Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning

doi:10.1029/2000GB001382

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Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning

Journal Article•DOI•

Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning

Meinrat O. Andreae¹, P. Merlet¹•Institutions (1)

Max Planck Society¹

01 Dec 2001-Global Biogeochemical Cycles (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd)-Vol. 15, Iss: 4, pp 955-966

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a set of emission factors for a large variety of species emitted from biomass fires, where data were not available, they have proposed estimates based on appropriate extrapolation techniques.

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Abstract: A large body of information on emissions from the various types of biomass burning has been accumulated over the past decade, to a large extent as a result of International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme/International Global Atmospheric Chemistry research activities. Yet this information has not been readily accessible to the atmospheric chemistry community because it was scattered over a large number of publications and reported in numerous different units and reference systems. We have critically evaluated the presently available data and integrated these into a consistent format. On the basis of this analysis we present a set of emission factors for a large variety of species emitted from biomass fires. Where data were not available, we have proposed estimates based on appropriate extrapolation techniques. We have derived global estimates of pyrogenic emissions for important species emitted by the various types of biomass burning and compared our estimates with results from inverse modeling studies.

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Book Chapter•

Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing

[...]

Piers M. Forster, Venkatachalam Ramaswamy, Paulo Artaxo, Terje Koren Berntsen, Richard Betts, David W. Fahey, Jim Haywood, Judith Lean, David C. Lowe, Gunnar Myhre, John Nganga, Ronald G. Prinn, Graciela B. Raga, Michael Schulz, Rob van Dorland, Greg Bodeker, Oliver Boucher, William D. Collins, T.J. Conway, Edward J. Dlugokencky, James W. Elkins, David Etheridge, P. Foukal, Paul J. Fraser, Marvyn Geller, Fortunat Joos, Charles D. Keeling, Stefan Kinne, K. Lassey, Ulrike Lohmann, Andrew C. Manning, S. A. Montzka, David E. Oram, K. O'Shaughnessy, S. Piper, Gian-Kasper Plattner, Michael Ponater, Navin Ramankutty, G. Reid, David Rind, Karen H. Rosenlof, Robert Sausen, D. Schwarzkopf, S.K. Solanki, Garry Stenchikov, N. Stuber, Toshihiko Takemura, Christiane Textor, R. Wang, Ray F. Weiss, T. Whorf - Show less +47 more

01 Oct 2007

5,004 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific assessment

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Tami C. Bond¹, Sarah J. Doherty², David W. Fahey³, Piers M. Forster⁴, Terje Koren Berntsen⁵, Benjamin DeAngelo⁶, Mark Flanner⁷, Steven J. Ghan⁸, Bernd Kärcher⁹, Dorothy Koch¹⁰, Stefan Kinne¹¹, Yutaka Kondo¹², Patricia K. Quinn¹³, Marcus C. Sarofim⁶, Martin G. Schultz¹⁴, Michael Schulz¹⁵, Chandra Venkataraman¹⁶, Hua Zhang¹⁷, Shiqiu Zhang¹⁸, Nicolas Bellouin¹⁹, Sarath K. Guttikunda²⁰, Philip K. Hopke²¹, Mark Z. Jacobson²², Johannes W. Kaiser²³, Zbigniew Klimont²⁴, Ulrike Lohmann, Joshua P. Schwarz³, Drew Shindell²⁵, Trude Storelvmo²⁶, Stephen G. Warren²⁷, Charles S. Zender²⁸ - Show less +27 more•Institutions (28)

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign¹, Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean², Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences³, University of Leeds⁴, University of Oslo⁵, United States Environmental Protection Agency⁶, University of Michigan⁷, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory⁸, German Aerospace Center⁹, United States Department of Energy¹⁰, Max Planck Society¹¹, University of Tokyo¹², National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration¹³, Forschungszentrum Jülich¹⁴, Norwegian Meteorological Institute¹⁵, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay¹⁶, China Meteorological Administration¹⁷, Peking University¹⁸, Met Office¹⁹, Desert Research Institute²⁰, Clarkson University²¹, Stanford University²², European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts²³, International Institute of Minnesota²⁴, Goddard Institute for Space Studies²⁵, Yale University²⁶, University of Washington²⁷, University of California, Irvine²⁸

16 Jun 2013-Journal of Geophysical Research

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provided an assessment of black-carbon climate forcing that is comprehensive in its inclusion of all known and relevant processes and that is quantitative in providing best estimates and uncertainties of the main forcing terms: direct solar absorption; influence on liquid, mixed phase, and ice clouds; and deposition on snow and ice.

