Articles | Volume 26, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-839-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-839-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Jan 2026
Research article |
| 19 Jan 2026
| 19 Jan 2026
Emission factors and optical properties of black and brown carbon emitted at a mixed-conifer forest prescribed burn
James D. A. Butler
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Afsara Tasnia
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California 92507, USA
Deep Sengupta
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Nathan Kreisberg
Aerosol Dynamics Inc., Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Kelley C. Barsanti
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California 92507, USA
Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling, U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA
Allen H. Goldstein
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Chelsea V. Preble
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Rebecca A. Sugrue
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
now at: Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94110, USA
Thomas W. Kirchstetter
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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William P. L. Carter, Jia Jiang, Zhizhao Wang, and Kelley C. Barsanti
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 8461–8483, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8461-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8461-2025, 2025
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The SAPRC Atmospheric Chemical Mechanism Generation System (MechGen) generates explicit chemical reaction mechanisms for organic compounds. MechGen has been used for decades in the development of the widely used SAPRC mechanisms. This paper, detailing the software system, and a companion paper, detailing the chemical basis, represent the first complete documentation of MechGen. This paper includes examples and instructions for generating explicit and reduced mechanisms.
Erin F. Katz, Caleb M. Arata, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Robert J. Weber, Darian Ng, Michael J. Milazzo, Haley Byrne, Hui Wang, Alex B. Guenther, Camilo Rey-Sanchez, Joshua Apte, Dennis D. Baldocchi, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15281–15299, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15281-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15281-2025, 2025
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Terpenoids are organic gases that can originate from natural and human-caused sources, and their reactions in the atmosphere can cause air pollution. In this study, emissions of organic gases in an urban environment were measured. For some terpenoids, human-caused sources were responsible for about a quarter of the emissions, while others were predominantly from vegetation. This study contributes to a better understanding of urban emission sources and causes of air pollution.
William P. L. Carter, Jia Jiang, John J. Orlando, and Kelley C. Barsanti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 199–242, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-199-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-199-2025, 2025
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This paper describes the scientific basis for gas-phase atmospheric chemical mechanisms derived using the SAPRC mechanism generation system, MechGen. It can derive mechanisms for most organic compounds with C, H, O, or N atoms, including initial reactions of organics with OH, O3, NO3, and O3P or by photolysis, as well as the reactions of the various types of intermediates that are formed. The paper includes a description of areas of uncertainty where additional research and updates are needed.
Samiha Binte Shahid, Forrest G. Lacey, Christine Wiedinmyer, Robert J. Yokelson, and Kelley C. Barsanti
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7679–7711, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7679-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7679-2024, 2024
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The Next-generation Emissions InVentory expansion of Akagi (NEIVA) v.1.0 is a comprehensive biomass burning emissions database that allows integration of new data and flexible querying. Data are stored in connected datasets, including recommended averages of ~1500 constituents for 14 globally relevant fire types. Individual compounds were mapped to common model species to allow better attribution of emissions in modeling studies that predict the effects of fires on air quality and climate.
Vignesh Vasudevan-Geetha, Lee Tiszenkel, Zhizhao Wang, Robin Russo, Daniel Bryant, Julia Lee-Taylor, Kelley Barsanti, and Shan-Hu Lee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2454, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2454, 2024
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Our laboratory experiments using two high-resolution mass spectrometers show that these OOMs can also form within the particle phase, in addition to gas-to-particle conversion processes. Our results demonstrate that particle-phase formation processes can contribute to the formation and growth of new particles in biogenic environments.
Qindan Zhu, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Matthew Coggon, Colin Harkins, Jordan Schnell, Jian He, Havala O. T. Pye, Meng Li, Barry Baker, Zachary Moon, Ravan Ahmadov, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Bryan Place, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Carsten Warneke, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Lu Xu, Kristen Zuraski, Michael A. Robinson, J. Andrew Neuman, Patrick R. Veres, Jeff Peischl, Steven S. Brown, Allen H. Goldstein, Ronald C. Cohen, and Brian C. McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5265–5286, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5265-2024, 2024
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) fuel the production of air pollutants like ozone and particulate matter. The representation of VOC chemistry remains challenging due to its complexity in speciation and reactions. Here, we develop a chemical mechanism, RACM2B-VCP, that better represents VOC chemistry in urban areas such as Los Angeles. We also discuss the contribution of VOCs emitted from volatile chemical products and other anthropogenic sources to total VOC reactivity and O3.
