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Biomass burning is significant to emission estimates because: (1) it can be a major contributor of particulate matter and other pollutants; (2) it is one of the most poorly documented of all sources; (3) it can adversely affect human health; and (4) it has been identified as a…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Climate, Communications, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Occurrence, Fuels, Intelligence, Mapping, Monitoring and Inventory, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Great Basin, Northwest, Southwest
Keywords: agriculture, air quality, Arizona, biomass, biomass burning, fire frequency, fire management, fire size, forest management, fuel loading, GIS, national parks, Oregon, ozone, particulates, pollution, private lands, radiation, range management, rangelands, remote sensing, smoke management, wildfires, biomass burning, remote sensing, area burned, Environmental Protection Agency, climate change, Arizona and Oregon

Smoke from fire is a local, regional and often international issue that is growing in complexity as competition for airshed resources increases. BlueSky is a smoke modeling framework designed to help address this problem by enabling simulations of the cumulative smoke impacts…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES, TTRS
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fuels, Models, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: air quality, BlueSky, British Columbia, Canada, Cascades Range, competition, cropland fires, ecosystem dynamics, fire case histories, fire management, fire regimes, fire size, fuel loading, fuel management, Idaho, land management, Montana, Oregon, remote sensing, smoke management, Washington, wildfires, BlueSky Modeling Framework, FERA - Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team

Atmospheric mercury is composed primarily of Hg0 (>95%), but Hg+2 and particle bound mercury are also found in some environments. The three forms of mercury were measured at the Mount Bachelor Observatory beginning in 2005. Using data gathered from 2005 to 2007, 15 periods…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northwest
Keywords: aerosols, air quality, biomass, biomass burning, combustion, fire management, Hg - mercury, Oregon, particulates, smoke management, wildfires, Hg - mercury, wildfire, biomass burning

This paper presents an operational approach to predicting fire growth for wildland fires in Canada. The approach addresses data assimilation to provide predictions in a timely and efficient manner. Fuels and elevation grids, forecast weather, and active fire locations are…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Fire Ecology, Emissions and Smoke, Fuels, Models, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: Alberta, Canada, cover, elevation, fire case histories, fire danger rating, fire growth, fire management, fire size, forest management, fuel management, fuel types, ignition, national parks, Northwest Territories, remote sensing, Saskatchewan, temperature, wildfires, wind, wood, fire detection, fire-growth modelling, Wood Buffalo National Park

A means of determining air emission source regions adversely influencing the city of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada from potential burning of isolated piles of mountain pine beetle-killed lodge pole pine is presented. The analysis uses the CALPUFF atmospheric dispersion…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Ecology, Mapping, Models
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: air quality, British Columbia, burning permits, Canada, Dendroctonus ponderosae, fire exclusion, fire management, forest management, human caused fires, insects, mortality, pine, plant diseases, slash, smoke management, wind, wood, airshed, CALPUFF, influence region, dispersion modeling

From the text ... 'So what is the number one reason that we're burning? What is the number one reason we treat fuels? Well, of course it's to protect the public from extremely high concentration of fine particulates associated with wildfire, right? And that's the number one…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: smoke effects, wildfires, air quality, hydrocarbons, ozone, fire management, forest management, smoke management, Barriers, fire frequency, fire management, Florida, St. Johns River Water Management District

From the text ... 'Because fire was such an important historic disturbance and is a large component in understanding regional differences in emissions, it is analogous to an elephant in the closet. One can think of fire frequency as the elephant. That is, it is an issue that is…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Occurrence, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: fire frequency, air quality, fire management, forest management, smoke management

Since 2004, the National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis (NCLFA) has deployed broadband radio equipment coupled with strategic monitoring technologies to support management of wildland fires in remote areas of the western United States. Wireless broadband radios and…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Intelligence, Outreach, Weather
Region(s): Northern Rockies, Northwest
Keywords: fire case histories, wildfires, education, public information, remote sensing, Montana, Washington, fire management, communication, fire management, public outreach and education, remote cameras, surveillance, wireless technologies

A pair of three-day workshops were held in 2008 and 2009, designed for fire managers responsible for communicating and negotiating with state and local air quality regulators. The workshops were organized by the NWCG Smoke Committee, coordinated by the University of Idaho, and…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Project
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Communications, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Models, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Regulations and Legislation
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: air quality regulations, smoke management, collaboration

This report highlights significant research findings and accomplishments by scientists at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station during fiscal year 2008. The mission of the PNW Research Station is to generate and communicate scientific knowledge that helps people…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fuels, Models, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Aquatic
Region(s): Northwest
Keywords: Pacific Northwest Research Station, accomplishments report, key findings

The boreal forest contains large reserves of carbon. Across this region, wildfires influence the temporal and spatial dynamics of carbon storage. In this study, we estimate fire emissions and changes in carbon storage for boreal North America over the 21st century. We use a…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: climate change, North America, boreal carbon dynamics, boreal forests, fire emissions

