Application of the wildland fire emissions inventory system to estimate fire emissions on forest lands of the United States.

Background: Forests are significant terrestrial biomes for carbon storage, and annual carbon accumulation of forest biomass contributes offsets affecting net greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The immediate loss of stored carbon through fire on forest lands reduces the annual offsets provided by forests. As such, the United States reporting includes annual estimates of direct fire emissions in conjunction with the overall forest stock and change estimates as a part of national greenhouse gas inventories within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Simulating spatio-temporal dynamics of surface PM emitted from Alaskan wildfires.

Wildfire is a major disturbance agent in Arctic boreal and tundra ecosystems that emits large quantities of atmospheric pollutants, including PM. Under the substantial Arctic warming which is two to three times of global average, wildfire regimes in the high northern latitude regions are expected to intensify. This imposes a considerable threat to the health of the people residing in the Arctic regions.

Using wildland fire smoke modeling data in gerontological health research (California, 2007-2018).

Widespread population exposure to wildland fire smoke underscores the urgent need for new techniques to characterize fire-derived pollution for epidemiologic studies and to build climate-resilient communities especially for aging populations. Using atmospheric chemical transport modeling, we examined air quality with and without wildland fire smoke PM. In 12-km gridded output, the 24-hour average concentration of all-source PM in California (2007-2018) was 5.

Mapping Modeled Exposure of Wildland Fire Smoke for Human Health Studies in California.

Wildland fire smoke exposure affects a broad proportion of the U.S. population and is increasing due to climate change, settlement patterns and fire seclusion.

The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment-A Plan for Integrated, Large Fire-Atmosphere Field Campaigns.

The Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) is designed to collect integrated observations from large wildland fires and provide evaluation datasets for new models and operational systems. Wildland fire, smoke dispersion, and atmospheric chemistry models have become more sophisticated, and next-generation operational models will require evaluation datasets that are coordinated and comprehensive for their evaluation and advancement. Integrated measurements are required, including ground-based observations of fuels and fire behavior, estimates of fire-emitted heat and emissions fluxes, and observations of near-source micrometeorology, plume properties, smoke dispersion, and atmospheric chemistry.

The San Diego 2007 wildfires and Medi-Cal emergency department presentations, inpatient hospitalizations, and outpatient visits: An observational study of smoke exposure periods and a bidirectional case-crossover analysis.

Background: The frequency and intensity of wildfires is anticipated to increase as climate change creates longer, warmer, and drier seasons. Particulate matter (PM) from wildfire smoke has been linked to adverse respiratory and possibly cardiovascular outcomes. Children, older adults, and persons with underlying respiratory and cardiovascular conditions are thought to be particularly vulnerable.

Modeling acute respiratory illness during the 2007 San Diego wildland fires using a coupled emissions-transport system and generalized additive modeling.

Background: A study of the impacts on respiratory health of the 2007 wildland fires in and around San Diego County, California is presented. This study helps to address the impact of fire emissions on human health by modeling the exposure potential of proximate populations to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) from vegetation fires. Currently, there is no standard methodology to model and forecast the potential respiratory health effects of PM plumes from wildland fires, and in part this is due to a lack of methodology for rigorously relating the two.