Characterizing Particulate Matter Emissions by Wildland Fires Relevant to Visibility Impairment and PM Non-Attainment
Malm W. 2006. Characterizing Particulate Matter Emissions by Wildland Fires Relevant to Visibility Impairment and PM Non-Attainment. JFSP Project Number 05-3-1-06. National Park Service, Air Resources Division. Fort Collins, Colorado
Carbonaceous aerosols, which include contributions from industrial and mobile source emissions and biomass combustion, exert a significant impact on regional air quality. Some preliminary semi-quantitative analyses suggest that smoke from fire-related activity may contribute significantly to observed organic mass concentrations. Further, these emissions have resulted in increased conflicts with the need to attain air quality standards, especially for particulate matter (PM) and visibility, as mandated by the Clean Air Act. However, federal land managers and policy makers currently lack several important tools needed for air quality assessments: composition profiles and analytical techniques necessary to differentiate carbonaceous aerosols originating from industrial and mobile source activity and those from fire emissions; measurement-based PM mass emissions rates for relevant fuels and combustion conditions; and reasonable optical properties and optical property emission rates to attach to fire emissions.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Malm, William
- Date of Issue
- 2006
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Air Resources Division
- Units
- PWR
- Keywords
- Aerosols, Air Quality, emmisions, FIRE, particular matter, Smoke