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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. D13, 8470, doi:10.1029/2002JD002482, 2003

Release of gaseous and particulate carbonaceous compounds from biomass burning during the SAFARI 2000 dry season field campaign

C. Hély

Environmental Sciences Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


K. Caylor

Environmental Sciences Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


S. Alleaume

Environmental Sciences Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


R. J. Swap

Environmental Sciences Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


H. H. Shugart

Environmental Sciences Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA


Abstract

Source strengths to the atmosphere for different forms of carbon (CO2, CO, CH4, nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and PM2.5) produced by biomass burning were calculated during the Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000) intensive study period (August and September 2000) for Africa south of the equator. For a given pixel burned, these calculations are a product of the aboveground biomass before a fire, the proportion of biomass that is burned by the fire, and the emission factor for a given carbon compound based on the combustion efficiency. The total emission for the region is the summation of such calculations for all the burned pixels. Products used for these calculations are a prototype satellite-based burned area based on the SPOT-VGT-S1 satellite product, a fuel load map produced by a simulation model developed and applied to southern Africa at 1 km2 resolution, information from fire experiments from our own research in southern Africa to compute combustion completeness, and emission factors published for the region. Over August and September 2000, 31,067 fires detected by the SPOT satellite are calculated to have emitted 96.9 × 1012 g CO2, 4.6 × 1012 g CO, and lesser amounts of CH4, NMHC, and PM2.5. These calculations are in the range of previous estimates of the emissions of these compounds for southern Africa. Along with documenting the estimates of the emissions during the SAFARI 2000 campaign, regional emission estimates are very strongly controlled by the burned area of fires due to a correlation between the cumulative distribution of percent burned area and the cumulative distribution of percent emissions.

Published 13 February 2003.

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 9305 Information Related to Geographic Region: Africa.

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Citation: Hély, C., K. Caylor, S. Alleaume, R. J. Swap, and H. H. Shugart (2003), Release of gaseous and particulate carbonaceous compounds from biomass burning during the SAFARI 2000 dry season field campaign, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D13), 8470, doi:10.1029/2002JD002482.