Missoula Atmospheric Chemistry Mobile Lab Overview and Preliminary Controlled Wildfire Data

The Missoula Atmospheric Chemistry Mobile Lab (MAC Lab) is a modular array of chemical and particulate matter (PM) quantification instruments networked to a central data logger and two computers. It is designed for prolonged field deployment in the challenging environmental and terrain conditions of wildfire research as part of the NSF EPSCoR SMART FIRES project. Our contribution to the many thrusts of this collaborative work is to elucidate the efficacy of prescribed burns in reducing wildfire emissions, quantify constituents of fire emissions, and provide scientific evidence to carry out prescribed burns efficiently and effectively to reduce smoke emissions. Much of the current literature on PBs focuses on beneficial retention of biomass and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. There is a need for data of other emissions including Volatile Organic Compounds, Nitrogen Oxides, Particulate Matter < 2.5µm, Carbon Monoxide, Black Carbon, Brown Carbon, Methane, and Ozone to make meaningful comparisons to uncontrolled burns and improve the practice of conducting controlled burns. These objectives will be accomplished through the collection and analysis of a large emission data set on a series of prescribed burns to be conducted over the next 4 years in the Luberect Experimental Forest as part of the NSF EPSCoR Smart Fires project. Goal 2 will be accomplished over a series of ground and airborne field campaigns to gather air-quality data in the Salt Lake City region of Utah over the next two years and subsequent data analysis.