ACPD Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ACPD 1680-7375 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acpd-3-6019-2003 Commentary on “Improving the seasonal cycle and interannual variations of biomass burning aerosol sources" by Generoso et al. Giglio L. 1 Kendall J. D. 1 Science Systems and Applications, Inc., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 923, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA 27 11 2003 3 6 6019 6027 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/3/6019/2003/acpd-3-6019-2003.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/3/6019/2003/acpd-3-6019-2003.pdf

In a recent published paper, Generoso et al. (2003), describe a method for improving the spatial and temporal distribution of pyrogenic aerosol emission inventories. In the course of their analysis, the authors note several significant discrepancies in the seasonality of burning as observed by the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) and four other biomass burning data sets derived from satellite observations. In this commentary we explain the source of these discrepancies and clarify the origin of the VIRS observations that were used by Generoso et al.