Emissions from biomass burning in the Yucatan

In March 2006 two instrumented aircraft made the first detailed field measurements of biomass burning (BB) emissions in the Northern Hemisphere tropics as part of the MILAGRO project. The aircraft were the National Center for Atmospheric Research C-130 and a University of Montana/US Forest Service Twin Otter. The initial emissions of up to 49 trace gas or particle species were measured from 20 deforestation and crop residue fires on the Yucatan peninsula. This included two trace gases useful as indicators of BB (HCN and acetonitrile) and several rarely, or never before, measured species: OH, peroxyacetic acid, propanoic acid, hydrogen peroxide, methane sulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid. Crop residue fires emitted more organic acids and ammonia than deforestation fires, but the emissions from the main fire types were otherwise fairly similar. The Yucatan fires emitted unusually high amounts of SO2 and particle chloride, likely due to a strong marine influence on this peninsula. As smoke from one fire aged, the ratio ΔO3/ΔCO increased to ~15% in 1×107 molecules/cm3) that were likely caused in part by high initial HONO (~10% of NOy). Thus, more research is needed to understand critical post emission processes for the second-largest trace gas source on Earth. It is estimated that ~44 Tg of biomass burned in the Yucatan in the spring of 2006. Mexican BB (including Yucatan BB) and urban emissions from the Mexico City area can both influence the March-May air quality in much of Mexico and the US.

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Author Yokelson, R.
Crounse, J.
DeCarlo, P.
Karl, Thomas
Urbanski, S.
Atlas, E.
Campos, Teresa
Shinozuka, Y.
Kapustin, V.
Clarke, A.
Weinheimer, Andrew
Knapp, David
Montzka, Denise
Holloway, J.
Weibring, Petter
Flocke, Frank
Zheng, Wengang
Toohey, D.
Wennberg, P.
Wiedinmyer, Christine
Mauldin, R.
Fried, Alan
Richter, Dirk
Walega, James
Jimenez, J.
Adachi, K.
Buseck, P.
Hall, Samuel
Shetter, Rick
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2009-08-12T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:58:51.145086
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:17229
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Yokelson, R., Crounse, J., DeCarlo, P., Karl, Thomas, Urbanski, S., Atlas, E., Campos, Teresa, Shinozuka, Y., Kapustin, V., Clarke, A., Weinheimer, Andrew, Knapp, David, Montzka, Denise, Holloway, J., Weibring, Petter, Flocke, Frank, Zheng, Wengang, Toohey, D., Wennberg, P., Wiedinmyer, Christine, Mauldin, R., Fried, Alan, Richter, Dirk, Walega, James, Jimenez, J., Adachi, K., Buseck, P., Hall, Samuel, Shetter, Rick. (2009). Emissions from biomass burning in the Yucatan. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7gf0vt2. Accessed 11 February 2025.

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