Tropospheric CO interannual variations as a proxy for emissions from forest fires.

1. L. Yurganov, W. McMillan, (University of Maryland Baltimore County, JCET) , A. Dzhola , E. Grechko. (Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Moscow, Russia) Tropospheric CO interannual variations as a proxy for emissions from forest fires. Carbon monoxide (CO) is the second (after CO2) carbonaceous compound emitted by forest fires. Its interannual variations amount to 40-60% of background values and can be easily measured using both in situ and total column techniques. This report presents results of consistent remote sensing of CO since 1996 until the end of 2006 (MOPITT after 2000). Pure “top-down” estimates of CO emissions (without any a-priori) are compared with the most comprehensive for today pure “bottom-up” calculations GFVDv2 by van der Werf et al., and Kasischke et al., GBC, 2005. Updated record Boreal belt of the Northern Hemisphere Anomalies of CO emission CO anomalies of total columns Burden (top), emission (middle) and fire counts (bottom) ACP, Yurganov et al., 2005 CO anomalies of total columns (top) and surface VMR (bottom) Total column measurements: courtesy A. Dzhola (Zvenigorod) and E. Mahieu (Jungfraujoch) Conclusions and intentions ● CO appears to be the best atmospheric tracer for biomass burning; it is easily measurable either from the ground or from space. ● Integration of satellite and total column ground based measurements supplies CO tropospheric burdens. Their interannual variations can be easily converted into the emission anomalies. ● Comparisons with inventories reveal both agreements and disagreements. ● Our goal is to employ both ground-based and satellite techniques for CO monitoring. Global and regional burdens will be derived from all available data; MOPITT is underway, the next instruments will be AIRS, then SCIAMACHY, TES and so on. These records will be updated and validated using available ground-based facilities. CO emission will be used as a proxy for estimates of gaseous and aerosol emissions from biomass burning and their trends. We acknowledge a financial support from NOAA grant # NA04A0AR4310095 and from NASA Carbon Cycle Program. Global burden, MOPITT Anomalies of global emissions Seasonal patterns, boreal areas (note different scales) Global 30 N – 90 N, Tg/yr Global, Tg/yr 30 N – 90 N