P2.3
Using remotely sensed data to characterize the sweat farm road wildfire's effects upon air quality in Atlanta, GA
Erica J. Alston, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Abstract: The wildfires that swept through southeastern GA are the largest wildfire event to devastate the US southeast. The fires raged for over two months and consumed hundreds of thousands of acres. Wildfires are a source of fine particulate matter i.e. PM 2.5 (measured in micrograms per cubic meter) that can contain water vapor, toxic gases and irritant particles. It is this combination that causes wildfires to have significant impacts upon air quality in the surrounding areas. This work seeks to characterize the air quality impacts felt in Atlanta, GA through the use of ground based and remotely sensed data. The ground based data is provided through a network of ambient air monitoring stations that is connected with the US EPA. The remotely sensed data will be a multi-instrument view of the event through CALIPSO, MODIS Aqua, MODIS Terra and LANDSAT. During active burning period, Atlanta experienced seven PM2.5 exceedances, with most occurring during May. Correctly predicting air quality during a wildfire can be difficult, as shown by the missed AQI forecasts for those exceedance days. The use of some air quality modeling of the wildfire event will be compared to the remotely sensed data.
Poster Session 2, Atmospheric Chemistry Poster Session 2
Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 2:30 PM-4:00 PM, Exhibit Hall B
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