Fire Lab

What: FIREX Fire Lab 2016 intensive

When: 1 October - 15 November 2016

Where: USDA Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, Montana

How: Gas and particle phase measurements of emissions and processing

Who: NOAA ESRL Chemical Sciences Division and university and contract research organizations

USDA Fire Lab

Photo: Henry Worobec, UM Missoula

A coordinated effort based at the USDA Fire Sciences Lab in Missoula, Montana, is envisioned during 2016 and 2019 as part of the FIREX project. Experiments focus on refining our understanding of emissions and short timescale processing using the instruments and methods that have been developed during the first years of this project. The focus will be on measuring fuels or combustion conditions that are characteristic of the western US that may be under-sampled by the fire research community and in the follow-up study of fuels from fires observed during the 2018 intensive field study.

  • Fixed nitrogen budget and its chemical evolution
  • Identification of unknown SVOCs and VOCs (LVOC, ELVOC)
  • Multi-phase distribution of SVOCs
  • Optical properties of fresh and progressively aged particles
  • Intercomparison of techniques for measuring Black Carbon (BC) and Brown Carbon (BrC) particles
  • Photochemical processing of smoke emissions, especially in regards to SOA formation and BrC evolution

Prior research includes FireLab 2009.