Model study of global mercury deposition from biomass burning

de Simone, Francesco; Cinnirella, Sergio; Gencarelli, Christian N.; Yang, Xin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3838-9758; Hedgecock, Ian M.; Pirrone, Nicola. 2015 Model study of global mercury deposition from biomass burning. Environmental Science & Technology, 49 (11). 6712-6721. 10.1021/acs.est.5b00969

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Abstract/Summary

Mercury emissions from biomass burning are not well characterized and can differ significantly from year to year. This study utilizes three recent biomass burning inventories (FINNv1.0, GFEDv3.1, and GFASv1.0) and the global Hg chemistry model, ECHMERIT, to investigate the annual variation of Hg emissions, and the geographical distribution and magnitude of the resulting Hg deposition fluxes. The roles of the Hg/CO enhancement ratio, the emission plume injection height, the Hg(g)0 oxidation mechanism and lifetime, the inventory chosen, and the uncertainties with each were considered. The greatest uncertainties in the total Hg deposition were found to be associated with the Hg/CO enhancement ratio and the emission inventory employed. Deposition flux distributions proved to be more sensitive to the emission inventory and the oxidation mechanism chosen, than all the other model parametrizations. Over 75% of Hg emitted from biomass burning is deposited to the world’s oceans, with the highest fluxes predicted in the North Atlantic and the highest total deposition in the North Pacific. The net effect of biomass burning is to liberate Hg from lower latitudes and disperse it toward higher latitudes where it is eventually deposited.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1021/acs.est.5b00969
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Chemistry and Past Climate
ISSN:	0013-936X
Date made live:	08 Jul 2015 09:36 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/510002

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1021/acs.est.5b00969

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Chemistry and Past Climate

ISSN:

0013-936X

Date made live:

08 Jul 2015 09:36 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/510002