Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher
Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.
Publication Date
10-2014
Volume
14
Disciplines
Biochemistry | Chemistry | Life Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Abstract
A Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler – Total Organic Carbon (PILS-TOC) and fraction collector system was flown aboard a Twin Otter aircraft sampling prescribed burning emissions in South Carolina in November 2011 to obtain smoke marker measurements. The fraction collector provided 2 min time-integrated offline samples for carbohydrate (i.e., smoke markers levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan) analysis by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Each fire location appeared to have a unique 1levoglucosan /1water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) ratio (RF01/RF02/RF03/RF05 = 0.163± 0.007 μg C μg−1 C, RF08 = 0.115 ± 0.011 μg C μg−1 C, RF09A = 0.072 ± 0.028 μgC μg−1 C, and RF09B = 0.042 ± 0.008 μg Cμg−1 C, where RF means research flight). These ratios were comparable to those obtained from controlled laboratory burns and suggested that the emissions sampled during RF01/F02/RF03/RF05 were dominated by the burning of grasses, RF08 by leaves, RF09A by needles, and RF09B by marsh grasses. These findings were further supported by the 1galactosan /1levoglucosan ratios (RF01/RF02/RF03/RF05 = 0.067 ± 0.004 μg μg−1, RF08 = 0.085 ± 0.009 μg μg−1, and RF09A = 0.101 ± 0.029 μg μg−1) obtained as well as by the ground-based fuel and filter sample analyses during RF01/RF02/RF03/RF05. Differences between 1potassium /1levoglucosan ratios obtained for these prescribed fires vs. laboratory-scale measurements suggest that some laboratory burns may not accurately represent potassium emissions from prescribed burns. The1levoglucosan /1WSOC ratio had no clear dependence on smoke age or fire dynamics suggesting that this ratio is more dependent on the type of fuel being burned. Levoglucosan was stable over a timescale of at least 1.5 h and could be useful to help estimate the air quality impacts of biomass burning.
Keywords
Aerosol Mass-Spectrometry, Fine-Particle Emissions, Liquid Sampler Pils, Source Apportionment, Trace Gases, Organic-Compounds, Laboratory Measurements, Particulate Matter
DOI
10.5194/acp-14-10535-2014
Rights
© Author(s) 2014.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Sullivan, A. P., May, A. A., Lee, T., McMeeking, G. R., Kreidenweis, S. M., Akagi, S. K., Yokelson, R. J., Urbanski, S. P., and Collett Jr., J. L.: Airborne characterization of smoke marker ratios from prescribed burning, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10535-10545, doi:10.5194/acp-14-10535-2014, 2014.