The Impact of Aged Boreal Fire Emissions on the Composition of the Remote Midlatitude Lower Free Troposphere, Using Measurements at the PICO-NARE Station

Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project will assess the impact of biomass burning emissions from boreal forests on the composition of the midlatitude troposphere. This will be accomplished by using measurements of ozone, carbon monoxide, and reactive nitrogen (NOy) from the PICO observatory in the Azores, coupled with trajectory and particle dispersion calculations, and remote sensing data on boreal fires and biomass burning plumes. The goals are to quantify the influence of boreal fires on background (and episodic) ozone concentrations, compare the importance of biomass burning on ozone versus anthropogenic emissions, and study the dependence of ozone enhancements on fire sources, transport pathways from high latitudes to the Azores, and the photochemical history along these pathways. This work will provide further opportunity to utilize the data that have been obtained from the observing station at the top of Mt. Pico, in a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean. This area is far from local sources of pollution, and the free troposphere at Pico is representative of a large swath of the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean. The site is ideal for examining the regional and global effects of emissions on the atmosphere, and as a laboratory for studying possible effects of global change. This grant will support the PhD thesis research of two graduate students.