ACE-FTS measurements of trace species in the characterization of biomass burning plumes

Tereszchuk, K.; Abad, Gonzalo González; Clerbaux, Cathy; Hurtmans, Daniel; Coheur, Pierre‐François; Bernath, Peter F.

doi:10.5194/acp-11-12169-2011

Cited by 48 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Table 2 compares our derived emission ratio for HCOOH to previous satellite, aircraft, and ground measurements of formic acid emission ratios for boreal biomass burning. Our HCOOH emission ratio is slightly lower than the ratio of 0.38% ± 0.06% derived from ACE-FTS observations [31], possibly due to the fact that a limb-sounder like ACE is more sensitive to plumes that reach high altitudes; this type of plume is more common over more flaming fires since fire power output peaks during flaming combustion [4]. Table 2 shows that our value is similar to the emission ratios for HCOOH derived from aircraft and ground studies, with the exception of the value of 3.7% ± 2.0% reported for Canadian forests by Lefer et al [60], which is about a factor of 10 higher than the average value for boreal biomass burning in the review of Akagi et al [3].…”

Section: Hcooh Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 51%

“…The large pressure range of TES sensitivity to HCOOH may also contribute to the low correlation of HCOOH with CO. It is worth noting that the ACE-FTS observations of HCOOH within boreal biomass burning plumes showed a much higher r 2 value (0.86), likely due to the fact that the higher vertical resolution of limb retrievals means that ACE is better able to separate the different vertical layers of the plume which are averaged together by nadir-viewing sounders like TES and IASI [31]. Table 2 compares our derived emission ratio for HCOOH to previous satellite, aircraft, and ground measurements of formic acid emission ratios for boreal biomass burning.…”

Section: Hcooh Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Enhanced mixing ratios of formic acid were measured in TES prototype airborne measurements of western wildfires [18]. The limb-viewing Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) observed formic acid in young and aged biomass burning plumes in the upper troposphere and derived emission ratios for formic acid to CO [30,31]. Similarly, Grutter et al used the limb-viewing Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) to retrieve global distributions of formic acid in the upper troposphere and stratosphere [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emission Ratios for Ammonia and Formic Acid and Observations of Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (PAN) and Ethylene in Biomass Burning Smoke as Seen by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

et al. 2011

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Abstract:We use the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) aboard the NASA Aura satellite to determine the concentrations of the trace gases ammonia (NH 3 ) and formic acid (HCOOH) within boreal biomass burning plumes, and present the first detection of peroxy acetyl nitrate (PAN) and ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) by TES. We focus on two fresh Canadian plumes observed by TES in the summer of 2008 as part of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS-B) campaign. We use TES retrievals of NH 3 and HCOOH within the smoke plumes to calculate their emission ratios (1.0% ± 0.5% and 0.31% ± 0.21%, respectively) relative to CO for these Canadian fires. The TES derived emission ratios for these gases agree well with previous aircraft and satellite estimates, and can complement ground-based studies that have greater surface sensitivity. We find that TES observes PAN mixing ratios of ~2 ppb within these mid-tropospheric boreal biomass burning plumes when the average cloud optical depth is low (<0.1) and that TES can detect C 2 H 4 mixing ratios of ~2 ppb in fresh biomass burning smoke plumes. OPEN ACCESSAtmosphere 2011, 2 634

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Section: Hcooh Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 51%

Section: Hcooh Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emission Ratios for Ammonia and Formic Acid and Observations of Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (PAN) and Ethylene in Biomass Burning Smoke as Seen by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

et al. 2011

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“…The results from these preliminary studies precipitated interest in the retrieval of additional pyrogenic organic species such as ethene (C 2 H 4 ), propyne (C 3 H 4 ), formaldehyde (H 2 CO), acetone (C 3 H 6 O), and peroxyacetylnitrate -abbreviated as PAN (CH 3 COO 2 NO 2 ) -and were the first reported detections of these species using infrared solar occultation spectroscopy from satellites . Most recently, ACE-FTS was successfully used to demonstrate its ability to characterize biomass burning emissions from distinct fuel types and follow their chemical evolution as the plumes age in the troposphere (Tereszchuk et al, 2011). The results of this investigation indicated that space-borne measurements of biomass burning emissions from different ecosystems can be differentiated by their unique chemical composition and that the formation and destruction of pyrogenic trace species within biomass burning plumes can be monitored, thus forming the basis for this more extensive work.…”

Section: K a Tereszchuk Et Al: Ace-fts Observations Of Pyrogenic Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

ACE-FTS observations of pyrogenic trace species in boreal biomass burning plumes during BORTAS

et al. 2013

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To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emissions on atmospheric composition, the BORTAS campaign (BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites) was conducted on 12 July to 3 August 2011 during the boreal forest fire season in Canada. The simultaneous aerial, ground and satellite measurement campaign sought to record instances of boreal biomass burning to measure the tropospheric volume mixing ratios (VMRs) of short- and long-lived trace molecular species from biomass burning emissions. The goal was to investigate the connection between the composition and the distribution of these pyrogenic outflows and their resulting perturbation to atmospheric chemistry, with particular focus on oxidant species to determine the overall impact on the oxidizing capacity of the free troposphere.

