Cataloging Information
Smoke Emissions
Under the scope of a 2014 Joint Fire Science Program Grant, we are currently investigating future wildfire activity and consequences on air quality over the United States. In this study, we focus on major air pollutants, such as PM2.5 and ozone, and employ the global Community Earth System Model (CESM) using an unprecedented fine scale (31 x 31 mile [50 × 50 km]) with the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) climate projections. We have incorporated into the model a complex fire parameterization (Li et al. 2012) directly coupled with the climate projections to better predict future areas burned and fire emissions, including changes in biogenic emissions and vegetation. We also take into account projections in anthropogenic emissions.