Quantifying the impact of Boreal fires on tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using aircraft and satellites (BORTAS)
Quantifying the impact of Boreal fires on tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using aircraft and satellites (BORTAS)
Editor(s): S. Matthiesen, B. N. Duncan, P. Monks, and R. MacKenzie
The special issue will publish results from the BORTAS aircraft campaign in summer 2011 and related ground-based and space-borne measurement studies in 2010 and 2011. The overarching goal of BORTAS is to investigate the connection between the composition and the distribution of boreal biomass burning outflow, ozone production and loss within the outflow, and the resulting perturbation to oxidant chemistry in the troposphere. In July 2011, the FAAM146 research aircraft was used to sample the outflow from boreal fires over the Western boundary of the North Atlantic. These aircraft-based measurements were complemented by satellite data and a range of ground-based measurements.

The data obtained in the BORTAS campaign are used to
  • describe observed chemistry within plumes, with particular attention to the NOy and organic chemistry;
  • derive a reduced chemical mechanism from the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM), informed by the measurements, suitable for use in a global chemical transport model to reproduce observed chemistry within the plumes;
  • quantify the impact of boreal forest fires on oxidant chemistry over the temperate and subtropical Atlantic using a nested 3-D chemistry transport model, driven by assimilated field measurements and the reduced chemical mechanism; and
  • detect, validate and quantify the impact of boreal biomass burning on global tropospheric composition using data from space-borne sensors.

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17 Mar 2016
Production of peroxy nitrates in boreal biomass burning plumes over Canada during the BORTAS campaign
Marcella Busilacchio, Piero Di Carlo, Eleonora Aruffo, Fabio Biancofiore, Cesare Dari Salisburgo, Franco Giammaria, Stephane Bauguitte, James Lee, Sarah Moller, James Hopkins, Shalini Punjabi, Stephen Andrews, Alistair C. Lewis, Mark Parrington, Paul I. Palmer, Edward Hyer, and Glenn M. Wolfe
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3485–3497, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3485-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3485-2016, 2016
Short summary
18 Mar 2015
Properties and evolution of biomass burning organic aerosol from Canadian boreal forest fires
M. D. Jolleys, H. Coe, G. McFiggans, J. W. Taylor, S. J. O'Shea, M. Le Breton, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, S. Moller, P. Di Carlo, E. Aruffo, P. I. Palmer, J. D. Lee, C. J. Percival, and M. W. Gallagher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3077–3095, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3077-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3077-2015, 2015
Short summary
16 Feb 2015
Aged boreal biomass-burning aerosol size distributions from BORTAS 2011
K. M. Sakamoto, J. D. Allan, H. Coe, J. W. Taylor, T. J. Duck, and J. R. Pierce
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 1633–1646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1633-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1633-2015, 2015
23 Jan 2015
A comparison of four receptor models used to quantify the boreal wildfire smoke contribution to surface PM2.5 in Halifax, Nova Scotia during the BORTAS-B experiment
M. D. Gibson, J. Haelssig, J. R. Pierce, M. Parrington, J. E. Franklin, J. T. Hopper, Z. Li, and T. J. Ward
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 815–827, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-815-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-815-2015, 2015
Short summary
23 Dec 2014
Origin, variability and age of biomass burning plumes intercepted during BORTAS-B
D. P. Finch, P. I. Palmer, and M. Parrington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13789–13800, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13789-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13789-2014, 2014
Short summary
22 Dec 2014
Size-dependent wet removal of black carbon in Canadian biomass burning plumes
J. W. Taylor, J. D. Allan, G. Allen, H. Coe, P. I. Williams, M. J. Flynn, M. Le Breton, J. B. A. Muller, C. J. Percival, D. Oram, G. Forster, J. D. Lee, A. R. Rickard, M. Parrington, and P. I. Palmer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13755–13771, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13755-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13755-2014, 2014
Short summary
21 Aug 2014
A case study of aerosol scavenging in a biomass burning plume over eastern Canada during the 2011 BORTAS field experiment
J. E. Franklin, J. R. Drummond, D. Griffin, J. R. Pierce, D. L. Waugh, P. I. Palmer, M. Parrington, J. D. Lee, A. C. Lewis, A. R. Rickard, J. W. Taylor, J. D. Allan, H. Coe, K. A. Walker, L. Chisholm, T. J. Duck, J. T. Hopper, Y. Blanchard, M. D. Gibson, K. R. Curry, K. M. Sakamoto, G. Lesins, L. Dan, J. Kliever, and A. Saha
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8449–8460, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8449-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8449-2014, 2014
04 Mar 2014
A semi-Lagrangian view of ozone production tendency in North American outflow in the summers of 2009 and 2010
B. Zhang, R. C. Owen, J. A. Perlinger, A. Kumar, S. Wu, M. Val Martin, L. Kramer, D. Helmig, and R. E. Honrath
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2267–2287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2267-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2267-2014, 2014
20 Dec 2013
Free-troposphere ozone and carbon monoxide over the North Atlantic for 2001–2011
A. Kumar, S. Wu, M. F. Weise, R. Honrath, R. C. Owen, D. Helmig, L. Kramer, M. Val Martin, and Q. Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 12537–12547, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12537-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12537-2013, 2013
19 Dec 2013
Airborne observations of trace gases over boreal Canada during BORTAS: campaign climatology, air mass analysis and enhancement ratios
