Abstract
Abstract. Light-absorbing aerosols emitted during open biomass burning (BB) events such as wildfires and agricultural burns have a strong impact on the Earth's radiation budget through both direct and indirect effects. Additionally, BB aerosols and gas-phase emissions can substantially reduce air quality at local, regional, and global scales, negatively affecting human health. South America is one of largest contributors to BB emissions globally. After Amazonia, the BB emissions from wildfires and agricultural burns in the grassland plains of northern South America (NSA) are the most significant in the region. However, few studies have analyzed the potential impact of NSA BB emissions on regional air quality. Recent evidence suggests that seasonal variations in air quality in several major cities in NSA could be associated with open biomass burning emissions, but it is still uncertain to what extent those sources impact air quality in the region. In this work, we report on 3 years of continuous equivalent black carbon (eBC) and brown carbon (BrC) observations at a hilltop site located upwind of the city of Bogotá, and we demonstrate its association with fires detected by the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in a 3000 km × 2000 km domain. Offline PM2.5 filter samples collected during three field campaigns were analyzed to quantify water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), organic and elemental carbon (OC∕EC), and biomass burning tracers such as levoglucosan, galactosan, and potassium. MODIS active fire data and HYSPLIT back trajectories were used to identify potential biomass burning plumes transported to the city. We analyzed the relationship between BrC, WSOC, water-soluble potassium, and levoglucosan to identify signals of the regional transport of BB aerosols. Our results confirm that regional biomass burning transport from wildfires occurs annually during the months of January and April. The seasonality of eBC closely followed that of PM2.5 at the city air quality stations; however, the observed seasonality of BrC is distinctly different to that of eBC and strongly associated with regional fire counts. The strong correlation between BrC and regional fire counts was observed at daily, weekly, and monthly timescales. WSOC at the measurement site was observed to increase linearly with levoglucosan during high BB periods and to remain constant at ∼2.5 µgC m−3 during the low BB seasons. Our findings show, for the first time in this region, that aged BB plumes can regularly reach densely populated areas in the Central Andes of northern South America. A source footprint analysis involving BrC observations, back trajectories, and remotely sensed fire activity shows that the eastern savannas in NSA are the main BB source region for the domain analyzed.
Highlights
Open biomass burning is a significant source of atmospheric aerosol particles and gas-phase pollutants (e.g., Bond et al, 2004; Aurell and Gullett, 2013; Tsimpidi et al, 2016)
Rincón-Riveros et al.: Multiyear brown carbon observations plex chemical composition dominated by primary organic matter (POM), elemental carbon (EC), and inorganic material such as sulfates, nitrates, and potassium (e.g., Yamasoe et al, 2000; Akagi et al, 2011)
Water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), inorganic ions, and organic and elemental carbon (OC/EC) were measured from these filter samples
Summary
Open biomass burning is a significant source of atmospheric aerosol particles and gas-phase pollutants (e.g., Bond et al, 2004; Aurell and Gullett, 2013; Tsimpidi et al, 2016). Rincón-Riveros et al.: Multiyear brown carbon observations plex chemical composition dominated by primary organic matter (POM), elemental carbon (EC), and inorganic material such as sulfates, nitrates, and potassium (e.g., Yamasoe et al, 2000; Akagi et al, 2011). These species can contribute to deteriorated air quality levels in urban centers (e.g., Phuleria et al, 2005; Garcia-Hurtado et al, 2014; Kollanus et al, 2016). The UV-light-absorbing organic compounds present in aerosol particles are often termed brown carbon (BrC) (e.g., Kirchstetter et al, 2004; Andreae and Gelencsér, 2006; Wang et al, 2018), which is a contributor to radiative forcing
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