Measurements of pyrogenic trace species in boreal biomass burning plumes were made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) onboard the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) SCISAT-1 satellite during the BORTAS campaign. Even though biomass burning emissions are typically confined to the boundary layer, outflows are often injected into the upper troposphere by isolated convection and fire-related convective processes, thus allowing space-borne instruments to measure these pyrogenic outflows. An extensive set of 14 molecules – CH₃OH, C₂H₂, C₂H₆, C₃H₆O, CO, HCN, HCOOH, HNO₃, H₂CO, NO, NO₂, OCS, O₃, and PAN – have been analysed. Included in this analysis is the calculation of age-dependent sets of enhancement ratios for each of the species originating from fires in North America (Canada, Alaska) and Siberia for a period of up to 7 days. Ratio values for the shorter lived primary pyrogenic species decrease over time primarily due to oxidation by the OH radical as the plume ages and values for longer lived species such as HCN and C₂H₆ remain relatively unchanged. Increasing negative values are observed for the oxidant species, including O₃, indicating a destruction process in the plume as it ages such that concentrations of the oxidant species have dropped below their off-plume values.

Results from previous campaigns have indicated that values for the molar ratios of ΔO₃ /ΔO obtained from the measurements of the pyrogenic outflow from boreal fires are highly variable and range from negative to positive, irrespective of plume age. This variability has been attributed to pollution effects where the pyrogenic outflows have mixed with either local urban NO_x emissions or pyrogenic emissions from the long-range transport of older plumes, thus affecting the production of O₃ within the plumes. The results from this study have identified another potential cause of the variability in O₃ concentrations observed in the measurements of bi...

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“…In addition to these species, CH 3 OH and H 2 CO have been measured by the ACE-FTS globally (Dufour et al, , 2009) and in biomass burning plumes over northern high latitudes Tereszchuk et al, 2011Tereszchuk et al, , 2013 and in the Southern Hemisphere .…”

Section: Ace-fts Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Five years of CO, HCN, C2H6, C2H2, CH3OH, HCOOH and H2CO total columns measured in the Canadian high Arctic

et al. 2014

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Abstract. We present a five-year time series of seven tropospheric species measured using a ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL; Eureka, Nunavut, Canada; 80 • 05 N, 86 • 42 W) from 2007 to 2011. Total columns and temporal variabilities of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and ethane (C 2 H 6 ) as well as the first derived total columns at Eureka of acetylene (C 2 H 2 ), methanol (CH 3 OH), formic acid (HCOOH) and formaldehyde (H 2 CO) are investigated, providing a new data set in the sparsely sampled high latitudes.Total columns are obtained using the SFIT2 retrieval algorithm based on the optimal estimation method. The microwindows as well as the a priori profiles and variabilities are selected to optimize the information content of the retrievals, and error analyses are performed for all seven species. Our retrievals show good sensitivities in the troposphere. The seasonal amplitudes of the time series, ranging from 34 to 104 %, are captured while using a single a priori profile for each species. The time series of the CO, C 2 H 6 and C 2 H 2 total columns at PEARL exhibit strong seasonal cycles with maxima in winter and minima in summer, in opposite phase to the HCN, CH 3 OH, HCOOH and H 2 CO time series. These cycles result from the relative contributions of the photochemistry, oxidation and transport as well as biogenic and biomass burning emissions.Comparisons of the FTIR partial columns with coincident satellite measurements by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) show good agreement. The correlation coefficients and the slopes range from 0.56 to 0.97 and 0.50 to 3.35, respectively, for the seven target species.Our new data set is compared to previous measurements found in the literature to assess atmospheric budgets of these tropospheric species in the high Arctic. The CO and C 2 H 6 concentrations are consistent with negative trends observed over the Northern Hemisphere, attributed to fossil fuel emission decrease. The importance of poleward transport for the atmospheric budgets of HCN and C 2 H 2 is highlighted. Columns and variabilities of CH 3 OH and HCOOH at PEARL are comparable to previous measurements performed at other remote sites. However, the small columns of H 2 CO in early May might reflect its large atmospheric variability and/or the effect of the updated spectroscopic parameters used in our retrievals. Overall, emissions from biomass burning contribute to the day-to-day variabilities of the seven tropospheric species observed at Eureka.

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ACE-FTS measurements of trace species in the characterization of biomass burning plumes

Abstract: Abstract. To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emissions on atmospheric composition,

Cited by 48 publications

References 35 publications

Emission Ratios for Ammonia and Formic Acid and Observations of Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (PAN) and Ethylene in Biomass Burning Smoke as Seen by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

Emission Ratios for Ammonia and Formic Acid and Observations of Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (PAN) and Ethylene in Biomass Burning Smoke as Seen by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

ACE-FTS observations of pyrogenic trace species in boreal biomass burning plumes during BORTAS

Five years of CO, HCN, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>3</sub>OH, HCOOH and H<sub>2</sub>CO total columns measured in the Canadian high Arctic

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ACE-FTS measurements of trace species in the characterization of biomass burning plumes

Abstract: Abstract. To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emissions on atmospheric composition,

Cited by 48 publications

References 35 publications

Emission Ratios for Ammonia and Formic Acid and Observations of Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (PAN) and Ethylene in Biomass Burning Smoke as Seen by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

Emission Ratios for Ammonia and Formic Acid and Observations of Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (PAN) and Ethylene in Biomass Burning Smoke as Seen by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

ACE-FTS observations of pyrogenic trace species in boreal biomass burning plumes during BORTAS

Five years of CO, HCN, C&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;H&lt;sub&gt;6&lt;/sub&gt;, C&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, CH&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;OH, HCOOH and H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;CO total columns measured in the Canadian high Arctic

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Five years of CO, HCN, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>3</sub>OH, HCOOH and H<sub>2</sub>CO total columns measured in the Canadian high Arctic