An approach to estimate global biomass burning emissions of organic and black carbon from MODIS fire radiative power

Abstract

[1] Biomass burning is the main global source of fine primary carbonaceous aerosols in the form of organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC). We present an approach to estimate biomass burning aerosol emissions based on the measurement of radiative energy released during combustion. We make use of both Aqua and Terra MODIS observations to estimate the fire radiative energy using a simple model to parameterize the fire diurnal cycle based on the long-term ratio between Terra and Aqua MODIS FRP. The parameterization is developed using cases of frequent (up to 12 times daily) MODIS observations, geostationary data from SEVIRI, and precessing observations from TRMM VIRS. FRE-based emission coefficients for the organic and black carbon (OCBC) component of fine mode aerosols are computed from multiple regions encompassing grassland/savanna, tropical forest, and extratropical forest biomes using OCBC emission estimates derived from the MODIS fine mode aerosol product and an inverse aerosol transport model. The values of emission coefficients for OCBC retrieved were 2.7 ± 0.3 g/MJ for grassland/savanna, 8.6 ± 0.8 g/MJ for tropical forest, and 14.4 ± 0.8 g/MJ for extratropical forest. The FRE monthly data are then used to estimate OCBC emissions from biomass burning on a global basis. For 2001 to 2007, our annual estimates are comparable to previously published values. According to our estimate, the OCBC emissions are the largest for 2003 (18.8 Tg), roughly 20% above average and primarily driven by wildland fires in the Lake Baikal region (Russia).Citation: Vermote, E., E. Ellicott, O. Dubovik, T. Lapyonok, M. Chin, L. Giglio, and G. J. Roberts (2009), An approach to estimate global biomass burning emissions of organic and black carbon from MODIS fire radiative power,

Fire frequency, fire seasonality and fire intensity within the Okavango region derived from MODIS fire products

“…They are also a valuable alternative in estimating consumed biomass and its emissions directly from FRP (e.g. Ichoku & Kaufman 2005, Wooster et al 2005, Vermote et al 2009) instead of using the IPCC good practice methodology (Penman et al 2003) with yet unsolved problems and uncertainties in operationally deriving nation-wide emission factors (De Sy et al 2012). Contrary, burned areas are derived by applying a bi-directional reflectance function (BRDF) model-based change detection algorithm on basis of daytimeonly reflectance data (Roy et al 2002;Roy et al 2005a).…”

Degradation kinetics of levoglucosan initiated by hydroxyl radical under different environmental conditions

“…Submicron particles can affect the radiation budget of earth, and also cause adverse health effects on human beings under high concentrations (Vermote et al, 2009;Yttri et al, 2009). In order to develop effective control strategies, it is critical to understand which sources contribute to their total mass (Chow and Watson, 2002;Saarnio et al, 2010).…”

Evaluating the SEVIRI Fire Thermal Anomaly Detection Algorithm across the Central African Republic Using the MODIS Active Fire Product

“…Even if a fire is detected by a polar-orbiting sensor, the overpass schedule coupled with variations in sensor scan angle will inevitably limit and confound a reconstruction of the fire's diurnal cycle [6,7]. Although several methods have been developed to overcome the inability of a polar orbiting sensor to characterize the full diurnal cycle of fire activity (e.g., [8][9][10][11]) these techniques require the accumulation of active fire pixels into large spatiotemporal windows to produce "aggregate" or "average" diurnal cycles representative of broad geographical regions and entire fire seasons. Although such generalized diurnal cycles of fire activity may be indicative of synoptic scale land use practices and meteorology, an "aggregate" or "average" diurnal cycle may not represent any particular event since fires at finer spatiotemporal resolutions are increasingly influenced by the actual timing of ignition and the local weather conditions.…”