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Abstract: Black carbon aerosol plays a unique and important role in Earth's climate system. Black carbon is a type of carbonaceous material with a unique combination of physical properties. This assessment provides an evaluation of black-carbon climate forcing that is comprehensive in its inclusion of all known and relevant processes and that is quantitative in providing best estimates and uncertainties of the main forcing terms: direct solar absorption; influence on liquid, mixed phase, and ice clouds; and deposition on snow and ice. These effects are calculated with climate models, but when possible, they are evaluated with both microphysical measurements and field observations. Predominant sources are combustion related, namely, fossil fuels for transportation, solid fuels for industrial and residential uses, and open burning of biomass. Total global emissions of black carbon using bottom-up inventory methods are 7500 Gg yr−1 in the year 2000 with an uncertainty range of 2000 to 29000. However, global atmospheric absorption attributable to black carbon is too low in many models and should be increased by a factor of almost 3. After this scaling, the best estimate for the industrial-era (1750 to 2005) direct radiative forcing of atmospheric black carbon is +0.71 W m−2 with 90% uncertainty bounds of (+0.08, +1.27) W m−2. Total direct forcing by all black carbon sources, without subtracting the preindustrial background, is estimated as +0.88 (+0.17, +1.48) W m−2. Direct radiative forcing alone does not capture important rapid adjustment mechanisms. A framework is described and used for quantifying climate forcings, including rapid adjustments. The best estimate of industrial-era climate forcing of black carbon through all forcing mechanisms, including clouds and cryosphere forcing, is +1.1 W m−2 with 90% uncertainty bounds of +0.17 to +2.1 W m−2. Thus, there is a very high probability that black carbon emissions, independent of co-emitted species, have a positive forcing and warm the climate. We estimate that black carbon, with a total climate forcing of +1.1 W m−2, is the second most important human emission in terms of its climate forcing in the present-day atmosphere; only carbon dioxide is estimated to have a greater forcing. Sources that emit black carbon also emit other short-lived species that may either cool or warm climate. Climate forcings from co-emitted species are estimated and used in the framework described herein. When the principal effects of short-lived co-emissions, including cooling agents such as sulfur dioxide, are included in net forcing, energy-related sources (fossil fuel and biofuel) have an industrial-era climate forcing of +0.22 (−0.50 to +1.08) W m−2 during the first year after emission. For a few of these sources, such as diesel engines and possibly residential biofuels, warming is strong enough that eliminating all short-lived emissions from these sources would reduce net climate forcing (i.e., produce cooling). When open burning emissions, which emit high levels of organic matter, are included in the total, the best estimate of net industrial-era climate forcing by all short-lived species from black-carbon-rich sources becomes slightly negative (−0.06 W m−2 with 90% uncertainty bounds of −1.45 to +1.29 W m−2). The uncertainties in net climate forcing from black-carbon-rich sources are substantial, largely due to lack of knowledge about cloud interactions with both black carbon and co-emitted organic carbon. In prioritizing potential black-carbon mitigation actions, non-science factors, such as technical feasibility, costs, policy design, and implementation feasibility play important roles. The major sources of black carbon are presently in different stages with regard to the feasibility for near-term mitigation. This assessment, by evaluating the large number and complexity of the associated physical and radiative processes in black-carbon climate forcing, sets a baseline from which to improve future climate forcing estimates.

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4,591 citations

Cites background or methods from "Emission of trace gases and aerosol..."

