Modeling the air quality effects of the 2007 south Georgia wildfires with SHRMC-4S

In Spring 2007, southern Georgia experienced most severe wildfires in history. The fires broke up in Mid-April around the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and lasted for months. More than half a million acres have been burned by early June. The fires emitted a huge amount of particulate matter (PM) into the atmosphere. A number of ground measurement sites in the Atlanta metropolitan area indicated record-breaking PM concentrations on the days with southerly prevailing winds. This caused serious regional air quality problems. The efforts in investigating the air quality effects of the south Georgia wildfires are being made by the Southern High Resolution Modeling Consortium (SHRMC) and collaborators. This study is one of the efforts with the focus on PM. PM2.5 concentrations are simulated with the SHRMC Southern Smoke Simulation System (SHRMC-4S). The results are validated using MODIS satellite remote sensing images and ground measurements.