CAREER: A Modeling and Educational Framework to Support Air Quality Management in a Smoky Atmosphere

野火和规定的火灾是美国细颗粒物排放的最大来源。这些火灾产生的烟雾每年使数百万人暴露在不健康的空气质量中。尽管如此，火灾是许多自然生态系统的重要组成部分，灭火已被证明是一种损害自然平衡的不可持续的做法。该项目将开发计算工具和创新评估，以帮助美国土地管理者减少烟雾造成的空气污染对人类健康的影响，同时恢复自然火灾循环，以改善生态系统健康。与这项应用研究计划同时进行的是一项教育计划，旨在培训专业环境工程师，并向美国公众介绍与野火相关的好处和挑战。荒地管理人员通过规定的烧伤和机械土地处理，定期操纵火灾，以降低危险野火的风险，实现重要的生态目标；然而，这些消防项目往往不能定量地说明接触烟雾对健康的影响。相比之下，空气质量条例试图减轻空气污染对公众健康的负面影响，但可能忽视了积极的土地管理的价值。通过计算模型、环境工程教育和外展，项目旨在协调这些空气质量和土地管理目标。为实现这一目标，该项目包括以下目标：1)根据潜在的健康影响进行火灾管理；2)将空气污染外部性纳入规定的消防规划；3)制定综合土地管理和空气质量方案；4)通过环境工程教育改变人们对火灾和烟雾的认知。包括从排放到空气污染暴露等方面的新建模工具将促进火灾项目管理，同时最大限度地减少潜在的健康影响。高性能计算和集成建模将用于对规定火灾的公共卫生外部性进行地理评估，促进将其纳入区域荒地火灾规划。PI还将制定综合土地管理和空气质量情景，共同考虑野火风险、土地处理、空气质量和公共卫生影响。这些情景将为除烟雾影响外的野火综合综合评估建模提供基础。PI将通过与北卡罗莱纳州公园和娱乐部门建立以野火和烟雾为中心的教育伙伴关系，寻求改变科学界和更广泛社区对火灾和烟雾的错误看法。这项工作的一个关键成果将是培养在复杂环境系统模拟和有效科学交流方面受过训练的研究生和本科生环境工程师。此外，暑期研究经历将使高中生接触环境研究，并鼓励来自工程领域代表性不足群体的学生参与。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Wildfires and prescribed fires are the largest source of fine particulate matter emissions in the United States. Smoke from these fires exposes millions of individuals to unhealthy air quality each year. In spite of this, fire is an essential component of many natural ecosystems where fire suppression has proven to be an unsustainable practice that harms the natural balance. The PI will develop computational tools and innovative assessments to help US land managers lessen the impact to human health of air pollution from smoke, while at the same time restoring the natural fire cycle to improve ecosystem health. Concurrent with this applied research initiative will be an educational program to train specialized environmental engineers and inform different segments of the US public about the benefits and challenges associated with wildland fire. Wildland managers routinely manipulate fire, through prescribed burns and mechanical land treatments, to reduce the risk of hazardous wildfire and achieve important ecological objectives; however, these fire projects often fail to quantitatively account for the health impacts of smoke exposure. In contrast, air quality regulations seek to mitigate the negative effects of air pollution on public health but can overlook the value of active land management. Through computational modeling, environmental engineering education, and outreach the PI aims to align these air quality and land management objectives. To pursue this aim, the project includes the following goals: 1) enable fire management based on potential health impacts; 2) incorporate air pollution externalities into prescribed fire planning; 3) develop integrated land management and air quality scenarios; and 4) change perceptions of fire and smoke through environmental engineering education. New modeling tools that encompass aspects from emissions to air pollution exposure will facilitate fire project management while minimizing potential health impacts. High-performance computing and ensemble modeling will be used to generate geographic assessments of the public health externalities of prescribed fire, facilitating their inclusion in regional wildland fire planning. The PI will also develop integrated land management and air quality scenarios that jointly consider wildfire risk, land treatments, air quality, and public health impacts. These scenarios will provide a basis for comprehensive integrated assessment modeling of wildland fire beyond smoke impacts. The PI will seek to change misguided perceptions of fire and smoke among scientific and broader communities by establishing an educational partnership with the North Carolina State Division of Parks and Recreation centered on wildland fire and smoke. A key outcome of this work will be the formation of graduate and undergraduate environmental engineers trained in simulation of complex environmental systems and effective science communication. In addition, summer research experiences will expose high school students to environmental research and encourage the participation of students from underrepresented groups in engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.