...This ratio can vary greatly depending on the burning conditions; Andreae and Merlet [2001] give an interquartile range of 4 to 14....
[...]
...The comprehensive literature review of Andreae and Merlet [2001] has become widely used, in particular for the compilation of global inventories [e.g., van der Werf et al., 2006; Schultz et al., 2008]. However, this review included only values based on thermal oxidation techniques and excluded optical absorption measurements. Even the highest BC emission factor in Andreae and Merlet [2001] is lower than values inferred from absorption measurements, which have been used in other studies [Patterson and McMahon, 1984; Liousse et al, 1996; Chin et al., 2002; Liley et al., 2003]. In part due to higher emission factors, Liousse et al. [2010] estimated African biomass burning emissions that were about 2.5 higher than GFED. Martins et al. [1998a] showed that thermal oxidation measurements underestimated BC mass, leading to unrealistically high MACBC values. Therefore, it is possible that the use of imperfect thermal methods yields BC emission factors that are too low. [62] Comparisons between chemical and optical measurements would increase confidence in biomass-burning emission factors for BC. A review by Watson et al. [2005] showed differences of up to a factor of seven between different BC field measurements and discusses the various uncertainties related to both thermal and optical measurements....
[...]
...The comprehensive literature review of Andreae and Merlet [2001] has become widely used, in particular for the compilation of global inventories [e.g., van der Werf et al., 2006; Schultz et al., 2008]. However, this review included only values based on thermal oxidation techniques and excluded optical absorption measurements. Even the highest BC emission factor in Andreae and Merlet [2001] is lower than values inferred from absorption measurements, which have been used in other studies [Patterson and McMahon, 1984; Liousse et al, 1996; Chin et al....
[...]
...Based on the data from Andreae and Merlet [2001] we estimate the lower uncertainty of BC emission factors to be a factor of 0....
[...]
...The comprehensive literature review of Andreae and Merlet [2001] has become widely used, in particular for the compilation of global inventories [e.g., van der Werf et al., 2006; Schultz et al., 2008]. However, this review included only values based on thermal oxidation techniques and excluded optical absorption measurements. Even the highest BC emission factor in Andreae and Merlet [2001] is lower than values inferred from absorption measurements, which have been used in other studies [Patterson and McMahon, 1984; Liousse et al, 1996; Chin et al., 2002; Liley et al., 2003]. In part due to higher emission factors, Liousse et al. [2010] estimated African biomass burning emissions that were about 2.5 higher than GFED. Martins et al. [1998a] showed that thermal oxidation measurements underestimated BC mass, leading to unrealistically high MACBC values....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Global fire emissions and the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997-2009)

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G. R. van der Werf¹, James T. Randerson², Louis Giglio³, Louis Giglio⁴, G. J. Collatz⁴, Mingquan Mu², Prasad S. Kasibhatla⁵, Douglas C. Morton⁴, Ruth DeFries⁶, Yufang Jin², T. T. van Leeuwen¹ - Show less +7 more•Institutions (6)

VU University Amsterdam¹, University of California, Irvine², University of Maryland, College Park³, Goddard Space Flight Center⁴, Duke University⁵, Columbia University⁶

10 Dec 2010-Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a revised version of the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford-Approach (CASA) biogeochemical model and improved satellite-derived estimates of area burned, fire activity, and plant productivity to calculate fire emissions for the 1997-2009 period on a 0.5° spatial resolution with a monthly time step.

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Abstract: . New burned area datasets and top-down constraints from atmospheric concentration measurements of pyrogenic gases have decreased the large uncertainty in fire emissions estimates. However, significant gaps remain in our understanding of the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural waste, and peat fires to total global fire emissions. Here we used a revised version of the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford-Approach (CASA) biogeochemical model and improved satellite-derived estimates of area burned, fire activity, and plant productivity to calculate fire emissions for the 1997–2009 period on a 0.5° spatial resolution with a monthly time step. For November 2000 onwards, estimates were based on burned area, active fire detections, and plant productivity from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. For the partitioning we focused on the MODIS era. We used maps of burned area derived from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) and Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) active fire data prior to MODIS (1997–2000) and estimates of plant productivity derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) observations during the same period. Average global fire carbon emissions according to this version 3 of the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED3) were 2.0 Pg C year−1 with significant interannual variability during 1997–2001 (2.8 Pg C year−1 in 1998 and 1.6 Pg C year−1 in 2001). Globally, emissions during 2002–2007 were relatively constant (around 2.1 Pg C year−1) before declining in 2008 (1.7 Pg C year−1) and 2009 (1.5 Pg C year−1) partly due to lower deforestation fire emissions in South America and tropical Asia. On a regional basis, emissions were highly variable during 2002–2007 (e.g., boreal Asia, South America, and Indonesia), but these regional differences canceled out at a global level. During the MODIS era (2001–2009), most carbon emissions were from fires in grasslands and savannas (44%) with smaller contributions from tropical deforestation and degradation fires (20%), woodland fires (mostly confined to the tropics, 16%), forest fires (mostly in the extratropics, 15%), agricultural waste burning (3%), and tropical peat fires (3%). The contribution from agricultural waste fires was likely a lower bound because our approach for measuring burned area could not detect all of these relatively small fires. Total carbon emissions were on average 13% lower than in our previous (GFED2) work. For reduced trace gases such as CO and CH4, deforestation, degradation, and peat fires were more important contributors because of higher emissions of reduced trace gases per unit carbon combusted compared to savanna fires. Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation, degradation, and peatland fires were on average 0.5 Pg C year−1. The carbon emissions from these fires may not be balanced by regrowth following fire. Our results provide the first global assessment of the contribution of different sources to total global fire emissions for the past decade, and supply the community with an improved 13-year fire emissions time series.

