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Estimates of carbon monoxide emissions from wildfires in northern Eurasia for airquality assessment and climate modeling

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Abstract

The emissions from fires in the boreal zone of northern Eurasia significantly contribute to the global emissions of greenhouse gases, their precursors, and aerosols. These emissions are an important component of the global carbon balance, and they significantly affect both seasonal and long-term variations in the chemical composition and radiation properties of the atmosphere on both regional and global scales. The atmospheric emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) from biomass burning have systematically been estimated for the entire territory of northern Eurasia over the period of 2000–2008 on the basis of satellite (MODIS MCD45A1) data on burned vegetation and the Seiler-Crutzen emission model with consideration for both regional and seasonal features. On the whole, for Russia, the annual emissions of CO from biomass burning ranged from 10.6 to 88.2 Mt/y over the indicated period. Depending on fire activity, the atmospheric emissions of CO from natural fires and agricultural work may yield from 25 to 200% of the total technogenic emissions according to the EDGAR-2000 model. In this case, the dominant contribution is made by boreal forest fires (8–57 Mt/y), whose portion amounts to 63–76% of the total emissions from biomass burning. This relatively short observational series does not allow one to reliably estimate long-term variations; however, on the whole, a stable increase in burned areas has been observed in forest, steppe, and agricultural regions over the last decade. Our analysis suggests significant spatial and seasonal variations in the large-scale fields of fire emissions, which are determined by the physical, geographic, and climatic features of individual regions. The calculated fields of emissions can be used in transport-chemical models, studies of the regional transport and quality of air, and climate models.

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  1. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevskii per. 3, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    A. V. Vivchar, K. B. Moiseenko & N. V. Pankratova

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Original Russian Text © A.V. Vivchar, K.B. Moiseenko, N.V. Pankratova, 2010, published in Izvestiya AN. Fizika Atmosfery i Okeana, 2010, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 307–320.

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Vivchar, A.V., Moiseenko, K.B. & Pankratova, N.V. Estimates of carbon monoxide emissions from wildfires in northern Eurasia for airquality assessment and climate modeling. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 46, 281–293 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433810030023

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