Effects of forest fires on visibility and air quality

Abstract

The U.S. Clean Air Act establishes the goal of preventing future and remedying existing visibility impairment in 156 Class I areas (national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges). A key element in implementing this goal is the Regional Haze Regulation (RHR). RHR is based on relating impaired visibility, using metrics of extinction (inverse megameters and/or ‘‘deciviews’’), to concentration of ambient particulate matter (PM), especially the chemical components of particulates smaller than 2.5 μm in diameter, collectively known as PM_2.5. PM_2.5itself is also subject to national ambient air quality standards. Forest, rangeland, and agricultural fires, both natural and human caused emit both primary and secondary (formed in the atmosphere from gaseous organic carbon (OC) emissions) PM2.5. This chapter will review the RHR and what we know about relationships between fire emissions, their fate in the atmosphere, and their contribution to regional haze and PM_2.5.

Parent Publication

• Wildland fires and air pollution. Developments in Environmental Science 8

Citation

Fox, Douglas G.; Riebau, Allen R. 2009. Effects of forest fires on visibility and air quality. 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. 171-196