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2,494 citations

Cites background or methods from "Emission of trace gases and aerosol..."

...Fires contribute significantly to the budgets of several trace gases and aerosols (Andreae and Merlet, 2001) and are one of the primary causes of interannual variability in the growth rate of several trace gases, including the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 (Langenfelds et al....
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...When translating our estimated carbon emissions to emissions of trace gases (Andreae and Merlet, 2001; M. O. An- Fig....
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...Seiler and Crutzen (1980) made the first global estimates of fire emissions, which subsequently have been refined and updated (e.g., Crutzen and Andreae, 1990; Galanter et al., 2000; Andreae and Merlet, 2001 based on unpublished data from Yevich)....
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...The uncertainty analysis focused on carbon emissions, for trace gas emissions the added uncertainty of emissions factors should be taken into account (Andreae and Merlet, 2001)....
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...Fires contribute significantly to the budgets of several trace gases and aerosols (Andreae and Merlet, 2001) and are one of the primary causes of interannual variability in the growth rate of several trace gases, including the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 (Langenfelds et al., 2002)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Fire in the Earth System

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David M. J. S. Bowman¹, Jennifer K. Balch², Jennifer K. Balch³, Jennifer K. Balch⁴, Paulo Artaxo⁵, William J. Bond⁶, Jean M. Carlson², Mark A. Cochrane⁷, Carla M. D'Antonio², Ruth DeFries⁸, John Doyle⁹, Sandy P. Harrison¹⁰, Fay H. Johnston¹, Jon E. Keeley¹¹, Jon E. Keeley¹², Meg A. Krawchuk¹³, Christian A. Kull¹⁴, J. Brad Marston¹⁵, Max A. Moritz¹³, I. Colin Prentice¹⁰, Christopher I. Roos¹⁶, Andrew C. Scott¹⁷, Thomas W. Swetnam¹⁸, Guido R. van der Werf¹⁹, Stephen J. Pyne²⁰ - Show less +21 more•Institutions (20)

University of Tasmania¹, University of California, Santa Barbara², Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution³, Yale University⁴, University of São Paulo⁵, University of Cape Town⁶, South Dakota State University⁷, Columbia University⁸, California Institute of Technology⁹, University of Bristol¹⁰, United States Geological Survey¹¹, University of California, Los Angeles¹², University of California, Berkeley¹³, Monash University¹⁴, Brown University¹⁵, Ohio State University¹⁶, Royal Holloway, University of London¹⁷, University of Arizona¹⁸, VU University Amsterdam¹⁹, Arizona State University²⁰

24 Apr 2009-Science

TL;DR: What is known and what is needed to develop a holistic understanding of the role of fire in the Earth system are reviewed, particularly in view of the pervasive impact of fires and the likelihood that they will become increasingly difficult to control as climate changes.

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Abstract: Fire is a worldwide phenomenon that appears in the geological record soon after the appearance of terrestrial plants. Fire influences global ecosystem patterns and processes, including vegetation distribution and structure, the carbon cycle, and climate. Although humans and fire have always coexisted, our capacity to manage fire remains imperfect and may become more difficult in the future as climate change alters fire regimes. This risk is difficult to assess, however, because fires are still poorly represented in global models. Here, we discuss some of the most important issues involved in developing a better understanding of the role of fire in the Earth system.

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2,365 citations

Cites background from "Emission of trace gases and aerosol..."

