Airborne characterization of smoke marker ratios from prescribed burning

A. P. Sullivan, A. A. May, T. Lee, G. R. McMeeking, S. M. Kreidenweis, S. K. Akagi, R. J. Yokelson, S. P. Urbanski, J. L. Collett

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46 Scopus citations

Abstract

A Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler-Total Organic Carbon (PILS-TOC) and fraction collector system was flown aboard a Twin Otter aircraft sampling prescribed burning emissions in South Carolina in November 2011 to obtain smoke marker measurements. The fraction collector provided 2 min time-integrated offline samples for carbohydrate (i.e., smoke markers levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan) analysis by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Each fire location appeared to have a unique δlevoglucosanδwater-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) ratio (RF01/RF02/RF03/RF05 Combining double low line 0.163 ± 0.007 μ4g C μ gg-1 C, RF08 Combining double low line 0.115 ± 0.011 μg C μgg-1 C, RF09A Combining double low line 0.072 ± 0.028 μg C μgg-1 C, and RF09B Combining double low line 0.042 ± 0.008 μg C μgg-1 C, where RF means research flight). These ratios were comparable to those obtained from controlled laboratory burns and suggested that the emissions sampled during RF01/F02/RF03/RF05 were dominated by the burning of grasses, RF08 by leaves, RF09A by needles, and RF09B by marsh grasses. These findings were further supported by the δ;galactosan/δlevoglucosan ratios (RF01/RF02/RF03/RF05 Combining double low line 0.067 ± 0.004 μg μgg-1, RF08 Combining double low line 0.085 ± 0.009 μg μgg-1, and RF09A Combining double low line 0.101 ± 0.029 μg μgg-1) obtained as well as by the ground-based fuel and filter sample analyses during RF01/RF02/RF03/RF05. Differences between δpotassium/δlevoglucosan ratios obtained for these prescribed fires vs. laboratory-scale measurements suggest that some laboratory burns may not accurately represent potassium emissions from prescribed burns. The δlevoglucosan/δWSOC ratio had no clear dependence on smoke age or fire dynamics suggesting that this ratio is more dependent on the type of fuel being burned. Levoglucosan was stable over a timescale of at least 1.5 h and could be useful to help estimate the air quality impacts of biomass burning.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10535-10545
Number of pages11
JournalAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Volume14
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 9 2014

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