Analyzing the Impact of Evolving Combustion Conditions on the Composition of Wildfire Emissions Using Satellite Data

Lindsey D. Anderson; Barbara Dix; Jordan Schnell; Robert Yokelson; J. Pepijn Veefkind; Ravan Ahmadov; Joost de Gouw

doi:10.1029/2023GL105811

Analyzing the Impact of Evolving Combustion Conditions on the Composition of Wildfire Emissions Using Satellite Data

Lindsey D. Anderson, Barbara Dix, Jordan Schnell, Robert Yokelson, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Ravan Ahmadov, Joost de Gouw

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Wildfires have become larger and more frequent because of climate change, increasing their impact on air pollution. Air quality forecasts and climate models do not currently account for changes in the composition of wildfire emissions during the commonly observed progression from more flaming to smoldering combustion. Laboratory measurements have consistently shown decreased nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) relative to carbon monoxide (CO) over time, as they transitioned from more flaming to smoldering combustion, while formaldehyde (HCHO) relative to CO remained constant. Here, we show how daily ratios between column densities of NO₂ versus those of CO and HCHO versus CO from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) changed for large wildfires in the Western United States. TROPOMI-derived emission ratios were lower than those from the laboratory. We discuss reasons for the discrepancies, including how representative laboratory burns are of wildfires, the effect of aerosols on trace gas retrievals, and atmospheric chemistry in smoke plumes.

Original language	English
Article number	e2023GL105811
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	50
Issue number	23
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105811
State	Published - Dec 16 2023

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant (DGE 2040434), NOAA under Grant (NA22OAR4310538), and the NOAA GSL/CIRES Summer Research Program. This work used Copernicus data from the Sentinel‐5 Precursor. The authors gratefully acknowledge those who make TROPOMI, FRP, and FIREX‐AQ data available. Additionally, we thank NASA ARSET for their training on the analysis of NO observations from TROPOMI, which is available in Follette‐Cook and Gupta ( 2019 ). 2 This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant (DGE 2040434), NOAA under Grant (NA22OAR4310538), and the NOAA GSL/CIRES Summer Research Program. This work used Copernicus data from the Sentinel-5 Precursor. The authors gratefully acknowledge those who make TROPOMI, FRP, and FIREX-AQ data available. Additionally, we thank NASA ARSET for their training on the analysis of NO2 observations from TROPOMI, which is available in Follette-Cook and Gupta (2019).

Funders	Funder number
DGE 2040434
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	NA22OAR4310538

Keywords

air quality
biomass burning emissions
remote sensing

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1029/2023GL105811

Cite this

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title = "Analyzing the Impact of Evolving Combustion Conditions on the Composition of Wildfire Emissions Using Satellite Data",

abstract = "Wildfires have become larger and more frequent because of climate change, increasing their impact on air pollution. Air quality forecasts and climate models do not currently account for changes in the composition of wildfire emissions during the commonly observed progression from more flaming to smoldering combustion. Laboratory measurements have consistently shown decreased nitrogen dioxide (NO2) relative to carbon monoxide (CO) over time, as they transitioned from more flaming to smoldering combustion, while formaldehyde (HCHO) relative to CO remained constant. Here, we show how daily ratios between column densities of NO2 versus those of CO and HCHO versus CO from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) changed for large wildfires in the Western United States. TROPOMI-derived emission ratios were lower than those from the laboratory. We discuss reasons for the discrepancies, including how representative laboratory burns are of wildfires, the effect of aerosols on trace gas retrievals, and atmospheric chemistry in smoke plumes.",

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AU - Anderson, Lindsey D.

AU - Dix, Barbara

AU - Schnell, Jordan

AU - Yokelson, Robert

AU - Veefkind, J. Pepijn

AU - Ahmadov, Ravan

AU - de Gouw, Joost

PY - 2023/12/16

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N2 - Wildfires have become larger and more frequent because of climate change, increasing their impact on air pollution. Air quality forecasts and climate models do not currently account for changes in the composition of wildfire emissions during the commonly observed progression from more flaming to smoldering combustion. Laboratory measurements have consistently shown decreased nitrogen dioxide (NO2) relative to carbon monoxide (CO) over time, as they transitioned from more flaming to smoldering combustion, while formaldehyde (HCHO) relative to CO remained constant. Here, we show how daily ratios between column densities of NO2 versus those of CO and HCHO versus CO from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) changed for large wildfires in the Western United States. TROPOMI-derived emission ratios were lower than those from the laboratory. We discuss reasons for the discrepancies, including how representative laboratory burns are of wildfires, the effect of aerosols on trace gas retrievals, and atmospheric chemistry in smoke plumes.

AB - Wildfires have become larger and more frequent because of climate change, increasing their impact on air pollution. Air quality forecasts and climate models do not currently account for changes in the composition of wildfire emissions during the commonly observed progression from more flaming to smoldering combustion. Laboratory measurements have consistently shown decreased nitrogen dioxide (NO2) relative to carbon monoxide (CO) over time, as they transitioned from more flaming to smoldering combustion, while formaldehyde (HCHO) relative to CO remained constant. Here, we show how daily ratios between column densities of NO2 versus those of CO and HCHO versus CO from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) changed for large wildfires in the Western United States. TROPOMI-derived emission ratios were lower than those from the laboratory. We discuss reasons for the discrepancies, including how representative laboratory burns are of wildfires, the effect of aerosols on trace gas retrievals, and atmospheric chemistry in smoke plumes.

KW - air quality

KW - biomass burning emissions

KW - remote sensing

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DO - 10.1029/2023GL105811

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Analyzing the Impact of Evolving Combustion Conditions on the Composition of Wildfire Emissions Using Satellite Data

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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