Reconstructing Fire Records from Ground-Based Routine Aerosol Monitoring

Long-term fire records are important to understanding the trend of biomass burning and its interactions with air quality and climate at regional and global scales. Traditionally, such data have been compiled from ground surveys or satellite remote sensing. To obtain aerosol information during a fire event to use in analyzing air quality, we propose a new method of developing a long-term fire record for the contiguous United States using an unconventional data source: ground-based aerosol monitoring. Assisted by satellite fire detection, the mass concentration, size distribution, and chemical composition data of surface aerosols collected from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network are examined to identify distinct aerosol characteristics during satellite-detected fire and non-fire periods. During a fire episode, elevated aerosol concentrations and heavy smoke are usually recorded by ground monitors and satellite sensors. Based on the unique physical and chemical characteristics of fire-dominated aerosols reported in the literature, we analyzed the surface aerosol observations from the IMPROVE network during satellite-detected fire events to establish a set of indicators to identify fire events from routine aerosol monitoring data. Five fire identification criteria were chosen: (1) high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 (particles smaller than 2.5 and 10 in diameters, respectively); (2) a high PM2.5/PM10 ratio; (3) high organic carbon (OC/PM2.5) and elemental carbon (EC/PM2.5) ratios; (4) a high potassium (K/PM2.5) ratio; and (5) a low soil/PM2.5 ratio. Using these criteria, we are able to identify a number of fire episodes close to 15 IMPROVE monitors from 2001 to 2011. Most of these monitors are located in the Western and Central United States. In any given year within the study period fire events often occurred between April and September, especially in the two months of April and September. This ground-based fire climatology is also consistent with that derived from satellite retrievals. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to reconstruct historic records of fire events based on continuous ground aerosol monitoring. This dataset can provide not only fire activity information but also fire-induced aerosol surface concentrations and chemical composition that can be used to verify satellite-based products and evaluate air quality and climate modeling results. However, caution needs to be exercised because these indicators are based on a limited number of fire events, and the proposed methodology should be further tested and confirmed in future research

东北地区农业源一次颗粒物排放清单研究

采用自下而上的清单编制方法,搜集各农业环节(秸秆燃烧、整地、收割、谷物处理、化肥施用、农机排放、风蚀)排放因子、作物面积和耕作方式等信息,编制了2010年东北地区县级尺度的农业一次颗粒物(PM_(10)和PM_(2.5))排放清单,并分析了农业源颗粒物排放的时空分布特征.结果表明:1)2010年东北地区农业源一次颗粒物PM_(10)总排放量54.6万t,PM_(2.5)总排放量35.6万t;2)东北地区农业源一次颗粒物PM_(10)排放量最大的农业活动环节是秸秆燃烧,占农业源总排放量的比例为60%,秸秆燃烧排放PM_(2.5)占PM_(2.5)农业源排放量的87%,整地环节是一次颗粒物排放的第2大农业排放源,对农业源排放PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)总量的贡献率分别是27%和6%; 3)PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)的排放强度空间分布表明,东北地区农业源颗粒物排放区域集中在黑龙江省东北部和中部地区,吉林省中部和辽宁省中部地区; 4)PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)排放的时间变化特征显示,PM_(10)农业源排放年变化曲线中,5月份和9、10月份是农业源排放一次颗粒物PM_(10)较多的月份,PM_(2.5)排放集中在9、10月份;5)本研究估算的污染物排放清单的不确定性为184.3%.未来的工作将侧重于典型农业区本土排放因子测定,从而有效减小排放清单的不确定性