SAFARI 2000 Fire Emission Factors for African Savanna

SAFARI 2000 Fire Emission Data provides emission ratios and factors for 13 trace gases from ten African savanna fires, measured during the 2000 dry season. The University of Montana collected this data using airborne Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (AFTIR) aboard a Convair-580 aircraft. This dataset represents the first broad characterization of abundant trace gases in nascent smoke from this region.

Use Cases

• Calculating regional emissions estimates for savanna fires using emission factors (g/kg) for gases like CO2, CO, and CH4.
• Analyzing the chemical composition of nascent wildfire smoke, including oxygen- and nitrogen-containing species like HCHO, NH3, and NO.
• Comparing vertical trace gas profiles (CO2, CO, H2O, CH4) up to 5.5 km from aircraft measurements with satellite (TERRA) and high-altitude aircraft (ER-2) data.
• Studying the relative abundance of reactive hydrocarbons (e.g., C2H2, C2H4) and organic acids (e.g., CH3COOH, HCOOH) from biomass burning.

Strengths

• Dataset provides the first broad characterization of trace gases in nascent smoke from African savanna fires, covering 13 species.
• Measurements are anchored to specific airborne campaigns with vertical profiles taken on 6 occasions and sampling from ten distinct fires.
• Data collection was coordinated with ground sites, the TERRA satellite, and the ER-2 aircraft, enabling multi-platform validation.

Limitations

• Core structural metadata (row count, column names, file size) is unavailable across all sources, hindering initial assessment.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2000-09-14 vs. 2026-03 12), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

University of Montana as part of the Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000).

Collection Method

Airborne measurements using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (AFTIR) onboard the University of Washington Convair-580 research aircraft.

Time Range

August-September 2000

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:17:03.859703

Geography

Southern Africa