the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Biomass burning emissions in north Australia during the early dry season: an overview of the 2014 SAFIRED campaign
Marc D. Mallet
Maximilien J. Desservettaz
Branka Miljevic
Andelija Milic
Zoran D. Ristovski
Joel Alroe
Luke T. Cravigan
E. Rohan Jayaratne
Clare Paton-Walsh
David W. T. Griffith
Stephen R. Wilson
Graham Kettlewell
Marcel V. van der Schoot
Paul Selleck
Fabienne Reisen
Sarah J. Lawson
Jason Ward
James Harnwell
Min Cheng
Rob W. Gillett
Suzie B. Molloy
Dean Howard
Peter F. Nelson
Anthony L. Morrison
Grant C. Edwards
Alastair G. Williams
Scott D. Chambers
Sylvester Werczynski
Leah R. Williams
V. Holly L. Winton
Brad Atkinson
Xianyu Wang
Melita D. Keywood
Abstract. The SAFIRED (Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season) campaign took place from 29 May until 30 June 2014 at the Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research Station (ATARS) in the Northern Territory, Australia. The purpose of this campaign was to investigate emissions from fires in the early dry season in northern Australia. Measurements were made of biomass burning aerosols, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic carbons, greenhouse gases, radon, speciated atmospheric mercury and trace metals. Aspects of the biomass burning aerosol emissions investigated included; emission factors of various species, physical and chemical aerosol properties, aerosol aging, micronutrient supply to the ocean, nucleation, and aerosol water uptake. Over the course of the month-long campaign, biomass burning signals were prevalent and emissions from several large single burning events were observed at ATARS.
Biomass burning emissions dominated the gas and aerosol concentrations in this region. Dry season fires are extremely frequent and widespread across the northern region of Australia, which suggests that the measured aerosol and gaseous emissions at ATARS are likely representative of signals across the entire region of north Australia. Air mass forward trajectories show that these biomass burning emissions are carried north-west over the Timor Sea and could influence the atmosphere over Indonesia and the tropical atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Here we present characteristics of the biomass burning observed at the sampling site and provide an overview of the more specific outcomes of the SAFIRED campaign.
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