...6) are related to emissions of particles, nitrogen oxides (NOx), methane (CH4), and other volatile hydrocarbons, either directly or through secondary effects including the formation of ozone (O3) and aerosols (Andreae and Merlet, 2001)....
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Journal Article•

Couplings between changes in the climate system and biogeochemistry

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Surabi Menon, Kenneth L. Denman, Guy Brasseur, Amnat Chidthaisong, Philippe Ciais, Peter M. Cox, Robert E. Dickinson, Didier Hauglustaine, Christoph Heinze, Elisabeth A. Holland, Daniel J. Jacob, Ulrike Lohmann, S. Ramachandran, Pedro Leite da Silva Dias, Steven C. Wofsy, Xiaoye Zhang - Show less +12 more

01 Oct 2007-Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

TL;DR: Denman et al. as discussed by the authors presented the Couplings between changes in the climate system and biogeochemistry Coordinating Lead Authors: Kenneth L. Denman (Canada), Guy Brasseur (USA, Germany), Amnat Chidthaisong (Thailand), Philippe Ciais (France), Peter M. Cox (UK), Robert E. Austin (USA), D.B. Wofsy (USA) and Xiaoye Zhang (China).

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Abstract: Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry Coordinating Lead Authors: Kenneth L. Denman (Canada), Guy Brasseur (USA, Germany) Lead Authors: Amnat Chidthaisong (Thailand), Philippe Ciais (France), Peter M. Cox (UK), Robert E. Dickinson (USA), Didier Hauglustaine (France), Christoph Heinze (Norway, Germany), Elisabeth Holland (USA), Daniel Jacob (USA, France), Ulrike Lohmann (Switzerland), Srikanthan Ramachandran (India), Pedro Leite da Silva Dias (Brazil), Steven C. Wofsy (USA), Xiaoye Zhang (China) Contributing Authors: D. Archer (USA), V. Arora (Canada), J. Austin (USA), D. Baker (USA), J.A. Berry (USA), R. Betts (UK), G. Bonan (USA), P. Bousquet (France), J. Canadell (Australia), J. Christian (Canada), D.A. Clark (USA), M. Dameris (Germany), F. Dentener (EU), D. Easterling (USA), V. Eyring (Germany), J. Feichter (Germany), P. Friedlingstein (France, Belgium), I. Fung (USA), S. Fuzzi (Italy), S. Gong (Canada), N. Gruber (USA, Switzerland), A. Guenther (USA), K. Gurney (USA), A. Henderson-Sellers (Switzerland), J. House (UK), A. Jones (UK), C. Jones (UK), B. Karcher (Germany), M. Kawamiya (Japan), K. Lassey (New Zealand), C. Le Quere (UK, France, Canada), C. Leck (Sweden), J. Lee-Taylor (USA, UK), Y. Malhi (UK), K. Masarie (USA), G. McFiggans (UK), S. Menon (USA), J.B. Miller (USA), P. Peylin (France), A. Pitman (Australia), J. Quaas (Germany), M. Raupach (Australia), P. Rayner (France), G. Rehder (Germany), U. Riebesell (Germany), C. Rodenbeck (Germany), L. Rotstayn (Australia), N. Roulet (Canada), C. Sabine (USA), M.G. Schultz (Germany), M. Schulz (France, Germany), S.E. Schwartz (USA), W. Steffen (Australia), D. Stevenson (UK), Y. Tian (USA, China), K.E. Trenberth (USA), T. Van Noije (Netherlands), O. Wild (Japan, UK), T. Zhang (USA, China), L. Zhou (USA, China) Review Editors: Kansri Boonpragob (Thailand), Martin Heimann (Germany, Switzerland), Mario Molina (USA, Mexico) This chapter should be cited as: Denman, K.L., G. Brasseur, A. Chidthaisong, P. Ciais, P.M. Cox, R.E. Dickinson, D. Hauglustaine, C. Heinze, E. Holland, D. Jacob, U. Lohmann, S Ramachandran, P.L. da Silva Dias, S.C. Wofsy and X. Zhang, 2007: Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

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2,208 citations

Cites background from "Emission of trace gases and aerosol..."

...1 GtC yr–1 (Mack et al., 1996; Andreae and Merlet, 2001), or about 3 to 8% of total terrestrial NPP....
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References

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Journal Article•DOI•

Biomass Burning in the Tropics: Impact on Atmospheric Chemistry and Biogeochemical Cycles

[...]

