Examination of Smoke Maker Ratios from Controlled Laboratory Burns vs. Wildfires and Prescribed Burns

Biomass burning is one of the main sources of organic carbon (OC) aerosols. Therefore, it is important to be able to determine the contribution of biomass burning to the total OC concentration. The most common method employed to make this determination is through the use of smoke marker measurements. The key to making a smoke marker measurement is that a ratio of the smoke marker to the total OC concentration must be known at the source. However, there is still much uncertainty in these ratios, especially for biomass burning emissions from wildfires and prescribed burning. Therefore, in this work, we aim to try to better understand the smoke marker ratios for this type of burning. Comparisons between source samples collected at the Fire Science Lab in Missoula, MT from the FLAME (Fire Science at Missoula Experiment) studies and samples collected from various wildfires and prescribed burns across the U.S. will be made. Smoke markers such as potassium and various carbohydrates (e.g., levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan) will be explored. How parameters such as fuel type, burning conditions, and sampling location might play a role will also be discussed.