RAPID: Quantifying the Impacts of Canadian Wildfires on Ambient Aerosols in Atlanta

This RAPID project will investigate the effects of ongoing wildfires burning across Canada that continue to degrade the air quality in many parts of the U.S., including the Atlanta area. Aerosols emitted by wildfires can travel thousands of miles away from their sources and continue to age along the way, blending in with aerosols emitted in downwind areas. The Atmospheric Science and Chemistry mEasurement NeTwork (ASCENT) site in Atlanta has recently observed increases in organics, black carbon, and potassium at the site that is attributed to Canadian wildfires. Aerosols from wildfires can adversely impact those with asthma and other respiratory diseases. Results from this work will facilitate a better understanding and representation of the aging of wildfire aerosols in models for improved prediction of their widespread impacts.

The overall goal of the project is to deploy an advanced mass spectrometer at the ASCENT site in Atlanta to quantitatively constrain the impacts of Canadian wildfires on particulate levels and composition in the Atlanta area. This mass spectrometer is capable of real-time measurements of speciated gas- and particle-phase organics. With the timely deployment of the advanced mass spectrometer and co-located ASCENT measurements at a time with both wildfire smoke and biogenic emissions from local forests and plants, this work will provide for the first time a quantitative assessment of the full influence of Canadian wildfires on particulate levels and composition in Atlanta. The project will quantify not just fresh smoke aerosols, but also aged smoke aerosols, and how fresh and aged aerosols can affect gas/particle partitioning of biogenic organics. This project will provide training opportunities for a postdoctoral researcher and a graduate student on a timely and important research topic that has wide relevance and interest.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2625601
Principal Investigator: Nga Lee Ng
Funds Obligated: $186,407
State: CA