Abstract
Abstract. Since the publication of the compilation of biomass burning emission factors by Andreae and Merlet (2001), a large number of studies have greatly expanded the amount of available data on emissions from various types of biomass burning. Using essentially the same methodology as Andreae and Merlet (2001), this paper presents an updated compilation of emission factors. The data from over 370 published studies were critically evaluated and integrated into a consistent format. Several new categories of biomass burning were added, and the number of species for which emission data are presented was increased from 93 to 121. Where field data are still insufficient, estimates based on appropriate extrapolation techniques are proposed. For key species, the updated emission factors are compared with previously published values. Based on these emission factors and published global activity estimates, I have derived estimates of pyrogenic emissions for important species released by the various types of biomass burning.
Highlights
Biomass burning, in the form of open vegetation fires and indoor biofuel use, is one of the largest sources of many trace gases and aerosols to the global atmosphere
In addition to volatile matter being consumed by flaming combustion, char undergoes gas–solid reactions between oxygen and other gases and solid carbon at the fuel surface, called gasification or “glowing” combustion, in which a large fraction of the fuel carbon is released as carbon monoxide (CO), part of which is further oxidized to CO2
On the other hand, especially those in fuels with relatively high fuel moisture and large diameters, have a long phase of residual smoldering combustion (RSC), during which larger-diameter fuels are consumed over time spans of up to several days (Ward and Hardy, 1991; Ward et al, 1992; Yokelson et al, 1997; Bertschi et al, 2003; Hao and Babbitt, 2007; Burling et al, 2011; Akagi et al, 2013; Geron and Hays, 2013; Urbanski, 2014; Reisen et al, 2018)
Summary
In the form of open vegetation fires and indoor biofuel use, is one of the largest sources of many trace gases and aerosols to the global atmosphere. While a significant fraction of the emitted CO2 is taken up again by vegetation regrowth, much of it remains in the atmosphere for years and potentially even up to centuries, e.g., in the case of tropical deforestation fires or peat soil burning (van der Werf et al, 2017). Numerous other studies have reached similar conclusions about the importance of biomass burning for atmospheric composition (e.g., Crutzen and Andreae, 1990; Andreae and Rosenfeld, 2008; Andreae et al, 2009; Kaiser et al, 2012; van der Werf et al, 2017)
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