heating at 180 °C) were strongly correlated with black carbon (BC). BC size distribution and mixing state measured using a single-particle soot photometer (SP2) at the roadside trailer showed that a large fraction (70–80 %) of BC particles were externally mixed. Heating experiments with a volatility tandem differential mobility analyzer (V-TDMA) also showed that the nonvolatile fraction in roadside aerosols is mostly externally mixed. V-TDMA measurements at different distances downwind from the highway indicate that the mixing state of roadside aerosols does not change significantly (e.g., BC mostly remains externally mixed) within a few hundred meters from the highway. Our analysis indicates that a superposition of volatility distributions measured in laboratory vehicle tests and of background aerosol can be used to represent the observed partitioning of near-road particles. The results from this study show that exposures and impacts of BC and semi-volatile organics-containing particles in a roadside microenvironment may differ across seasons and under changing ambient conditions.

Reducing Pollen Dispersal using Forest Windbreaks

The adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crops has created a demand for practical methods to mitigate pollen dispersal and gene flow. The goal of this project was to measure the ability of a narrow forest windbreak to reduce downwind pollen fluxes from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a North American grass and model biofuels feedstock. Switchgrass fields were established in two identical plots where one had a forest windbreak and the other was in an open (control) site. Switchgrass reproduction, pollen dispersal, wind speed, and wind direction were measured over two years. Daily release of switchgrass pollen peaked at 11:00-13:30 during a flowering period that lasted about 44 days. The best estimate for switchgrass pollen source strength (PSS) was 141 × 109 pollen/season/hectare for fields planted at commercial densities. The forest windbreak consistently decreased downwind switchgrass pollen concentrations by 333-20,000 fold compared to the control plot which had a 58-77 fold decrease due to downwind distance alone. These results suggest that forest windbreaks could be used as a barrier to reduce pollen dispersal and gene flow from switchgrass and other crops.Research HighlightA narrow forest windbreak greatly decreased downwind pollen concentrations from a switchgrass field suggesting that trees can reduce crop gene flow, enhance coexistence between farming systems, and provide ecosystem services.

Downwind evolution of the volatility and mixing state of near-road aerosols near a US interstate highway

We present spatial measurements of particle volatility and mixing state at a site near a North Carolina interstate highway (I-40) applying several heating (thermodenuder; TD) experimental approaches. Measurements were conducted in summer 2015 and winter 2016 in a roadside trailer (10 m from road edge) and during downwind transects at different distances from the highway under favorable wind conditions using a mobile platform. Results show that the relative abundance of semi-volatile species (SVOCs) in ultrafine particles decreases with downwind distance, consistent with the dilution and mixing of traffic-sourced particles with background air and evaporation of semi-volatile species during downwind transport. An evaporation kinetics model was used to derive particle volatility distributions by fitting TD data. While the TD-derived distribution apportions about 20–30 % of particle mass as semi-volatile (SVOCs; effective saturation concentration, C* ≥ 1µm−3) at 10 m from road edge, approximately 10 % of particle mass is attributed to SVOCs at 220 m, showing that the particle-phase semi-volatile fraction decreases with downwind distance. The relative abundance of semi-volatile material in the particle-phase increased during winter. Downwind spatial gradients of the less-volatile particle fraction (that remaining after heating at 180 °C) was strongly correlated with black carbon (BC). BC size distribution and mixing state measured using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) at the roadside trailer showed that a large fraction (70–80 %) of BC particles were externally-mixed. Heating experiments with a volatility tandem differential mobility analyzer (V-TDMA) also showed that the non-volatile fraction in roadside aerosols are mostly externally mixed. V-TDMA measurements at different distances downwind from the highway indicate that mixing state of roadside aerosols does not change significantly (e.g., BC mostly remains externally mixed) within a few hundred meters from the highway. A preliminary analysis indicates that a super-position of volatility distributions measured in laboratory vehicle tests and of ``background'' aerosol can be used to represent the observed partitioning of near-road particles. The results from this study highlight that exposures and impacts of BC and semi-volatile organics containing particles in a near-road microenvironment may differ across seasons and under changing ambient conditions.

Spray Drift from Dicamba and Glyphosate Applications in a Wind Tunnel

With the recent introductions of glyphosate- and dicamba-tolerant crops, such as soybean and cotton, there will be an increase in POST-applied tank-mixtures of these two herbicides. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate drift from dicamba applications. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dicamba with and without glyphosate sprayed through standard and air induction flat-fan nozzles on droplet spectrum and drift potential in a low-speed wind tunnel. Two standard (XR and TT) and two air induction (AIXR and TTI) 110015 nozzles were used. The applications were made at 276 kPa pressure in a 2.2 ms−1 wind speed. Herbicide treatments evaluated included dicamba alone at 560 gaeha−1 and dicamba+glyphosate at 560+1,260 gaeha−1. The droplet spectrum was measured using a laser diffraction system. Artificial targets were used as drift collectors, positioned in a wind tunnel from 2 to 12 m downwind from the nozzle. Drift potential was determined using a fluorescent tracer added to solutions, quantified by fluorimetry. Dicamba droplet spectrum and drift depended on the association between herbicide solution and nozzle type. Dicamba alone produced coarser droplets than dicamba+glyphosate when sprayed through air induction nozzles. Drift decreased exponentially as downwind distance increased and it was reduced using air induction nozzles for both herbicide solutions.

Wake Effect and Power Production of Wind Turbine Arrays

This study experimentally investigated the influence of wake effect and production of mechanical power in wind tunnel of wind turbine arrays. Wind turbine arrays consist of 2 rows with 3 columns for spacing wind turbines in rows apart in the windward direction 1.77 rotor diameters and apart in the crosswind direction 8.85 rotor diameters. The wake characteristics such as profiles of time averaged velocity, turbulence intensity, centerline velocity deficit and wake radius for far wake regions in position 1, 2, and 3 were measured and analysed. The vertical and lateral profiles of velocity and turbulence intensity were studied. Concerning the results from measured data, empirical relations for the centerline velocity deficit, turbulence intensity and wake radius were proposed. Based on the experimental results, the power loss is due to the wake flow of upwind turbine approximately 20% when the downwind distance 8.85 rotor diameters. This is different with numerical result study that 11% at downwind distance is 8.85 rotor diameters. This difference results from the influence of ambient turbulence on the production of mechanical power of the wind turbine.