Smoke Monitoring for Prescribed and Wildland Fires and Natural Events Action Plan(NEAP)

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Smoke Monitoringfor Prescribed and Wildland
Fires and Natural Events Action Plan(NEAP)

• Jim Russell
• Pacific Northwest Region
• USDA Forest Service
• 503.808.2956
• jrussell01_at_fs.fed.us
• Interagency Smoke and Air Council
• Sacramento, California
• April 23-24th, 2003

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Categories of Fire Use

• Prescribed Fire
• Management Ignited Fire
• Wildland Fire Use for Resource Benefit
• Lightning or Human Ignition Managed under a Fire
  Management Plan
• Wildfire or Wildland Fire
• Unwanted and Unplanned Lightning or Human Caused
  Fire

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Smoke Produces Particulate Matter that Adversely
Affects Human Health

• Increased premature deaths
• Aggravation of respiratory or cardiovascular
  illness
• Lung function decrements
• Increased work loss
• Changes in lung function/structure/natural defense

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Criteria Pollutants
National Air Quality Standards

• Carbon Monoxide
• Particulate Matter
• Ozone
• Nitrogen Oxide
• Lead
• Sulfur Dioxide

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Other Compounds Emitted by Fire

• Methane
• NMHC
• Formaldehyde
• Acrolein
• Acetaldehyde
• 1,3-butadiene
• Benzene
• Toluene

• Benzo(a)pyrene
• O-xylene
• m,p-xylene
• n-hexane
• Polynuclear organic material
• Carbonyl sulfide
• Methyl chloride

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(similar size to pollen)
(similar size to fly ash)
(similar size to dust)
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Particulate Matter

• 10-100 lbs/ton
• Criteria Pollutant
• Direct effects on human health and welfare
• Adverse impacts on fireline workers
• Visibility impairment

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Relating Fine Particle and Visibility
Measurements to Human Health 1
1 from Idaho Department of Environmental
Quality's Wildfire Natural Events Action Plan
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Wildfire PM2.5 Compared to Other US Sources
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Wildfire can emit as much PM2.5 in a day as a
large point or area source does in a
year(estimates from a county in Washington)
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Objectives For Fire Use under the 10-Year
Comprehensive Strategy

• Restoration of Fire-Adapted Ecosystems
• Successful Outcome Fire adapted ecosystems are
  restored, rehabilitated and maintained, using
  appropriate tools, in a manner that will provide
  sustainable environmental, social, and economic
  benefits.
• Improve Fire Prevention and Suppression
• Successful Outcome - Losses of life are
  eliminated, and firefighter and damage to
  communities and the environment from severe,
  unplanned and unwanted wildland fire are reduced.
  
• Reduce Hazardous Fuels
• Successful Outcome Hazardous fuels are treated,
  using appropriate tools, to reduce the risk of
  unplanned and unwanted wildland fire to
  communities and to the environment
• Promote Community Assistance
• Successful Outcome Communities at risk have
  increased capacity to prevent losses from
  wildland fire and the potential to seek economic
  opportunities resulting from treatments and
  services.

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Smoke Management Plans as Effective Mitigation

• Prevent fire use smoke from entering and
  accumulating in designated and smoke sensitive
  areas. (Question How do we quantify impacts -
  nuisance, visibility reduction, and NAAQS
  Violation under the SMP)
• Emphasize Emission Reduction
• Maximize Burning Opportunities
• Protect Public Health

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How do we assure that the Role of Fire in our
Fire Dependent Ecosystems is Recognized in our
SMP

• Concept of Managing Total Fire Emissions
  Prescribed fire vs. wildfire overtime.
• The Goal is the long term reduction of wildfire
  emissions.

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Approaches to Meeting the Goal of Supporting our
SMPs

• Pacific Northwest Smoke Monitoring Monitoring
  Network
• FASTRAC(PFIRS) Emission Tracking
• FASTRAC(PFIRS) - Emission Inventory
• Interstate SMP Coordination - Can our computers
  talk with one another?

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Why Monitor Fire Use Smoke ?

• For Prescribed Fire
• Before the burn,
• To establish pre-burn air quality visibility
  levels
• To make input into modeling decision support
  systems (i.e. BlueSky)
• During the burn,
• To aid the Fuels Manager. and State Smoke Manager
  in the decision to request/permit additional
  burning or to curtail burning.
• To determine if predicted smoke dispersion,
  avoidance, and mixing is accurate decisions
• After the burn,
• To assess performance of SMP

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Why Monitor Wildland Fire

• To Protect Public and Firefighter Health by
• Adding health officials in the determination to
  health or safety alerts or evacuation
• Determining whether a NEAP is needed the for
  Attainment/Nonattainment Areas
• Developing Emission Inventories for tracking
  Regional Haze and development of baseline Smoke
  Emission Contributions.

