A Comparison of PM1 Emissions in Smoke Plumes from Aircraft UHSAS and CO2 Measurements During the WE-CAN and MILAGRO Campaigns
Abstract
Particle size distributions measured from aircraft with ultra-high sensitivity aerosol spectrometers (UHSAS) are correlated with measurements of carbon dioxide to determine aerosol emission factors in wildfire smoke plumes. This presentation will compare and contrast results obtained from research aircraft during the 2006 Megacity Initiative Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO) campaign and over the United States during the 2018 Western Wildfire for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption, and Nitrogen (WE-CAN) campaign. During MILAGRO, a U.S. Forest Service Twin Otter sampled within smoke close to the emission source (some plumes being only a few minutes old) to downrange (e.g., smoke a day or two old), whereas during WE-CAN, smoke plumes were typically sampled by the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft within a few hours of emission. These results allow for a comparison of the evolution of sub-micron particulate volume densities (related to the particulate matter quantity PM1) and size distributions to examine growth due to uptake of semi-volatile compounds and evaporation as the smoke mixes into cleaner background air. In addition, we examine the uncertainties in size distributions and particulate volume densities due to instrument issues such as coincidence counting and saturation of the avalanche photodiode detector used for sizing the smallest and most numerous particles.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.A31K2861T
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0322 Constituent sources and sinks;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0345 Pollution: urban and regional;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE