Project at a Glance
Project Status: complete
Title: Creating a statewide spatially and temporally allocated wildfire and prescribed burn emission inventory using consistent emission factors.
Principal Investigator / Author(s): Peng Gong
Contractor: UC Berkeley
Contract Number: 98-726
Topic Areas: Ecosystem Impacts, Impacts, Monitoring
To help better understand factors influencing air quality and visibility degradation, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) requires a method for accurately estimating particulate matter (2.5 and 10 micron particles) and other emissions from controlled and uncontrolled wildland fires. This information can be used not only for evaluating current and past emissions relevant to forest and air quality planning decisions, but also as a long term planning tool for predicting the potential emissions from proposed burning projects.
The purpose of this study is to develop a spatially and temporally explicit method for quantifying emissions from wildfires and prescribed fires. Through the development of a new Wildland Fire Emissions Estimation System (EES) we have integrated vegetation data, fire history data, emissions estimation methodology, and a user interface into a cohesive model. The system consists of:
* An adaptive architecture that can be readily modified or updated.
* Spatially allocated inputs (GIS layers) to identify what burned, where it burned, and when it burned.
* The application of standard emissions estimation models. (FOFEM)
* Emissions inventory output as tables and maps
* A flexible interface that can be customized to the needs of the user.
For questions regarding research reports, contact: Heather Choi at (916) 322-3893
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