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How Should Smoke Be Monitored?

• Stationary vs. mobile(portable) monitors
• FRM/FEM vs. non-FRM
• QC/QA how much effort ?
• SOPs how much consistency / training ?
• Analyses and Reporting to whom, when and for
  what purpose ?

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Who Should Be Monitoring Smoke and For What
Purpose?

• State and Local Health Departments ?
• YES to protect human health and public safety
• Federal Land Managers ?
• YES to help manage all Fire Use and assist states
  and county air regulators during periods of
  wildland fire
• YES to protect firefighters
• Private Burners
• ?
• US EPA Emergency Response
• ?

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What Kinds of Smoke Monitoring Can Be Done ?

• Real-time estimates (e.g.Radiance, DataRam, TEOM,
  EBAM, BAM-1020, etc)
• Federal Reference Method (e.g., Hi Vol)
• Short term (1 hour)
• Daily average (PM10 or PM2.5 Standard)
• Annual average (PM10 or PM2.5 Standard)
• Speciated (e.g, for toxics, for visibility
  (IMPROVE), etc)

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Who Should Be Communicating Smoke Concentrations
to the Public and Their Effects on Human Health
and Safety ?

• State Local Health Departments ? YES
• Federal Land Managers ? NO
• Private Burners ? NO
• US EPA ? ?

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Optec NGN-3 PM2.5 Nephelometer
Real-time Smoke Monitors Evaluated for USDA Forest
BGI PQ200 PM2.5 FRM Gravimetric
Radiance Research Nephelometer Model M903
Met-One Instruments GT-640 Nephelometer
Anderson RTAA 800 Aethalometer
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Real-time Remote Smoke Monitoring SystemDataRam
4 ADSI Satellite Modem
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Example of Existing Monitoring Network For
Monitoring Wildland and Prescribed Fire Smoke

• PNW Smoke Monitoring Network (FS/BLM,WA/OR)
• USDA Forest Service DataRam Cache

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Definition of Monitoring

• To watch, observe, or check for a special
  purpose.
• To keep track of
• One that warns.
• A device for observing a biological condition or
  function or change.
• A heavily armed warship appointed to assist a
  teacher.

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Smoke Monitoring Contract Conditions

• Forest Service Agrees To
• 1. Provide physical site to locate monitoring
  equipment, including temperature controlled
  shelter, AC power, and telephone service for data
  retrieval.
• 2. Provide site operator(s) that will be
  available, during and after monitoring equipment
  installation, for instruction and initial
  operation training. Time commitment for this
  phase is approximately 1 day per site per
  operator.
• 3. Manage the day-to-day operation following
  Ecology Air Monitoring Quality Assurance Plan
  and Procedures.

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Smoke Monitoring Contract Conditions

• State Agrees to
• 1. Test, calibrate, and configure equipment at
  Ecologys HQ facility.
• 2. Assist in the installation of equipment at
  various monitoring locations.
• 3. Train Forest Service operator(s) annually at
  Ecologys HQ facility.
• 4. Technical support for each site
• 5. Routine editing and archiving of the data.
• 6. Provide Forest Service with web site
  information and training.
• 7. Technical assistance with data retrieval
  problems associated with Ecology equipment

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Washington State Air Monitoring Network
Particulates Ozone Carbon Monoxide
Sulfur Dioxide Nitrogen Dioxide
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Washington State Air Monitoring Network
Particulates Ozone Carbon Monoxide
Sulfur Dioxide Nitrogen Dioxide FS
Particulates
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Key Conclusions

• The need for Smoke Monitoring is significant for
  both Wildland Fire and Fire Use Activities.
• It is not simply the responsibility of the State
  and County Air Regulators to monitor Smoke
  Impacts generated from Fire Use Activities on
  Federal Land.
• Cooperation and Collaboration are essential if we
  are to meet the goal of reducing total smoke
  emission over time within our Fire Dependent
  Ecosystems.

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Key Conclusion (Continued)

• There needs to be an emphasis in smoke
  monitoring at the geographic area and interstate
  level based on the planned increase in prescribed
  burning being proposed by federal and state land
  managers.
• The increase in the frequency and intensity of
  wildland fires and the subsequent effect on
  public and firefighter health must be
  acknowledge and dealt with by those suppressing
  the fire and those trying to protect public
  health adjacent to the wildfire.
• State Monitors target population centers and not
  rural areas that federal burning may impact in
  the future.
• We need to be a good neighbor with our private
  land neighbors.

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Other Conclusion and Question?

• Reference www.satguard.com/usfs for DataRams
  website referenced in this presentation.