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What’s in that smoke? Characterizing Emissions from Prescribed Burns in the Flint Hills Region
Citation:
Gullett, B. What’s in that smoke? Characterizing Emissions from Prescribed Burns in the Flint Hills Region. Kling Anderson Lecture Series, Manhattan,KS, April 27, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
This is an invited presentation at Kansas State University for the Kling Anderson lecture series. The series covers topics of interest to the ecology of the Flint Hills region.
Description:
Prescribed burns are prevalent in the Midwest and Southeast U.S. to reduce the risk of wildfires, improve the natural habitat for animal and plant species, minimize spread of disease, and promote rangeland productivity. Balanced against these beneficial reasons for the use of prescribed fire are the resulting emissions which can cause adverse health effects for humans, contribute to atmospheric changes, and reduce visibility. Wildland fires account for 41% of the small, inhalable particles emitted from sources in the U.S. These particles have been linked with adverse pulmonary and respiratory outcomes. In cooperation with local universities and state, regional, and federal partners, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development has been working to better characterize smoke emissions from prescribed fires to support local, collaborative efforts to predict and mitigate the impact of smoke on local and regional communities. Unique aerial and ground-based sampling methods have been applied to spring and fall prescribed burns in the Flint Hills region to understand whether season, fire return interval, and biomass density have an impact on the amount and character of smoke emissions. This talk will describe these sampling efforts and the development of innovative technologies to safely and representatively sample open fires, including native grass and wildland fires.