Observations of Emissions and the Influence of Meteorological Conditions during Wildfires: A Case Study in the USA, Brazil, and Australia during the 2018/19 Period

• Main Authors: Lerato Shikwambana, Mahlatse Kganyago
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-12-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: air pollution; smoke; CALIPSO; Sentinel-5P; biomass burning; black carbon
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/1/11

Wildfires can have rapid and long-term effects on air quality, human health, climate change, and the environment. Smoke from large wildfires can travel long distances and have a harmful effect on human health, the environment, and climate in other areas. More recently, in 2018–2019 there have been many large fires. This study focused on the wildfires that occurred in the United States of America (USA), Brazil, and Australia using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation (CALIOP) and a TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Specifically, we analyzed the spatial-temporal distribution of black carbon (BC) and carbon monoxide (CO) and the vertical distribution of smoke. Based on the results, the highest detection of smoke (~14 km) was observed in Brazil; meanwhile, Australia showed the largest BC column burden of ~1.5 mg/m². The meteorological conditions were similar for all sites during the fires. Moderate temperatures (between 32 and 42 °C) and relative humidity (30–50%) were observed, which resulted in drier conditions favorable for the burning of fires. However, the number of active fires was different for each site, with Brazil having 13 times more active fires than the USA and five times more than the number of active fires in Australia. However, the high number of active fires did not translate to higher atmospheric constituent emissions. Overall, this work provides a better understanding of wildfire behavior and the role of meteorological conditions in emissions at various sites.