Audrey J. Dang, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Tyler L. Cargill, Jhao-Hong Chen, Sydney Hornitschek, Remy Hutheesing, Jay R. Turner, and Brent J. Williams
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2067–2087, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, 2024
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The Multichannel Organics In situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA) is a new instrument for measuring speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air and has been developed for mapping concentrations from a hybrid car. MOIRA is characterized in the lab and pilot field studies of indoor air in a single-family residence and outdoor air during a mobile deployment. Future applications include indoor, outdoor, and lab measurements to grasp the impact of VOCs on air quality, health, and climate.
Matthew M. Coggon, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Megan S. Claflin, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Lu Xu, Jessica B. Gilman, Julia Marcantonio, Cong Cao, Kelvin Bates, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Aaron Lamplugh, Erin F. Katz, Caleb Arata, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Felix Piel, Francesca Majluf, Donald R. Blake, Armin Wisthaler, Manjula Canagaratna, Brian M. Lerner, Allen H. Goldstein, John E. Mak, and Carsten Warneke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 801–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, 2024
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Mass spectrometry is a tool commonly used to measure air pollutants. This study evaluates measurement artifacts produced in the proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer. We provide methods to correct these biases and better measure compounds that degrade air quality.
Clara M. Nussbaumer, Bryan K. Place, Qindan Zhu, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Ryan Ward, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Allen H. Goldstein, and Ronald C. Cohen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13015–13028, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13015-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13015-2023, 2023
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NOx is a precursor to hazardous tropospheric ozone and can be emitted from various anthropogenic sources. It is important to quantify NOx emissions in urban environments to improve the local air quality, which still remains a challenge, as sources are heterogeneous in space and time. In this study, we calculate NOx emissions over Los Angeles, based on aircraft measurements in June 2021, and compare them to a local emission inventory, which we find mostly overpredicts the measured values.
Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Caleb Arata, Qindan Zhu, Benjamin C. Schulze, Roy Woods, John H. Seinfeld, Anthony Bucholtz, Ronald C. Cohen, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12753–12780, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12753-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12753-2023, 2023
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The San Joaquin Valley is an agricultural area with poor air quality. Organic gases drive the formation of hazardous air pollutants. Agricultural emissions of these gases are not well understood and have rarely been quantified at landscape scale. By combining aircraft-based emission measurements with land cover information, we found mis- or unrepresented emission sources. Our results help in understanding of pollution sources and in improving predictions of air quality in agricultural regions.
Yutong Liang, Rebecca A. Wernis, Kasper Kristensen, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Philip L. Croteau, Scott C. Herndon, Arthur W. H. Chan, Nga L. Ng, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12441–12454, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12441-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12441-2023, 2023
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We measured the gas–particle partitioning behaviors of biomass burning markers and examined the effect of wildfire organic aerosol on the partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds. Most compounds measured are less volatile than model predictions. Wildfire aerosol enhanced the condensation of polar compounds and caused some nonpolar (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) compounds to partition into the gas phase, thus affecting their lifetimes in the atmosphere and the mode of exposure.
Qindan Zhu, Bryan Place, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Sha Tong, Huanxin Zhang, Jun Wang, Clara M. Nussbaumer, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Allen H. Goldstein, and Ronald C. Cohen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9669–9683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023, 2023
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Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a hazardous air pollutant, and it is the precursor of short-lived climate forcers like tropospheric ozone and aerosol particles. While NOx emissions from transportation has been strictly regulated, soil NOx emissions are overlooked. We use the airborne flux measurements to observe NOx emissions from highways and urban and cultivated soil land cover types. We show non-negligible soil NOx emissions, which are significantly underestimated in current model simulations.
Christine Wiedinmyer, Yosuke Kimura, Elena C. McDonald-Buller, Louisa K. Emmons, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Wenfu Tang, Keenan Seto, Maxwell B. Joseph, Kelley C. Barsanti, Annmarie G. Carlton, and Robert Yokelson
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 3873–3891, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3873-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3873-2023, 2023
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The Fire INventory from NCAR (FINN) provides daily global estimates of emissions from open fires based on satellite detections of hot spots. This version has been updated to apply MODIS and VIIRS satellite fire detection and better represents both large and small fires. FINNv2.5 generates more emissions than FINNv1 and is in general agreement with other fire emissions inventories. The new estimates are consistent with satellite observations, but uncertainties remain regionally and by pollutant.
