Parameterizations of US wildfire and prescribed fire emission ratios and emission factors based on FIREX-AQ aircraft measurements

Extensive airborne measurements of non-methane organic gases (NMOGs), methane, nitrogen oxides, reduced nitrogen species, and aerosol emissions from US wild and prescribed fires were conducted during the 2019 NOAA/NASA Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality campaign (FIREX-AQ). Here, we report the atmospheric enhancement ratios (ERs) and inferred emission factors (EFs) for compounds measured on board the NASA DC-8 research aircraft for nine wildfires and one prescribed fire, which encompass a range of vegetation types. We use photochemical proxies to identify young smoke and reduce the effects of chemical degradation on our emissions calculations. ERs and EFs calculated from FIREX-AQ observations agree within a factor of 2, with values reported from previous laboratory and field studies for more than 80 % of the carbon- and nitrogen-containing species. Wildfire emissions are parameterized based on correlations of the sum of NMOGs with reactive nitrogen oxides (NO y ) to modified combustion efficiency (MCE) as well as other chemical signatures indicative of flaming/smoldering combustion, including carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), and black carbon aerosol. The sum of primary NMOG EFs correlates to MCE with an R 2 of 0.68 and a slope of - 296 +/- 51 g kg - 1 , consistent with previous studies. The sum of the NMOG mixing ratios correlates well with CO with an R 2 of 0.98 and a slope of 137 +/- 4 ppbv of NMOGs per parts per million by volume (ppmv) of CO, demonstrating that primary NMOG emissions can be estimated from CO. Individual nitrogen-containing species correlate better with NO 2 , NO y , and black carbon than with CO. More than half of the NO y in fresh plumes is NO 2 with an R 2 of 0.95 and a ratio of NO 2 to NO y of 0.55 +/- 0.05 ppbv ppbv - 1 , highlighting that fast photochemistry had already occurred in the sampled fire plumes. The ratio of NO y to the sum of NMOGs follows trends observed in laboratory experiments and increases exponentially with MCE, due to increased emission of key nitrogen species and reduced emission of NMOGs at higher MCE during flaming combustion. These parameterizations will provide more accurate boundary conditions for modeling and satellite studies of fire plume chemistry and evolution to predict the downwind formation of secondary pollutants, including ozone and secondary organic aerosol.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Gkatzelis, G. I.
Coggon, M. M.
Stockwell, C. E.
Hornbrook, Rebecca
Allen, H.
Apel, Eric C.
Bela, M. M.
Blake, D. R.
Bourgeois, I.
Brown, S. S.
Campuzano-Jost, P.
St. Clair, J. M.
Crawford, J. H.
Crounse, J. D.
Day, D. A.
DiGangi, J. P.
Diskin, G. S.
Fried, A.
Gilman, J. B.
Guo, H.
Hair, J. W.
Halliday, H. S.
Hanisco, T. F.
Hannun, R.
Hills, Alan J.
Huey, L. G.
Jimenez, J. L.
Katich, J. M.
Lamplugh, A.
Lee, Y. R.
Liao, J.
Lindaas, J.
McKeen, S. A.
Mikoviny, T.
Nault, B. A.
Neuman, J. A.
Nowak, J. B.
Pagonis, D.
Peischl, J.
Perring, A. E.
Piel, F.
Rickly, P. S.
Robinson, M. A.
Rollins, A. W.
Ryerson, T. B.
Schueneman, M. K.
Schwantes, R. H.
Schwarz, J. P.
Sekimoto, K.
Selimovic, V.
Shingler, T.
Tanner, D. J.
Tomsche, L.
Vasquez, K. T.
Veres, Patrick
Washenfelder, R.
Weibring, P.
Wennberg, P. O.
Wisthaler, A.
Wolfe, G. M.
Womack, C. C.
Xu, L.
Ball, K.
Yokelson, R. J.
Warneke, C.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2024-01-23T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2025-07-10T20:04:58.595733
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:27071
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Gkatzelis, G. I., Coggon, M. M., Stockwell, C. E., Hornbrook, Rebecca, Allen, H., Apel, Eric C., Bela, M. M., Blake, D. R., Bourgeois, I., Brown, S. S., Campuzano-Jost, P., St. Clair, J. M., Crawford, J. H., Crounse, J. D., Day, D. A., DiGangi, J. P., Diskin, G. S., Fried, A., Gilman, J. B., Guo, H., Hair, J. W., Halliday, H. S., Hanisco, T. F., Hannun, R., Hills, Alan J., Huey, L. G., Jimenez, J. L., Katich, J. M., Lamplugh, A., Lee, Y. R., Liao, J., Lindaas, J., McKeen, S. A., Mikoviny, T., Nault, B. A., Neuman, J. A., Nowak, J. B., Pagonis, D., Peischl, J., Perring, A. E., Piel, F., Rickly, P. S., Robinson, M. A., Rollins, A. W., Ryerson, T. B., Schueneman, M. K., Schwantes, R. H., Schwarz, J. P., Sekimoto, K., Selimovic, V., Shingler, T., Tanner, D. J., Tomsche, L., Vasquez, K. T., Veres, Patrick, Washenfelder, R., Weibring, P., Wennberg, P. O., Wisthaler, A., Wolfe, G. M., Womack, C. C., Xu, L., Ball, K., Yokelson, R. J., Warneke, C.. (2024). Parameterizations of US wildfire and prescribed fire emission ratios and emission factors based on FIREX-AQ aircraft measurements. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7wm1jk1. Accessed 10 August 2025.

Harvest Source