Characterization of biomass burning particles: chemical composition and processing

During the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation (ITCT) mission in April and May of 2002, a forest fire plume was intercepted over Utah on May 19. Gas phase species acetonitrile (CH₃CN) (a biomass burning tracer) and carbon monoxide (CO) measured greater than five fold enhancements over background concentrations during this plume crossing. In the 100 sec plume crossing, the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument acquired 202 positive mass spectra of biomass burning particles. Many of these particles contained potassium in addition to organics, carbon, and NO⁺ (which is a signature for any nitrogen containing compound such as ammonium or nitrate). From characterization of the particle mass spectra obtained during the plume crossing, a qualitative signature has been determined for identifying biomass burning particles. By applying this analysis to the entire ITCT mission, several transport events of smoke plumes have been identified and were confirmed by gas phase measurements. Additional species, such as sulfate, found in the mass spectra of the transported particles indicated processing or aging of the biomass burning particles that had taken place. The analysis has been extended to other field missions (Crystal-Face, ACCENT, and WAM) to identify biomass burning particles without the added benefit of gas phase measurements.