Quantification of pollutants emitted from very large wildland fires in Southern California, USA

This study investigates the efficacy of the first order fire effects model (FOFEM) implemented in a geographic information system for wildland fire emissions estimation. The objective of the study was to quantify the source and composition of smoke and emissions from wildland fires that burned 235,267 ha in Southern California, USA, in October 2003. From inputs of vegetation, fuel model data, weather condition data, and fire perimeters, the model produces estimates of ten pollutant species (10 and 2.5 μm particulates, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, non-methane hydrocarbons, ammonia, nitrous oxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide) from ten fuel categories (duff, litter, woody debris in three size classes, herbs, shrubs, tree regeneration, live branch-wood and live foliage). From the Southern California fires, the model estimated over 5 million metric tons (megagrams) of total pollutant emissions over several days. These emissions include over 457,000 tons of carbon monoxide, over 6 million tons (approximately 6 Tg) of carbon dioxide, and over 46,000 tons of particulates. Fuels that contributed the most mass to the fire emissions were predominantly shrubs and duff.