Monitoring air pollution from wildfires using ground data, satellite products and modeling: the austral summer 2016-2017 in Argentina

GARCÍA FERREYRA, MARÍA FERNANDA; CURCI, GABRIELE; DELLA CECA, LARA; OTERO, LIDIA; RISTORI, PABLO; ARGAÑARAZ, JUAN PABLO; GERMÁN, ALBA; LIGHEZZOLO, ANDRÉS; SCAVUZZO, CARLOS MARCELO

Simposio; IGARSS 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium; 2019

IEEE

The air pollution caused by the immense wildfire that occurred in Northeast Patagonia, Argentina in the summer 2016-2017 is presented in this work through the assessment of ground-based data, satellite measurements and modeled concentrations of NO, NO2, CO, PM2.5, PM10 and AOD. The data was obtained from a monitoring station placed in Bahia Blanca city; the OMI (Aura), MOPITT and MODIS (Terra) satellite sensors, and the APIFLAME-WRF-CHIMERE modeling system was used to estimate the chemical processes and atmospheric transport of pollutants emitted. A concentration higher than usual was found for December 20th and 21st 2016 and January 1st 2017 for every species, at Bah´ıa Blanca?s station. Satellite daily data was acquired for a specific day and modeled resultswere also exhibited for a qualitative assessment. The models obtained satisfactory results, according to the satellite survey. Finally, it was possible to assess air pollution from a wildfire by means of the combination of these different data sources.