Skip to Main Content
U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Home > Search > Publication Information

  1. Characterizing sources of emissions from wildland fires

    Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on Twitter
    Dislike this pubLike this pub
    Author(s): Roger D. Ottmar; Ana Isabel Miranda; David V. Sandberg
    Date: 2009
    Source: In: Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Arbaugh, Michael; Andersen, Christian; Riebau, Allen. 2009. Wildland Fires and Air Pollution. Developments in Environmental Science 8. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier. pp. 61-78
    Publication Series: Book
    PDF: View PDF  (786.92 KB)
    Note: This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document

    Description

    Smoke emissions from wildland fire can be harmful to human health and welfare, impair visibility, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The generation of emissions and heat release need to be characterized to estimate the potential impacts of wildland fire smoke. This requires explicit knowledge of the source, including size of the area burned, burn period, characteristics and condition of the fuels, amount of fuel consumed, and emission factors for specific pollutants. Although errors and uncertainties arise in the process of estimating emissions, the largest errors are related to the characteristics of the fuels and amount of fuel consumed during the combustion phase. We describe the process of characterizing emissions and review the knowledge and predictive models currently available for performing the calculations. The information can be used by scientists, regulators, and land managers to improve the approach needed to define the emissions source strength for improved air quality and impact assessments.

    Publication Notes

    • You may send email to psw_communications@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Ottmar, Roger D.; Miranda, Ana Isabel; Sandberg, David V. 2009. Characterizing sources of emissions from wildland fires. In: Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Arbaugh, Michael; Andersen, Christian; Riebau, Allen 2009. Wildland Fires and Air Pollution. Developments in Environmental Science 8. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier. pp. 61-78

    Related Search

    XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
Jump to Top of Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/34248