Evaluation of Global Biomass Burning Carbon Emission Estimates using Fire Radiative Power
Abstract
Characterizing fire intensity, frequency, and biomass burning emissions from satellite observations has effectively been demonstrated in numerous studies. Recent investigations to quantify the radiative energy liberated during combustion have offered an independent method to estimate the associated rate and total biomass consumption, as well as estimates of atmospheric loading of aerosols and trace gases. In order to provide the most effective product for modeling schemes, estimates and corresponding coefficients should have broad applicability; from regional to global scale. Here we present the results of our analysis of the MODIS fire radiative power (FRP) climate modeling grid (CMG) product and a new aerosol based estimate of organic and black carbon emissions. The relationship was examined for a single year of data (2001) using 14 discrete regions to stratify most of the Earth's terrestrial surface. Analysis was performed at the fire CMG resolution of 0.5˚ x 0.5˚. The strength of the relationship between fire radiative energy and organic and black carbon emissions (OC and BC, respectively) varied between regions with the strongest agreement in the Southern Hemisphere of Africa (SHFA) (R2 = 0.8834). We used the SHFA region's emission coefficient to normalize the total annual emissions (TgC) of OC and BC. After incorporating methods used by van der Werf et al. (2006), including the dry matter conversion and stratified regions, we compared our results for total carbon emissions in each region. The relationship between their reported total carbon emitted and our estimate of OC and BC particulate emitted for 2001 in each region was strong (R2=0.9). Moreover, the slope is representative of the emission factor for total carbon particulate matter expressed by several other authors.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AGUFM.A53D0231V
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345;
- 4801;
- 4906)