Abstract. We investigated smoke emissions from fires in savanna, forest, and agricultural ecosystems by airborne sampling of plumes close to prescribed burns and incidental fires in southern Africa. Aerosol samples were collected on glass fiber filters and on stacked filter units, consisting of a Nuclepore prefilter for particles larger than -• 1-2 gm and a Teflon second filter stage for the submicron fraction. The samples were analyzed for soluble ionic components, organic carbon, and black carbon. Onboard the research aircraft, particle number and volume distributions as a function of size were determined with a laser-optical particle counter and the black carbon content of the aerosol with an aethalometer. We determined the emission ratios (relative to CO2 and CO) and emission factors (relative to the amount of biomass burnt) for the various aerosol constituents. The smoke aerosols were rich in organic and black carbon, the latter representing 10-30% of the aerosol mass. K + and NH• were the dominant cationic species in the smoke of most fires, while C1-and so•-were the most important anions. The aerosols were unusually rich in CI-, probably due to the high C1 content of the semiarid vegetation. Comparison of the element budget of the fuel before and after the fires shows that the fraction of the elements released during combustion is highly variable between elements. In the case of the halogen elements, almost the entire amount released during the fire is present in the aerosol phase, while in the case of C, N, and S, only a small proportion ends up as particulate matter. This suggests that the latter elements are present predominantly as gaseous species in the fresh fire plumes studied here.

During the SAFARI‐92 experiment (Southern Africa Fire Atmosphere Research Initiative, September–October 1992), we flew an instrumented DC‐3 aircraft through plumes from fires in various southern African savanna ecosystems. Some fires had been managed purposely for scientific study (e.g., those in Kruger National Park, South Africa), while the others were “fires of opportunity” which are abundant during the burning season in southern Africa. We obtained the aerosol (0.1–3.0 μm diameter) number and mass emission ratios relative to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from 21 individual fires. The average particle number emission ratio ΔN/ΔCO (Δ: concentrations in plume minus background concentrations) varied between 14 ± 2 cm−3 ppb−1 for grasslands and 23 ± 7 cm−3 ppb−1 for savannas. An exceptionally high value of 43 ± 4 cm−3 ppb−1 was measured for a sugarcane fire. Similarly, the mass emission ratio ΔM/ΔCO varied from 36 ± 6 ng m−3 ppb−1 to 83 ± 45 ng m−3 ppb−1, respectively, with again an exceptionally high value of 124 ± 14 ng m−3 ppb−1 for the sugarcane fire. The number and mass emission ratios relative to CO depended strongly upon the fire intensity. Whereas the emission ratios varied greatly from one fire to the other, the aerosol number and volume distributions as a function of particle size were very consistent. The average background aerosol size distribution was characterized by three mass modes (0.2–0.4 μm, ≈1.0 μm, and ≈2.0 μm diameter). On the other hand, the aerosol size distribution in the smoke plumes showed only two mass modes, one centered in the interval 0.2–0.3 μm and the other above 2 μm diameter. From our mean emission factor (4 ± 1 g kg−1 dm) we estimate that savanna fires release some 11–18 Tg aerosol particles in the size range 0.1–3.0 μm annually, a somewhat lower amount than emitted from tropical forest fires. Worldwide, savanna fires emit some 3–8 × 1027 particles (in the same size range) annually, which is expected to make a substantial contribution to the cloud condensation nuclei population in the tropics.

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Abstract. CO, CH4, and organic trace gases were measured in air samples collected during several flights with a DC-3 aircraft through the plumes from savanna fires and agricultural fires during the SAFARI 92 campaign in southern Africa in September and October 1992. In all samples a variety of higher molecular weight organic compounds was found, most of which are very reactive. More than 70 of the roughly 140 major components present could be identified. Typically, mixing ratios of several hundred parts per billion carbon of organic compounds were measured inside the plumes, corresponding to an emission ratio of total organic carbon relative to CO2 of up to 1%. About 50% of these emissions were in the form of oxygenated and unsaturated compounds. The contributions of still unknown compounds to the total emission of organic compounds add up to another 20-30%. The observed emission ratios relative to CO2 show a considerable variation depending on the fuel type and the burning stages of the fire. The lowest value of the emission ratio of the sum of all identified organic compounds relative to CO2 was found for a sugar cane fire with (1.7 +_ 0.7) x 10 -3 (ppb C/ppb CO2). For a large savanna fire in Kruger National Park the ratio was (7.4 _+ 1.6) x 10 -3 (ppb C/ppb CO2). The highest value was (13.7 _+ 0.9) x 10 -3 (ppb C/ppb CO2) for an uncontrolled fire of mainly wood and shrub in the Drakensberg region. Results of model calculations show that in biomassburning plumes, reactive organic compounds contribute significantly to the formation of ozone, especially during the initial phase of photochemical processing.