Paul J. Crutzen¹, Meinrat O. Andreae¹•Institutions (1)

Max Planck Society¹

21 Dec 1990-Science

TL;DR: Widespread burning of biomass serves to clear land for shifting cultivation, to convert forests to agricultural and pastoral lands, and to remove dry vegetation in order to promote agricultural productivity and the growth of higher yield grasses, but it may also disturb biogeochemical cycles, especially that of nitrogen.

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Abstract: The use of fire as a tool to manipulate the environment has been instrumental in the human conquest of Earth, the first evidence of the use of fires by early hominids dating back to 1–1.5 million years ago [1]. Even today, most human-ignited vegetation fires take place on the African continent, and its widespread, frequently burned savannas bear ample witness to this. Although natural fires can occur even in tropical forest regions [2, 3], the extent of fires has greatly expanded on all continents with the arrival of Homo sapiens. Measurements of charcoal in dated sediment cores have shown clear correlations between the rate of burning and human settlement [4]. Pollen records show a shift with human settlement from pyrophobic vegetation to pyrotolerant and pyrophilic species, testimony to the large ecological impact of human-induced fires.

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2,424 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Estimates of gross and net fluxes of carbon between the biosphere and the atmosphere from biomass burning

[...]

Wolfgang Seiler¹, Paul J. Crutzen¹•Institutions (1)

National Center for Atmospheric Research¹

01 Sep 1980-Climatic Change

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors estimated the global amounts of biomass which are affected by fires, and estimated an overall effect lof the biosphere on the atmospheric carbon dioxide budget which may range between the possibilities of a net uptake or a net release of about 2 Pg C/yr.

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Abstract: In order to estimate the production of charcoal and the atmospheric emissions of trace gases volatilized by burning we have estimated the global amounts of biomass which are affected by fires. We have roughly calculated annual gross burning rates ranging between about 5 Pg and 9 Pg (1 Pg = 1015 g) of dry matter (2–4 Pg C). In comparison, about 9–17 Pg of above-ground dry matter (4–8 Pg C) is exposed to fires, indicating a worldwide average burning efficiency of about 50%. The production of dead below-ground dry matter varies between 6–9 Pg per year. We have tentatively indicated the possibility of a large production of elemental carbon (0.5–1.7 Pg C/yr) due to the incomplete combustion of biomass to charcoal. This provides a sink for atmospheric CO2, which would have been particularly important during the past centuries. From meager statistical information and often ill-documented statements in the literature, it is extremely difficult to calculate the net carbon release rates to the atmosphere from the biomass changes which take place, especially in the tropics. All together, we calculate an overall effect lof the biosphere on the atmospheric carbon dioxide budget which may range between the possibilities of a net uptake or a net release of about 2 Pg C/yr. The release of CO2 to the atmosphere by deforestation projects may well be balanced by reforestation and by the production of charcoal. Better information is needed, however, to make these estimates more reliable.

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1,240 citations

"Emission of trace gases and aerosol..." refers background in this paper

...…pyrogenic emissions suggested that for some atmospheric pollutants biomass burning could rival fossil fuel use as a source of atmospheric pollution [Seiler and Crutzen, 1980; Crutzen and Andreae, 1990] and when it became evident that these emissions could affect large areas of the world as a…...
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...[1996], Zhang and Smith [1996], Schauer [1998], Zhang and Smith [1999], Zhang et al....
[...]
...Scientific interest in this topic grew when early estimates of pyrogenic emissions suggested that for some atmospheric pollutants biomass burning could rival fossil fuel use as a source of atmospheric pollution [Seiler and Crutzen, 1980; Crutzen and Andreae, 1990] and when it became evident that these emissions could affect large areas of the world as a consequence of long-range transport [Andreae, 1983; Kirchhoff and Nobre, 1986; Reichle et al....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

Biomass burning as a source of atmospheric gases CO, H 2 , N 2 O, NO, CH 3 Cl and COS

[...]

Paul J. Crutzen¹, Leroy E. Heidt¹, Joseph P. Krasnec¹, W. H. Pollock¹, Wolfgang Seiler², Wolfgang Seiler¹ - Show less +2 more•Institutions (2)

National Center for Atmospheric Research¹, Max Planck Society²

01 Nov 1979-Nature

TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that most biomass burning takes place in the tropics in the dry season and is caused by man's activities, which can contribute extensively to the budgets of several gases which are important in atmospheric chemistry.

