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A Collection of Airborne Measurements and Analyses of Trace Gases Emitted from Multiple Fires in California
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  • Laura T Iraci,
  • Caroline Parworth,
  • Emma L Yates,
  • Josette E Marrero,
  • Ju-Mee Ryoo
Laura T Iraci
NASA Ames Research Center

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Caroline Parworth
NASA Ames Research Center
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Emma L Yates
NASA Ames Research Center
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Josette E Marrero
NASA Ames Research Center
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Ju-Mee Ryoo
NASA Ames Research Center
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Abstract

Biomass burning is an important source of trace gases and particles, and can influence air quality on local, regional, and global scales. With the threat of wildfire events increasing due to changes in land use, increasing population, and climate change, the importance of characterizing wildfire emissions is vital. In this work we characterize trace gas emissions from 12 wildfires and 1 prescribed fire in California between 2013 and 2017, in some cases with multiple measurements performed during different burn periods of a specific fire. Airborne measurements of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, formaldehyde, water vapor, temperature and 3-dimensional winds were made by the Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) and [has been/will soon be] published at NASA’s Airborne Science Data Center (doi:10.5067/ASDC/AJAX/wildfire). The majority of these measurements were made as close as possible to each fire and represent fresh emissions from known fire sources. This set of observations from 13 different fires offers the opportunity to explore trace gas emissions over a range of meteorology, fire conditions, and to a lesser extent, vegetation type and drought, and adds to the body of knowledge collected by other investigators and field campaigns.
Apr 2022Published in Earth and Space Science volume 9 issue 4. 10.1029/2021EA002116