Emissions of organic compounds from western US wildfires and their near-fire transformations

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dc.contributor.authorLiang, Yutongen
dc.contributor.authorStamatis, Christosen
dc.contributor.authorFortner, Edward C.en
dc.contributor.authorWernis, Rebecca A.en
dc.contributor.authorVan Rooy, Paulen
dc.contributor.authorMajluf, Francescaen
dc.contributor.authorYacovitch, Tara, Ien
dc.contributor.authorDaube, Conneren
dc.contributor.authorHerndon, Scott C.en
dc.contributor.authorKreisberg, Nathan M.en
dc.contributor.authorBarsanti, Kelley C.en
dc.contributor.authorGoldstein, Allen H.en
dc.coverage.countryUnited Statesen
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-19T14:23:16Zen
dc.date.available2022-10-19T14:23:16Zen
dc.date.issued2022-08-03en
dc.description.abstractThe size and frequency of wildfires in the western United States have been increasing, and this trend is projected to continue, with increasing adverse consequences for human health. Gas- and particle-phase organic compounds are the main components of wildfire emissions. Some of the directly emitted compounds are hazardous air pollutants, while others can react with oxidants to form secondary air pollutants such as ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Further, compounds emitted in the particle phase can volatize during smoke transport and can then serve as precursors for SOA. The extent of pollutant formation from wildfire emissions is dependent in part on the speciation of organic compounds. The most detailed speciation of organic compounds has been achieved in laboratory studies, though recent field campaigns are leading to an increase in such measurements in the field. In this study, we identified and quantified hundreds of gas- and particle-phase organic compounds emitted from conifer-dominated wildfires in the western US, using two two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC x GC ToF-MS) instruments. Observed emission factors (EFs) and emission ratios are reported for four wildfires. As has been demonstrated previously, modified combustion efficiency (MCE) was a good predictor of particle-phase EFs (e.g., R-2=0.78 and 0.84 for sugars and terpenoids, respectively), except for elemental carbon. Higher emissions of diterpenoids, resin acids, and monoterpenes were observed in the field relative to laboratory studies, likely due to distillation from unburned heated vegetation, which may be underrepresented in laboratory studies. These diterpenoids and resin acids accounted for up to 45 % of total quantified organic aerosol, higher than the contribution from sugar and sugar derivatives. The low volatility of resin acids makes them ideal markers for conifer fire smoke. The speciated measurements also show that evaporation of semi-volatile organic compounds took place in smoke plumes, which suggests that the evaporated primary organic aerosol can be a precursor of SOAs in wildfire smoke plumes.en
dc.description.notesThis research has been supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (grant nos. NA16OAR4310107, NA16OAR4310103, and NA16OAR4310104) to UCB, UCR, and Aerodyne Research Inc., respectively.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NA16OAR4310107, NA16OAR4310103, NA16OAR4310104]en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022en
dc.identifier.eissn1680-7324en
dc.identifier.issn1680-7316en
dc.identifier.issue15en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/112204en
dc.identifier.volume22en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherCopernicusen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjecttrace gasesen
dc.subjectaerosol emissionsen
dc.subjectunited-statesen
dc.subjectcombustionen
dc.subjectwooden
dc.subjectquantificationen
dc.subjectidentificationen
dc.subjectoxidationen
dc.subjectpyrolysisen
dc.subjectevolutionen
dc.titleEmissions of organic compounds from western US wildfires and their near-fire transformationsen
dc.title.serialAtmospheric Chemistry and Physicsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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