Interannual Variations in PM2.5 due to Wildfires in the Western United States

In this study we have evaluated the role of wildfires on concentrations of fine particle (d < 2.5 µm) organic carbon (OC) and particulate mass (PM2.5) in the Western United States for the period 1988–2004. To do this, we examined the relationship between mean summer PM2.5 and OC concentrations at 39 IMPROVE sites with a database of fires developed from federal fire reports. The gridded database of area burned was used to generate a database of biomass fuel burned using ecosystem-specific fuel loads. The OC, PM2.5, and fire data were evaluated for five regions: Northern Rocky Mountains (Region 1), Central Rocky Mountains (Region 2), Southwest (Region 3), California (Region 4), and Pacific Northwest (Region 5). In Regions 1, 2, and 5, we found good correlations of seasonal mean PM2.5 concentrations among the sites within each region. This indicates that a common influence was important in determining the PM concentration at all sites across each region. In Regions 1 and 2, we found a significant correlation...