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Abstract: Biomass burning can contribute extensively to the budgets of several gases which are important in atmospheric chemistry. In several cases the emission is comparable to the technological source. Most burning takes place in the tropics in the dry season and is caused by man's activities.

...read moreread less

727 citations

"Emission of trace gases and aerosol..." refers background in this paper

...…of air pollution has focused initially only on this much more recent threat, and the first pioneering papers on the impact of biomass burning on the chemistry of the atmosphere were only published in the 1970s and early 1980s [e.g., Eagan et al., 1974; Radke et al., 1978; Crutzen et al., 1979]....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Soot Carbon and Excess Fine Potassium: Long-Range Transport of Combustion-Derived Aerosols

[...]

Meinrat O. Andreae¹•Institutions (1)

Florida State University¹

10 Jun 1983-Science

TL;DR: During a cruise from Hamburg to Montevideo, aerosol samples representing air masses from Europe, the Sahara, tropical Africa, South America, and open oceanic regions were collected and the ratio of soot carbon to fine carbon suggests that most of the particulate organic carbon over the Atlantic is of continental origin.

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Abstract: During a cruise from Hamburg to Montevideo, aerosol samples representing air masses from Europe, the Sahara, tropical Africa, South America, and open oceanic regions were collected. They showed significant amounts of soot carbon over large areas of the remote Atlantic, often similar to concentrations in rural continental areas. Back-trajectories and the ratios of soot carbon to total fine (less than 1.7 micrometers in diameter) carbon and of excess fine potassium (the portion not attributable to soil dust or sea salt) to soot carbon indicate that biomass burning in tropical regions is an important source of soot carbon to the world atmosphere. The ratio of excess potassium to soot carbon in the fine fraction of aerosols is proposed as an indicator of the relative contributions of biomass and fossil-fuel burning to soot carbon aerosols. The ratio of soot carbon to fine carbon suggests that most of the particulate organic carbon over the Atlantic is of continental origin.

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655 citations

"Emission of trace gases and aerosol..." refers background in this paper

...[1997], Andreae et al. [1998], Ferek et al....
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...[1994a, 1994b],Manö and Andreae [1994], Singh et al....
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...…of atmospheric pollution [Seiler and Crutzen, 1980; Crutzen and Andreae, 1990] and when it became evident that these emissions could affect large areas of the world as a consequence of long-range transport [Andreae, 1983; Kirchhoff and Nobre, 1986; Reichle et al., 1986; Fishman et al., 1990]....
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...and Andreae [1994], Singh et al....
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...Crutzen and Andreae, 1990] and when it became evident that these emissions could affect large areas of the world as a consequence of long-range transport [Andreae, 1983; Kirchhoff and Nobre, 1986; Reichle et al., 1986; Fishman et al., 1990]....
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Global biomass burning: atmospheric, climatic, and biospheric implications.

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Joel S. Levine¹•Institutions (1)

Langley Research Center¹

01 Jan 1991

TL;DR: The 1990 American Geophysical Union's Conference on Biochemical burning as discussed by the authors was attended by more than 175 participants representing 19 countries and discussed remote sensing data concerning biomass burning, gaseous and particle emissions resulting from BB in the tropics, BB in temperate and boreal ecosystems, the historic and prehistoric perspectives on BB, BB and global budgets for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and the BB and the greenhouse effect.

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Abstract: Topics discussed at the March 1990 American Geophysical Union's Conference on biomass burning which was attended by more than 175 participants representing 19 countries are presented. Conference highlights include discussion of remote sensing data concerning biomass burning (BB), gaseous and particle emissions resulting from BB in the tropics, BB in temperate and boreal ecosystems, the historic and prehistoric perspectives on BB, BB and global budgets for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and the BB and the greenhouse effect. Global estimates of annual amounts of biomass burning and of the resulting release of carbon to the atmosphere and the mean gaseous emission ratios for fires in wetlands, chaparral, and boreal ecosystems are given. An overview is presented of some conference discussions including global burning from 1850-1980, the global impact of biomass burning, the great Chinese/Soviet fire of 1987, and burning and biogenic emissions.

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646 citations