NASA and NOAA Invite Media to Preview Campaign Studying Air Quality Impacts from Fires

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Jun 10, 2019, 16:41 ET

PALMDALE, Calif., June 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Media are invited to a behind-the-scenes tour and briefing of Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality, or FIREX-AQ, a joint campaign led by NOAA and NASA that will investigate conditions impacting air quality and climate from wildfires and agricultural fires across the continental United States. The event will be held at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, on June 18, 2019, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PDT.

An image of the Camp Fire on Nov. 8 from the Landsat 8 satellite. Credits: USGS/NASA/Joshua Stevens

Smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. and agricultural fires in the southern U.S. has become an increasingly significant air quality problem affecting the public. FIREX-AQ will bring together scientists from around the world to obtain detailed measurements of trace gas and aerosol emissions from wildfires and prescribed fires from aircraft, satellites and ground-based instruments. The goal is to understand how fuel and fire conditions at the point of ignition influence the chemistry of smoke, what conditions control the rise of smoke plumes, what happens to smoke as it is distributed in the atmosphere, and how does the chemical transformation of smoke impact air quality, and to a lesser extent, weather downwind. Results from FIREX-AQ will be used to assess and improve the effectiveness of satellites for estimating the emissions from wildfires and prescribed burns.

The event will give journalists an opportunity to tour aircraft involved in the campaign, see scientific instruments used for observations, and meet members of the FIREX-AQ science team. Highlights include:

Mission briefing by NASA Mission Scientist James Crawford
Tour of the NASA DC-8 flying laboratory and ER-2 high-altitude aircraft
Meet scientists form various agencies and organizations that will participate in the mission
Meet with pilots who will fly the aircraft

Domestic media representatives interested in participating in the event need to contact the NASA Armstrong Public Affairs office no later than 12 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at 661-276-2020, or email Kate Squires at [email protected]. Foreign national journalists cannot be accommodated for this event.

For more information about FIRE-AQ, visit:

https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/projects/firex-aq/

SOURCE NASA