Air pollution generated by vegetation fire smoke (VFS) is a phenomenon that has influenced the global environment in prehistoric and historic time scales. Although historic evidence of the impacts of VFS on societies is scarce, there are indications that VFS has been a factor…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: PM2.5, remote sensing, air pollution, human health, PM - particulate matter, PM10, smoke dispersion, environmental impacts, radionuclides, vegetation fire smoke

Weather and climate have a profound influence on wildland fire ignition potential, fire behavior, and fire severity. Local weather and climate are affected by large-scale patterns of winds over the hemispheres that predispose wildland fuels to fire. The characteristics of…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Occurrence, Fuels, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: ENSO - El Nino Southern Oscillation, fuel moisture, wildland fire, AVHRR - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, climate change, wind

Every year tens of millions of hectares of forests, woodlands, and grasslands burn globally. Some are burned intentionally for land conversion, pasture renewal or hazard reduction, or wildlife habitat improvement, but most are burned by uncontrolled wildfire. Estimates of burned…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: carbon flux, fire regime, carbon emissions, carbon stock, carbon storage, climate change, fire dynamics, soil processes

The U.S. Clean Air Act establishes the goal of preventing future and remedying existing visibility impairment in 156 Class I areas (national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges). A key element in implementing this goal is the Regional Haze Regulation (RHR). RHR is…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Models
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: air quality, PM2.5, air pollution, Clean Air Act, PM - particulate matter, visibility, Regional Haze Rule, IMPROVE, Haze Index, aerosol loading

The interaction between smoke and air pollution creates a public health challenge. Fuels treatments proposed for National Forests are intended to reduce fuel accumulations and wildfire frequency and severity, as well as to protect property located in the wild land-urban…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fuels, Models, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Weather, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: wildland fire, air pollution, public health

This report summarizes the science of climate change and the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. It is largely based on results of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and integrates those results with related research from around…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Effects, Fuels, Hazard and Risk, Models, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: fire frequency, fire severity, acres burned, climate change, climate change impact analysis

Wildland fires are major sources of trace gases and aerosol, and these emissions are believed to significantly influence the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the earth's climate system. The wide variety of pollutants released by wildland fire include greenhouse gases,…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: wildland fire, air pollution, biomass burning, aerosol, trace gases, chemical composition

This report details a procedure for identifying fuel loading models (FLMs) in the field. FLMs are a new classification system for predicting fire effects from on-site fuels. Each FLM class represents fuel beds that have similar fuel loadings and produce similar emissions and…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES, TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fuels, Mapping, Models, Restoration and Rehabilitation
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: fuel loading, fire mapping, fuel classification, first-order fire effects, fuel classification key, fine fuels, fuel types, heavy fuels, air quality, biomass, duff, herbaceous vegetation, litter, soil temperature, fuel management, wildlife habitat management, chaparral, grasslands, shrublands

Biomass burning is a significant source of carbonaceous aerosol in many regions of the world. When present, biomass burning particles may affect the microphysical properties of clouds through their ability to function as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei. We report on…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Prescribed Fire
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: Asia, particles, biomass burning, ice nuclei emissions, carbonaceous aerosol

We present a classification of duff, litter, fine woody debris, and logs that can be used to stratify a project area into sites with fuel loading that yield significantly different emissions and maximum soil surface temperature. Total particulate matter smaller than 2.5 m in…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES, TTRS
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Effects, Fuels, Mapping, Models, Monitoring and Inventory
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: fuel loading, simulation modeling, soil temperature, fuel mapping, duff, FIA - Forest Inventory and Analysis, fine fuels, fire management, fuel management, litter, statistical analysis, surface fuels, temperature, wildfires, woody fuels

Observed climate changes in the Western Mountains and Forests bioregion include increased seasonal, annual, minimum, and maximum temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and a shift toward earlier timing of peak runoff. These climatic changes have resulted in widespread…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Intelligence, Planning
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: climate change, greenhouse gases, impacts, management plan, sustainability strategies, Western Mountains and Forests bioregion

We present an alternative method for determining the total offset in lidar signal created by a daytime background-illumination component and electrical or digital offset. Unlike existing techniques, here the signal square-range-correction procedure is initially performed using…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: lidar signal, offset component

Mobil scanning lidar is the most appropriate tool for monitoring wildfire smoke-plume dynamics and optical properties. Lidar is the only remote sensing instrument capable of obtaining detailed three-dimensional range-resolved information for smoke distributions and optical…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Monitoring and Inventory
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: LiDAR - Light Detection and Ranging, remote sensing, wildfire, smoke plume

The methodology of using mobile scanning lidar data for investigation of smoke plume rise and high-resolution smoke dispersion is considered. The methodology is based on the lidar-signal transformation proposed recently [Appl. Opt. 48, 2559 (2009)]. In this study, similar…
Person:
Year: 2009
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: smoke plume, lidar data, atmospheric heterogeneity height indicator