Study of Air Quality Impacts Resulting from Prescribed Burning on

Military Facilities

Karsten Baumann,

Mei Zheng,

Michael Chang, and

Ted Russell

Clean Air Act

EndangeredSpecies Act

Fire Ecology

• The endangered Red Cockaded

Woodpecker (RCW) resides only in the

mature long-leaf pine forests of the SE US.

• Most of the forests old and large enough to

support the RCW are on federal and

military lands.

• Long-leaf pine ecosystems have adapted to

natural fire regimes (wildfires in ~3 to 7

year cycles) and now require periodic

burning to maintain health.

• Prescribed burning is a safe and effective

alternative to natural fire regimes.

To what extent does prescribed burning impact local and regional air quality?

VOCs

PM

NOx

O3

Motivation: Fall-line Air Quality Study34.6

34.4

34.2

34.0

33.8

33.6

33.4

33.2

33.0

32.8

32.6

32.4

32.2

32.0

-85.5 -85.0 -84.5 -84.0 -83.5 -83.0 -82.5 -82.0 -81.5

Atlanta

FAQS measurement sites significant point sources point sources w/ CO:NOx > 1

Wind Roses with avg [PM2.5] for

summer & winter in µg m-3

and wind frequency in %.

20x20 km

WansleyYates

Bowen

McDonough

Branch

Scherer

Arkwright

Urquhart

Augusta

Macon

Columbus

Griffin

N

E

S

W9 18

17.9 7.8

N

E

S

W9 18

17.214.1

N

E

S

W9 18

18.215.9

N

E

S

W9 18

16.214.2

N

E

S

W18 36

36.8

Motivation

8

6

4

2

0

m/s

10/26/2001 10/31/2001 11/5/2001 11/10/2001 11/15/2001 11/20/2001 11/25/2001

Time (EST)

Griffin AugustaMacon Columbus

Wind Speed

80

60

40

20

0

µg

/m3

Griffin AugustaMacon Columbus

PM2.5

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) 30 min Average Concentrations during FAQS Phase II (Fall 2001)

NH4Organic Compounds

NO3 Elemental Carbon

Other Elements

SO4

ColumbusOxbow Learning Center

ColumbusWater Works

Average Composition of PM2.5

Observed During FAQS Phase I (July 2000)

1%28%

1%

9%

2%

59%

2%

2%

2%

29%

9%

57%

Average mass = 22 g/m3 Average mass = 19 g/m3

Motivation

Source contributions to organic carbon in PM2.5Pensacola, FL October 1999

Other organic carbon30%

Wood combustion

39%

Meat cooking 6%

Vegetative detritus

2%

Gasoline exhaust

3%

Diesel exhaust

20%

More Motivation

Zheng et al., ES&T 2002

In the continental U.S. prescribed burns and forest fires contribute ~37 % to the total direct fine PM emissions of ~1 Mio t per year*

* Nizich et al., EPA Report 454/R-00-002 (NTIS PB2000-108054), RTP, NC, 2000

Objectives• To quantitatively characterize pollutants emitted from prescribed burning,

with emphasis on the detailed chemical composition of fine PM at OLC;• To study diversity of sites:

- Fort Benning as primary study site, including PM source

apportionment

and in situ gas phase sampling.

- Fort Gordon, Shaw and Eglin AFB as secondary study sites to include

in situ gas phase sampling only.• To identify conserved markers for biomass burning in ambient air;• To determine the contribution of gaseous precursors towards secondary

ozone and fine PM formation;• To determine how concentrations and chemical compositions differ with

conditions of burning (such as open flame versus smoldering), type of

biomass burned, moisture in the biomass, and season (summer versus fall).

Fort Benning

3’

4’

a/c

11’

8’

Stair step

4’ 14’

Guy wired8m Towertilt down

10’ Gate

45’ x 40’ Fence

N

10’ x 12’ Shelter

4 additional 20 A circuit breakers

33’ x 7’ level Platform~ 1’ above ground

4 quadruple outlets on individual breakers

• Focus on Fort Benning in collaboration with WW & CSU utilizing Columbus OLC site;

• OLC site upgrade for PM source apportionment and in situ gas phase sampling started;

• Contacts to site operators and VOC sample takers established, specific training in progress.

VOC

POC

PCM

Gas

Met

Particle Composition Monitor “PCM”Channel 1:

NH3

Na+, K+, NH4+, Ca+2

Channel 2:

HF, HCl, HONO, HNO3, SO2,

HCOOH, CH3COOH, (COOH)2

F-, Cl-, NO3-, SO4

=,

HCOO-, CH3COO-, C2O4=

Channel 3:

EC, OC, WSOC, “SVOC”

Additional higher resolution

CO, NO, NOy, O3, PM-mass,

and basic meteorology

High-Vol Sampling and GC/MS Analyses

Quantification of >100 Particle-phase Organic Compounds

n-alkanes, branched alkanes, cycloalkanesn-alkanoic acids, n-alkenoic acidsalkanedioic acidsPAHs, oxy-PAHs

retenesteraneshopanesresin acids

pimaric acidabietic acidsandaracopimaric acid

aromatic acidslevoglucosan

POC

Canister Sampling and GC/FID Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds

VOC

Subcontract with long-term collaborator Prof. Don Blake, UC Irvine, CA 92697 http://fsr10.ps.uci.edu/GROUP/group.html

C2-C6 n-alkanes, alkenes, branched alkenes, alkynesisoprene

Cyclic compoundsmonoterpenes (--pinene)

Aromatics, organic nitrates, halogenated speciesmethylchloride

Quantification of >60 compounds, incl. CO2 for “fire” samples

Linking Chemical Composition of Emissions with Prescribed Burn Conditions…• Combustion: open flame versus smoldering• Biomass type and moisture • Seasonal differences: summer versus fall/winter• Site specific differences: background versus plume

…Requires close collaboration with individual facilities’ personnel

Eglin AFBJohn Wolfe AQ Program Manager (850) 882-7677 john.wolfe2@eglin.af.mil

Shaw AFBTerry Madewell AQ Program Manager (803) 895-9996

Fort GordonStephen Willard AQ Program Manager (706) 791-2403willards@gordon.army.mil

Fort BenningPolly GustafsonAQ Program Manager (706) 545-7576Polly.Gustafson@benning.army.mil

Deliverables and Products• Sep ’02 OLC site modifications, implementations, and preparations completed;

• Dec ’02 1st progress report describing the sampling in Fall 2002;

• Mar ’03 2nd progress report with prelim results of Fall sampling chemical analysis;

• Aug ‘03 3rd progress report with detailed analysis of Fall ‘02 & Summer ‘03 results,

including improved site specific prescribed burning emission factors;

• Oct ‘03 Final Report with Recommendations,

– reporting the detailed chemical composition and concentrations from prescribed burns,

– comparing plume emissions to the background samples,

– assessing the VOC emissions at three sites, and

– identifying specific burning practices with resultant air quality impacts.

• Beyond complement ongoing SERDP, State of GA, and US EPA research projects.

For more information:

• Dr. Karsten Baumann (PI) kb@eas.gatech.edu

• Dr. Mei Zheng mzheng@eas.gatech.edu

• Dr. Michael Chang chang@eas.gatech.edu

• Dr. Ted Russell trussell@ce.gatech.edu