Quantifying Contribution of Biomass Burning to Air Quality in Africa

It is estimated that 54% of global biomass burning every year occurs in Africa due to the high concentration and frequency of fires in this region. We report on an enhanced aerosol optical depth captured by NASA AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) sun photometer located at All Nations University College (6.2N, 0.3W) in 2016 presume to be triggered by fires. We also employ NASA's Global Modeling Initiative Chemistry and Transport Model (GMI-CTM) to quantify the contribution of the fires to air quality.