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Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 11, 16611-16637, 2011
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/16611/2011/ doi:10.5194/acpd-11-16611-2011 © Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. |
ACE-FTS measurements of trace species in the characterization of biomass burning plumes
1Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
2UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Université Versailles St-Quentin, CNRS/INSU, LATMOS-IPSL, Paris, France
3Spectroscopie de l'Atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et de Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium
Abstract. To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emission on atmospheric composition, we report measurements of trace species from biomass burning plumes made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) instrument on the SCISAT-1 satellite. An extensive set of 15 molecules, C2H2, C2H6, CH3OH, CH4, CO, H2CO, HCN, HCOOH, HNO3, NO, NO2, N2O5, O3, OCS and SF6 are used in our analysis. Even though most biomass burning smoke is typically confined to the boundary layer, much of these emissions are injected directly into the free troposphere via fire-related convective processes and transported away from the emission region. Further knowledge of the aging of biomass burning emission in the free troposphere is needed. Tracer-tracer correlations are made between known pyrogenic species in these plumes in an effort to classify them and follow their chemical evolution. Criteria such as age and type of biomass material burned are considered. Emission factors are derived and compared to airborne measurements of biomass burning from numerous ecosystems to validate the ACE-FTS data.
Citation: Tereszchuk, K. A., González Abad, G., Clerbaux, C., Hurtmans, D., Coheur, P.-F., and Bernath, P. F.: ACE-FTS measurements of trace species in the characterization of biomass burning plumes, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 11, 16611-16637, doi:10.5194/acpd-11-16611-2011, 2011.