Resource Catalog
Document
Biomass burning is a major source of many atmospheric trace gases and aerosol particles (Crutzen and Andreae 1990). These compounds and particulates affect public health, regional air quality, air chemistry, and global climate. It is difficult to assess quantitatively the impact wildfires have on the environment because of the uncertainty in determining the size of burned areas and the amount of emitted pollutants and greenhouse gases. However, they can be estimated using data gathered daily from burned areas by MODIS satellite, experimental results of aboveground biomass burning, and the emission factors of different compounds. This technique was used to estimate the daily emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and particles less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) from the Hayman Fire from June 9 to June 27, 2002, when approximately 138,000 acres were burned.
Cataloging Information
- biomass
- Colorado
- fuel treatments
- Hayman Fire
- MODIS satellite
- wildfire