Participant Individuals: Senior personnel(s) : Jürgen M Lobert
Partner Organizations: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Collaborative Research
William C. Keene of the University of Virginia is the PI on the U Va portion of this project.
As outlined in the proposal, Max Planck Institut provided both facilities and considerable staff hours.
Other collaborators:
Collaborators in Africa, who collected biofuels for our experiments or provided contact information: Tobias Landmann - KNP Prof. Harold Annegarn - KNP both at CSIR, South Africa Dr Conrad Brain - ENP Etosha Ecological Institute, Namibia Dr Dennis Kayambazinthu - Malawi Forestry Research Institute of Malawi Mike Garstang - Simpson Weather Associates, Virginia Paul V. Desanker - U Virginia Christelle Hely - U Virginia Hank Shugart - U Virginia Active collaborators at Max Planck Institut fur Chemie: Dieter H. Scharffe - engineer, experiment support, CH4, N2O analyses Jonathan Williams - Ph.D., experiment support Other, independent, active MPI participants in the experiments: Christof Jost - grad. student, SO2, volatile organics, AP-MS Detlev Sprung - grad. student, SO2, volatile organics, AP-MS Olga Mayol-Bracero - grad. student, bulk aerosol Pascal Guyon - grad. student, bulk aerosol Betina Kleis - grad. student, volatile organics, PTR-MS Rupert Holzinger - post doc, volatile organics, PTR-MS Thomas Klüpfel - engineer, experiment support, volatile organics, PTR-MS Meinrat O. Andreae - Ph.D., experiment support
Activities and findings:
Research and Education Activities: A total of 60 biomass burning experiments was carried out between November 200 and January 2001. A suite of organic halogen containing gases (CH3Cl, CH3Br, CH3I, CH2Cl2, CH2Br2, CH2I2 and others) were measured in the exhaust of these fires as well as the smoke mixing ratios of CO, CO2, NOx, CH4 and N2O. Samples of fuel and ash were collected and processed for subsequent analysis of elemental composition of carbon, chlorine, bromine, iodine, nitrogen, and sulfur. These data will allow us to assess the elemental mass balance for each experimental burn as well as the corresponding emission factors for individual compounds as functions of the biofuel composition.
Findings: Preliminary findings are that emissions of CO, CO2, NOx, CH4 and N2O were comparable to similar studies in experiment and field and that the mixing ratios of methyl halides were about a factor of 1000 above background concentration in the exhaust of these fires. Relative emission ratios to CO and CO2 will be determined and enable comparison to results from other studies. A detailed mass balance for each compound relative to the halogen content of the biofuel and ash is in progress.
Training and Development: Several graduate students and post-docs participated in this effort (see list of participants) and the project provided the opportuntiy to develop new skills and supported new instrumental development due to the unique nature of the measured exhaust gases. Collaboration with these individuals will be continued until final results are published.
Journal Publications:
Book(s) of other one-time publications(s):
Other Specific Products:
In accordance with our proposal, a total of 60 biomass burning experiments was carried out between 11. November 2000 and 16. January 2001. More than 200 flask samples were analyzed for mixing ratios of methyl halide (CH3Cl, CH3Br, CH3I), CH4, N2O and many other compounds. Continous measurements of CO, CO2 and NOx were carried out for each experiment. We were also able to measure many more compounds than was originally proposed and anticipate to be able to provide mass balances for halogens Cl, Br and I from these compounds for each individual experiment as soon as the results from elemental analysis of biofuels and ash are finished (U Virginia contribution).
We have established a data policy that has been agreed to by all participants and is listed below. We intent to share all data with interested participants and publish data after finishing QA in established journals. Data Policy for SAFARI-2000, MPI Biomass Burning Experiments Principal Investigators: Paul J. Crutzen, Jürgen M. Lobert, William C. Keene Preliminary data generated by each participant during this experiment will be posted for use by all other participants as soon as possible. Quality assured data files from all participants will be posted for general access by the group within a maximum of 6 months after the end of measurement period (i.e., by 1 September 2001). All quality assured data will be posted to the public domain on a suitable internet server no later than one year after the end of the experimental burns (i.e., by 31 January 2002). Each data file distributed among participants should be self-explanatory and at minimum include the following information (e.g., in a header or accompanying readme file): - Institution, department, person, or group who generated the data - Date of data set version - Version of the data file (in case of later revisions) - Whether the data are preliminary or final - A brief description of the data and file structure - A brief summary of data quality (detection limits, precision) The participant who generated a given data set should be offered the opportunity to collaborate in and coauthor the publication of any analysis in which those data are included. No data may be included in any publication without the expressed consent of the participant who generated the data. Participants should not be included as co-author on publications without their expressed permission.
A collection of biofuel and ash samples was created during these experiments. These samples will be used for elemental analysis and will be kept on archive for possible future re-analysis or additional analyses. Mass balnces of individual fires can be carried out by comparing the elemental content of each fuel /ash combination.
Providing that available sample mass is sufficient, we may be able to share this collection with other researchers upon request.
Inlet system for gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer (GC/MS) combination. For this project, we developed an inlet system for a new GC/MS system at the Max Planck Institut fur Chemie. The inlet system was customized for analysis of discreet flask samples of ambient or process gas air as well as semi-continuous measurements of ambient air or air from high-pressure containers.
As MPI provided the funding for this instrument, the instrument remains property of MPI and will be used for ambient air analysis during special projects with emphasis on hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons.
Internet Dissemination:
http://www.JurgenLobert.net/projects/mpi_safari/
This is a small project website, which is used to exchange information and which contains images and data from this project.
Contributions within Discipline:
Principal discipline: atmospheric chemistry, global environmental change, biomass burning. The collected data will provide the basis for an estimate of regional biomass burning emissions in southern Africa. Data are being reduced at this time and no significant findings are available yet.
Other disciplines: Terrestrial ecology, biogeochemistry, chlimate change. No significant findings yet.
Graduate students at MPI working under the direction of the investigators and other collaborators have participated and will directly benefit from results of this research effort. The involvement of researchers from southern Africa has initiated the transfer of information and technology and hopefully contributes to infrastructure development in the host countries.
Special Requirements for Annual Project Report:
Categories for which nothing is reported: Outreach Activities Products: Journal Publications Products: Book or other one-time publication Contributions to Resources for Science and Technology Contributions Beyond Science and Engineering Special Reporting Requirements Animal, Human Subjects, Biohazards