title: Influence of open vegetation fires on black carbon and ozone variability in the southern Himalayas (NCO-P, 5079 m a.s.l.).
abstract: We analysed the variability of equivalent black carbon (BC) and ozone (O3) at the global WMO/GAW station Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (NCO-P, 5079 m a.s.l.) in the southern Himalayas, for evaluating the possible contribution of open vegetation fires to the variability of these short-lived climate forcers/pollutants (SLCF/SLCP) in the Himalayan region. We found that 162 days (9% of the data-set) were characterised by acute pollution events with enhanced BC and O3 in respect to the climatological values. By using satellite observations (MODIS fire products and the USGS Land Use Cover Characterization) and air mass back-trajectories, we deduced that 56% of these events were likely to be affected by emissions from open fires along the Himalayas foothills, the Indian Subcontinent and the Northern Indo-Gangetic Plain. These results suggest that open fire emissions are likely to play an important role in modulating seasonal and inter-annual BC and O3 variability over south Himalayas.
authors.affiliation: ISAC-CNR, Institute for Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Putero
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cristofanelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marinoni
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laj
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duchi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Calzolari
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Verza
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonasoni
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005390:Fires; D009390:Nepal; D010126:Ozone / Q000032:analysis*; D053260:Soot / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D053260:Soot; D010126:Ozone
keywords: Biomass burning; Black carbon; Himalayas; Ozone; Pollution