Science Inventory

Impact of wildfire on particulate matter in the southeastern United States in November 2016

Citation:

Guan, S., D. Wong, Y. Gao, T. Zhang, AND G. Pouliot. Impact of wildfire on particulate matter in the southeastern United States in November 2016. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 724(1):138354, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138354

Impact/Purpose:

Using WRF-CMAQ two-way coupled model as a tool to understand various physical changes due to wildfire and determine how well the coupled model captures those changes.

Description:

In November 2016, a large area of wildfire occurred in the southeastern United States, concomitant with the occurrence of severe drought during the same period. Whereas the previous studies on biomass burning over this region mainly focused on the prescribed fire, this study investigated the impact of wildfire using the two-way-coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model and Community Multiscale Air Quality model. Two episodic wildfire burning events (November 6 to 9 and November 13 to 16, 2016) were selected, and the mean contribution to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the southeastern United States from wildfires reached 9.6 to 42.5 μg m−3 and 10.9 to 26.1 μg m−3, with mean relative contributions of 41% and 49%, respectively, during these two events. The effect of wildfire propagates along the path of the smoke plume, which is determined by the wind speed and direction. For instance, during the first event, the dominant low-altitude wind vector displayed an anticyclonic-type flow with low wind speed, resulting in relatively localized influence and high intensity. In contrast, during the second event, relatively fast eastward wind, particularly over the latter part of the event, strengthened the diffusion and affected larger areas in comparison with the first event. Moreover, differently from the previous studies, this study took a further step to reveal the mechanism of the aerosol direct effect on the deterioration of air quality during wildfire, mainly through the modulation of reduction in surface downward shortwave radiation, planetary boundary layer height and wind speed, subsequently, facilitating pollution accumulation. Quantification analysis showed an average of 10% to 14% extra enhancement of PM2.5 during the November 6 to 8 episode. Considering that more frequent drought is projected to occur in the southeastern United States, wildfire may play an even more important role in modulating the air quality in this region.