Technical Approach

This research specifically will focus on characterizing EFs for fuel types associated with ecosystems found on southeastern U.S. DoD bases. In particular, the ecosystems at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, serve as good proxies for the ecosystems that dominate DoD bases in the region. Fuel moisture, fuel geometry, and fuel consumption will be determined at Camp Lejeune for fires in key ecosystems (e.g., pine savanna, pine-oak forest, and organic soils). Fuels will be harvested and realistically configured at the large-scale burn facility in the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory for a series of fires to measure the EFs and emission ratios (ER) to carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) for numerous compounds. Emissions will be measured primarily via infrared (IR) spectroscopy but also by using nephelometry, filters, mass spectrometry, and chromatography. Using mass balance and the relative ratios to certain species (e.g., CO), EF will be derived by calculating the measured chemical concentrations in the smoke versus the quantity of fuel input. These EF will be used to update the Environmental Protection Agency’s AP-42 and as input for state-of-the-art dispersion models that estimate downwind concentrations. The ER allow downwind concentrations to be estimated for numerous compounds by comparison to downwind measurements of CO/PM in affected communities or by comparison with CO and/or PM predicted by dispersion models. EF measurements also will be conducted on DoD fires selected in conjunction with the base forester using open-path IR spectroscopy. As IR measurements are based on reference spectra, researchers will expand the existing Pacific Northwest National Laboratory IR database to include many species associated with DoD-prescribed burns. They also will develop and deploy a new IR system that is faster and more accurate than previously available.