Rebecca A. Wernis, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Robert J. Weber, Greg T. Drozd, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14987–15019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14987-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14987-2022, 2022
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We measured volatile and intermediate-volatility gases and semivolatile gas- and particle-phase compounds in the atmosphere during an 11 d period in a Bay Area suburb. We separated compounds based on variability in time to arrive at 13 distinct sources. Some compounds emitted from plants are found in greater quantities as fragrance compounds in consumer products. The wide volatility range of these measurements enables the construction of more complete source profiles.
Yutong Liang, Christos Stamatis, Edward C. Fortner, Rebecca A. Wernis, Paul Van Rooy, Francesca Majluf, Tara I. Yacovitch, Conner Daube, Scott C. Herndon, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Kelley C. Barsanti, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9877–9893, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, 2022
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This article reports the measurements of organic compounds emitted from western US wildfires. We identified and quantified 240 particle-phase compounds and 72 gas-phase compounds emitted in wildfire and related the emissions to the modified combustion efficiency. Higher emissions of diterpenoids and monoterpenes were observed, likely due to distillation from unburned heated vegetation. Our results can benefit future source apportionment and modeling studies as well as exposure assessments.
Emily B. Franklin, Lindsay D. Yee, Bernard Aumont, Robert J. Weber, Paul Grigas, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3779–3803, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3779-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3779-2022, 2022
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The composition of atmospheric aerosols are extremely complex, containing hundreds of thousands of estimated individual compounds. The majority of these compounds have never been catalogued in widely used databases, making them extremely difficult for atmospheric chemists to identify and analyze. In this work, we present Ch3MS-RF, a machine-learning-based model to enable characterization of complex mixtures and prediction of structure-specific properties of unidentifiable organic compounds.
Christos Stamatis and Kelley Claire Barsanti
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2591–2606, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2591-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2591-2022, 2022
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Building on the identification of hundreds of gas-phase chemicals in smoke samples from laboratory and field studies, an algorithm was developed that successfully identified chemical patterns that were consistent among types of trees and unique between types of trees that are common fuels in western coniferous forests. The algorithm is a promising approach for selecting chemical speciation profiles for air quality modeling using a highly reduced suite of measured compounds.
Andrew J. Lindsay, Daniel C. Anderson, Rebecca A. Wernis, Yutong Liang, Allen H. Goldstein, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Ed C. Fortner, Philip L. Croteau, Francesca Majluf, Jordan E. Krechmer, Tara I. Yacovitch, Walter B. Knighton, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4909–4928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, 2022
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Wildfire smoke dramatically impacts air quality and often has elevated concentrations of ozone. We present measurements of ozone and its precursors at a rural site periodically impacted by wildfire smoke. Measurements of total peroxy radicals, key ozone precursors that have been studied little within wildfires, compare well with chemical box model predictions. Our results indicate no serious issues with using current chemistry mechanisms to model chemistry in aged wildfire plumes.
Qi Li, Jia Jiang, Isaac K. Afreh, Kelley C. Barsanti, and David R. Cocker III
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3131–3147, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3131-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3131-2022, 2022
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Chamber-derived secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields from camphene are reported for the first time. The role of peroxy radicals (RO2) was investigated using chemically detailed box models. We observed higher SOA yields (up to 64 %) in the experiments with added NOx than without due to the formation of highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) when
NOx is present. This work can improve the representation of camphene in air quality models and provide insights into other monoterpene studies.
Delaney B. Kilgour, Gordon A. Novak, Jon S. Sauer, Alexia N. Moore, Julie Dinasquet, Sarah Amiri, Emily B. Franklin, Kathryn Mayer, Margaux Winter, Clare K. Morris, Tyler Price, Francesca Malfatti, Daniel R. Crocker, Christopher Lee, Christopher D. Cappa, Allen H. Goldstein, Kimberly A. Prather, and Timothy H. Bertram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1601–1613, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1601-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1601-2022, 2022
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We report measurements of gas-phase volatile organosulfur molecules made during a mesocosm phytoplankton bloom experiment. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), methanethiol (MeSH), and benzothiazole accounted for on average over 90 % of total gas-phase sulfur emissions. This work focuses on factors controlling the production and emission of DMS and MeSH and the role of non-DMS molecules (such as MeSH and benzothiazole) in secondary sulfate formation in coastal marine environments.
