Articles | Volume 13, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7069-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7069-2020
Research article
 | 
23 Dec 2020
Research article |  | 23 Dec 2020

Emissions relationships in western forest fire plumes – Part 1: Reducing the effect of mixing errors on emission factors

Robert B. Chatfield, Meinrat O. Andreae, ARCTAS Science Team, and SEAC4RS Science Team

Data sets

Data Archive: ARCTAS Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) https://www-air.larc.nasa.gov/missions/arctas/arctas.html

Data Archive: SEAC4RS Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) https://www-air.larc.nasa.gov/missions/seac4rs/

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Short summary
Forest burning affects air pollution and global climate. A NASA aircraft studied fire emissions including the Rim Fire near Yosemite. We found frequent confusions between the actual fire emission factors and other effects on the air samples. Effects on CO2 and CO can originate far upwind; the gases can mix variably into a smoke plume. We devised a theory of constant features in plumes. A statistical mixed-effects analysis of a co-emitted tracers model disentangles such mixing from fire effects.