Modelling emissions from Canadian wildfires: a case study of the 2002 Quebec fires
David Lavoué A B D , Sunling Gong B and Brian J. Stocks C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A 22 Lady Belle Crescent, Brampton, ON, L6R 3B6, Canada.
B Environment Canada, Atmospheric Science and Technology Directorate, Air Quality Research Branch, 4905 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON, M3H 5T4, Canada.
C Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, 1219 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada. Present address: BJ Stocks Wildfire Investigations Ltd, 128 Chambers Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 4V4, Canada.
D Corresponding author. Email: david-lavoue@rogers.com
International Journal of Wildland Fire 16(6) 649-663 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06091
Submitted: 8 June 2006 Accepted: 28 June 2007 Published: 17 December 2007
Abstract
The present paper proposes an original approach to estimate gaseous and particulate emissions from boreal forest fires based on the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System. The FBP System permits calculation of fuel consumption and rate of spread for individual fires on an hourly basis from meteorological conditions and fuel patterns. Weather data are obtained by running the Canadian weather forecast model GEM (Global Environmental Multiscale). Hourly emission point sources can then be generated from a given wildfire database. The smoke emission model was first applied to the boreal forest fires in Quebec in the summer of 2002. Geographical distribution and temporal variability of emission amounts, as well as injection heights, were assessed hourly. In July, ~150 wildfires released 39 Mt of CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gases and 470 kt of fine particulate matter to the atmosphere. They contributed 32 and 5% of Quebec’s and Canada’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. Black carbon was estimated to account for 4% of the total fine particulate matter. Wildfires were responsible for 51 and 90% of all Canada’s black carbon and particulate organic matter sources, respectively.
Additional keywords: air quality, black carbon, climate change, greenhouse gas, particulate matter.
Acknowledgements
Authors would like to acknowledge R. Luik, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in Sault Ste Marie for supplying the Ontario large fires dataset used in the present paper, and Julie Fortin from the Ministère des Ressources Naturelles, Québec, for the 2002 Quebec fires database. S. Ménard, Centre Météorologique Canadien, Montréal, Québec, and P. Huang, Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario are also gratefully acknowledged for their valuable advice.
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