S. J. O'Shea, G. Allen, M. W. Gallagher, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, S. M. Illingworth, M. Le Breton, J. B. A. Muller, C. J. Percival, A. T. Archibald, D. E. Oram, M. Parrington, P. I. Palmer, and A. C. Lewis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 12451–12467, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12451-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12451-2013, 2013
18 Oct 2013
Investigation of CO, C2H6 and aerosols in a boreal fire plume over eastern Canada during BORTAS 2011 using ground- and satellite-based observations and model simulations
D. Griffin, K. A. Walker, J. E. Franklin, M. Parrington, C. Whaley, J. Hopper, J. R. Drummond, P. I. Palmer, K. Strong, T. J. Duck, I. Abboud, P. F. Bernath, C. Clerbaux, P.-F. Coheur, K. R. Curry, L. Dan, E. Hyer, J. Kliever, G. Lesins, M. Maurice, A. Saha, K. Tereszchuk, and D. Weaver
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10227–10241, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10227-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10227-2013, 2013
08 Oct 2013
Corrigendum to "Airborne hydrogen cyanide measurements using a chemical ionisation mass spectrometer for the plume identification of biomass burning forest fires" published in Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 9217–9232, 2013
M. Le Breton, A. Bacak, J. B. A. Muller, S. J. O'Shea, P. Xiao, M. N. R. Ashfold, M. C. Cooke, R. Batt, D. E. Shallcross, D. E. Oram, G. Forster, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, P. I. Palmer, M. Parrington, A. C. Lewis, J. D. Lee, and C. J. Percival
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 9915–9915, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9915-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9915-2013, 2013
16 Sep 2013
Airborne hydrogen cyanide measurements using a chemical ionisation mass spectrometer for the plume identification of biomass burning forest fires
M. Le Breton, A. Bacak, J. B. A. Muller, S. J. O'Shea, P. Xiao, M. N. R. Ashfold, M. C. Cooke, R. Batt, D. E. Shallcross, D. E. Oram, G. Forster, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, P. I. Palmer, M. Parrington, A. C. Lewis, J. D. Lee, and C. J. Percival
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 9217–9232, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9217-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9217-2013, 2013
01 Aug 2013
Ozone photochemistry in boreal biomass burning plumes
M. Parrington, P. I. Palmer, A. C. Lewis, J. D. Lee, A. R. Rickard, P. Di Carlo, J. W. Taylor, J. R. Hopkins, S. Punjabi, D. E. Oram, G. Forster, E. Aruffo, S. J. Moller, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, J. D. Allan, H. Coe, and R. J. Leigh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7321–7341, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7321-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7321-2013, 2013
30 Jul 2013
Identifying the sources driving observed PM2.5 temporal variability over Halifax, Nova Scotia, during BORTAS-B
M. D. Gibson, J. R. Pierce, D. Waugh, J. S. Kuchta, L. Chisholm, T. J. Duck, J. T. Hopper, S. Beauchamp, G. H. King, J. E. Franklin, W. R. Leaitch, A. J. Wheeler, Z. Li, G. A. Gagnon, and P. I. Palmer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7199–7213, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7199-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7199-2013, 2013
01 Jul 2013
Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites (BORTAS) experiment: design, execution and science overview
P. I. Palmer, M. Parrington, J. D. Lee, A. C. Lewis, A. R. Rickard, P. F. Bernath, T. J. Duck, D. L. Waugh, D. W. Tarasick, S. Andrews, E. Aruffo, L. J. Bailey, E. Barrett, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, K. R. Curry, P. Di Carlo, L. Chisholm, L. Dan, G. Forster, J. E. Franklin, M. D. Gibson, D. Griffin, D. Helmig, J. R. Hopkins, J. T. Hopper, M. E. Jenkin, D. Kindred, J. Kliever, M. Le Breton, S. Matthiesen, M. Maurice, S. Moller, D. P. Moore, D. E. Oram, S. J. O'Shea, R. C. Owen, C. M. L. S. Pagniello, S. Pawson, C. J. Percival, J. R. Pierce, S. Punjabi, R. M. Purvis, J. J. Remedios, K. M. Rotermund, K. M. Sakamoto, A. M. da Silva, K. B. Strawbridge, K. Strong, J. Taylor, R. Trigwell, K. A. Tereszchuk, K. A. Walker, D. Weaver, C. Whaley, and J. C. Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6239–6261, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6239-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6239-2013, 2013
06 Jun 2013
Observations of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) in the upper troposphere by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS)
K. A. Tereszchuk, D. P. Moore, J. J. Harrison, C. D. Boone, M. Park, J. J. Remedios, W. J. Randel, and P. F. Bernath
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5601–5613, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5601-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5601-2013, 2013
02 May 2013
ACE-FTS observations of pyrogenic trace species in boreal biomass burning plumes during BORTAS
K. A. Tereszchuk, G. González Abad, C. Clerbaux, J. Hadji-Lazaro, D. Hurtmans, P.-F. Coheur, and P. F. Bernath
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4529–4541, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4529-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4529-2013, 2013
22 Jan 2013
The influence of biomass burning on the global distribution of selected non-methane organic compounds
A. C. Lewis, M. J. Evans, J. R. Hopkins, S. Punjabi, K. A. Read, R. M. Purvis, S. J. Andrews, S. J. Moller, L. J. Carpenter, J. D. Lee, A. R. Rickard, P. I. Palmer, and M. Parrington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 851–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-851-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-851-2013, 2013
21 Feb 2012
The influence of boreal biomass burning emissions on the distribution of tropospheric ozone over North America and the North Atlantic during 2010
M. Parrington, P. I. Palmer, D. K. Henze, D. W. Tarasick, E. J. Hyer, R. C. Owen, D. Helmig, C. Clerbaux, K. W. Bowman, M. N. Deeter, E. M. Barratt, P.-F. Coheur, D. Hurtmans, Z. Jiang, M. George, and J. R. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 2077–2098, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-2077-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-2077-2012, 2012
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