Integrating Remote Sensing-Based Estimates of Crop Residue Burning into an Emissions Inventory: Results from Collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Jessica L. McCarty, Michigan Tech Research Institute, jmccarty@mtu.edu (Presenter)
George A. Pouliot, U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency, pouliot.george@epa.gov
Thomas E. Pierce, U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency, pierce.tom@epa.gov
Amber J. Soja, National Institute of Aerospace / NASA LaRC, amber.j.soja@nasa.gov

A variety of available satellite-based estimates of crop residue burning, including the Satellite Mapping Automated Reanalysis Tool for Fire Incident Reconciliation (SMARTFIRE) (Raffuse et al., 2009), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Official Burned Area Product (MCD45A1) (Roy et al., 2005; 2008), the MODIS Active Fire Product (MOD/MYD14) (Giglio et al., 2003; 2006), and a regionally-tuned 8-day cropland differenced Normalized Burn Ratio product for the contiguous U.S. (McCarty et al., 2008; 2009), were compared to provide the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a complete overview and analysis of potential burned area sources for inclusion in the National Emissions Inventory (NEI). The 2005 SMARTFIRE product, which was incorporated into the 2005 NEI, was overlaid with MODIS Land Cover Dataset agricultural classes of croplands and croplands/natural vegetation mosaic. Only 51% of the ‘agricultural fires’ from the SMARTFIRE system occurred within agricultural areas. The 8-day regionally-tuned cropland burned area estimations (McCarty et al., 2008) and daily cropland burned areas from the combined MCD45A1 and MOD/MYD14 products were compared using the same cropland extent from the MODIS Land Cover Dataset, emission factors, and fuel load and combustion completeness values (McCarty, 2011) to create ArcGIS shapefiles of cropland burned area with associated emissions for CO, PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NOx. Burned area and emissions between the 8-day and daily combined products were similar, meaning operational NASA fire products could be implemented into future EPA emission inventories. A final test is under way to determine how to integrate both the 8-day and daily combined cropland burned area products into the Sparse Matrix Operational Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) system to produce emissions input files for the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model and to assess the effectiveness and accuracy of each satellite-based product.

Presentation: 2011_Poster_McCarty_194_136.pdf (664k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Science in Support of Decision Making   (Wed 10:00 AM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Related Activity

Poster Location ID: 194