The Influence of Prescribed Fire on Fine Particulate Matter Pollution in the Southeastern United States
The Influence of Prescribed Fire on Fine Particulate Matter Pollution in the Southeastern United States
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DOI：
10.1029/2020gl088988
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发表时间：
2020-08-16
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Garcia-Menendez, Fernando
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Afrin, Sadia;Garcia-Menendez, Fernando
火灾是美国东南部细颗粒物排放的最大来源，但其对空气质量的影响仍然高度不确定。在这里，我们使用一个独特的火灾数据集，从多年的数字燃烧许可证记录汇编的规定火灾对该地区的污染物浓度的影响进行评估。在东南部监测点记录的规定火灾活动和浓度之间存在显着关联，允许燃烧解释了每日PM2.5浓度高达50%的变化。这种关系在整个区域的空间和时间上变化，并作为烧伤类型的函数。在大多数地方，PM2.5浓度与允许燃烧之间的关联比与卫星得出的燃烧面积或空气质量的气象驱动因素之间的关联更强。这些结果突出了自下而上的数据在评估规定的火灾对区域空气污染的贡献的价值，并揭示了需要制定更完整的烧伤records.Plain语言摘要规定的火灾，计划和故意点燃的荒地火灾，经常用于在美国东南部不同的土地管理目的，如减少灾难性的野火和恢复生态系统的风险。它们也是东南部大气中细颗粒物排放的最大来源。然而，规定的火灾在多大程度上造成该地区的空气污染仍不清楚。在这项研究中，从州燃烧许可证记录和监管空气质量监测器收集的数据被用来表明，规定火灾对东南部多个地点的空气污染有重要影响。此外，我们的分析表明，燃烧许可证可以比卫星衍生的火灾数据更翔实的规定火灾对区域空气质量的影响进行评估时。这些结果表明，需要改善规定的火灾活动的可用记录，以更好地了解其对东南部空气污染的全面影响。
Prescribed fire is the largest source of fine particulate matter emissions in the Southeastern United States, yet its air quality impacts remain highly uncertain. Here, we assess the influence of prescribed fire on observed pollutant concentrations in the region using a unique fire data set compiled from multiyear digital burn permit records. There is a significant association between prescribed fire activity and concentrations recorded at Southeastern monitoring sites, with permitted burning explaining as much as 50% variability in daily PM2.5 concentrations. This relationship varies spatially and temporally across the region and as a function of burn type. At most locations, the association between PM2.5 concentration and permitted burning is stronger than that with satellite-derived burn area or meteorological drivers of air quality. These results highlight the value of bottom-up data in evaluating the contribution of prescribed fire to regional air pollution and reveal a need to develop more complete burn records.Plain Language Summary Prescribed fires, planned and intentionally ignited wildland fires, are frequently used in the Southeastern United States for different land management purposes, such as reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires and restoring ecosystems. They are also the largest source of fine particle emissions into the atmosphere in the Southeast. However, the extent to which prescribed fires contribute to air pollution in the region remains unclear. In this study, data gathered from state burn permit records and regulatory air quality monitors are used to show that prescribe fire has an important influence on air pollution at multiple Southeastern locations. Additionally, our analysis suggests that burning permits can be more informative than satellite-derived fire data when evaluating the impacts of prescribed fire on regional air quality. These results reveal a need to improve available records of prescribed fire activity in order to better understand its full effect on air pollution in the Southeast.