Poster Session #2

Presentation Type

Poster

Faculty Mentor’s Full Name

Anna Klene

Faculty Mentor’s Department

Geography

Abstract / Artist's Statement

The burning of biomass releases a variety of pollutants, but the most commonly monitored in terms of public health is PM2.5. Examining how wildfire specific PM2.5 is transported through the atmosphere is important because these particulates pose serious health risks. Many types of models exist to simulate the dispersal of wildfire smoke, but the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and the Air Indicator Report for Public Awareness and Community Tracking (AIRPACT) system can produce spatially explicit pollution transport simulations. This analysis will utilize PM2.5 as the species to compare the outputs of HYSPLIT and AIRPACT along with a readily available satellite dataset, and on-site measurements. Outputs will be assessed with respect to useful outputs for city and county managers concerned with the public health effects of wildfire smoke.

The Lolo Peak fire (Figure 1) was first detected on July 15, 2017 in a section of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, southwest of Lolo, Montana, ignited by a lightning strike. The fire was managed from its ignition, but due high temperatures, low relative humidity, high pre-existing tree mortality, gusty winds, and steep terrain the fire was able to spread rapidly and burn over 53,000 acres (InciWeb, 2017). Data from August 18, 2017 (Figure 2) will be examined for this comparison.

Category

Humanities

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Apr 17th, 3:00 PM Apr 17th, 4:00 PM

A Comparative Analysis of HYSPLIT and AIRPACT to Estimate Wildland Fire Smoke Emissions for Public Health Applications

UC South Ballroom

The burning of biomass releases a variety of pollutants, but the most commonly monitored in terms of public health is PM2.5. Examining how wildfire specific PM2.5 is transported through the atmosphere is important because these particulates pose serious health risks. Many types of models exist to simulate the dispersal of wildfire smoke, but the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and the Air Indicator Report for Public Awareness and Community Tracking (AIRPACT) system can produce spatially explicit pollution transport simulations. This analysis will utilize PM2.5 as the species to compare the outputs of HYSPLIT and AIRPACT along with a readily available satellite dataset, and on-site measurements. Outputs will be assessed with respect to useful outputs for city and county managers concerned with the public health effects of wildfire smoke.

The Lolo Peak fire (Figure 1) was first detected on July 15, 2017 in a section of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, southwest of Lolo, Montana, ignited by a lightning strike. The fire was managed from its ignition, but due high temperatures, low relative humidity, high pre-existing tree mortality, gusty winds, and steep terrain the fire was able to spread rapidly and burn over 53,000 acres (InciWeb, 2017). Data from August 18, 2017 (Figure 2) will be examined for this comparison.