Zachary C. J. Decker, Michael A. Robinson, Kelley C. Barsanti, Ilann Bourgeois, Matthew M. Coggon, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Frank M. Flocke, Alessandro Franchin, Carley D. Fredrickson, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Samuel R. Hall, Hannah Halliday, Christopher D. Holmes, L. Gregory Huey, Young Ro Lee, Jakob Lindaas, Ann M. Middlebrook, Denise D. Montzka, Richard Moore, J. Andrew Neuman, John B. Nowak, Brett B. Palm, Jeff Peischl, Felix Piel, Pamela S. Rickly, Andrew W. Rollins, Thomas B. Ryerson, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Kanako Sekimoto, Lee Thornhill, Joel A. Thornton, Geoffrey S. Tyndall, Kirk Ullmann, Paul Van Rooy, Patrick R. Veres, Carsten Warneke, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Andrew J. Weinheimer, Elizabeth Wiggins, Edward Winstead, Armin Wisthaler, Caroline Womack, and Steven S. Brown
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16293–16317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16293-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16293-2021, 2021
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To understand air quality impacts from wildfires, we need an accurate picture of how wildfire smoke changes chemically both day and night as sunlight changes the chemistry of smoke. We present a chemical analysis of wildfire smoke as it changes from midday through the night. We use aircraft observations from the FIREX-AQ field campaign with a chemical box model. We find that even under sunlight typical
nighttimechemistry thrives and controls the fate of key smoke plume chemical processes.
Rebecca A. Wernis, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Robert J. Weber, Yutong Liang, John Jayne, Susanne Hering, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6533–6550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, 2021
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cTAG is a new scientific instrument that measures concentrations of organic chemicals in the atmosphere. cTAG is the first instrument capable of measuring small, light chemicals as well as heavier chemicals and everything in between on a single detector, every hour. In this work we explain how cTAG works and some of the tests we performed to verify that it works properly and reliably. We also present measurements of alkanes that suggest they have three dominant sources in a Bay Area suburb.
Sabrina Chee, Kelley Barsanti, James N. Smith, and Nanna Myllys
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11637–11654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11637-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11637-2021, 2021
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We explored molecular properties affecting atmospheric particle formation efficiency and derived a parameterization between particle formation rate and heterodimer concentration, which showed good agreement to previously reported experimental data. Considering the simplicity of calculating heterodimer concentration, this approach has potential to improve estimates of global cloud condensation nuclei in models that are limited by the computational expense of calculating particle formation rate.
Isaac Kwadjo Afreh, Bernard Aumont, Marie Camredon, and Kelley Claire Barsanti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11467–11487, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11467-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11467-2021, 2021
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This is the first mechanistic modeling study of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the understudied monoterpene, camphene. The semi-explicit chemical model GECKO-A predicted camphene SOA yields that were ~2 times α-pinene. Using 50/50 α-pinene + limonene as a surrogate for camphene increased predicted SOA mass from biomass burning fuels by up to ~100 %. The accurate representation of camphene in air quality models can improve predictions of SOA when camphene is a dominant monoterpene.
Yutong Liang, Coty N. Jen, Robert J. Weber, Pawel K. Misztal, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5719–5737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, 2021
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This article reports the molecular composition of smoke particles people in SF Bay Area were exposed to during northern California wildfires in Oct. 2017. Major components are sugars, acids, aromatics, and terpenoids. These observations can be used to better understand health impacts of smoke exposure. Tracer compounds indicate which fuels burned, including diterpenoids for softwood and syringyls for hardwood. A statistical analysis reveals a group of secondary compounds formed in daytime aging.
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Short summary
Prescribed burns are controlled fires used to prevent wildfires. Smoke emissions were measured to characterize emission factors and optical properties of black and brown soot particles. Brown particles were emitted at 7–14 times that of black particles and contributed 82 % of atmospheric absorption by particles for ultraviolet light and 23 % for total solar radiation. These findings will improve inventories and climate models for prescribed burns.
Prescribed burns are controlled fires used to prevent wildfires. Smoke emissions were measured...
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