LR Tech is proud to provide the technical support for the July 2019 FIREX-AQ Mission
The objective of FIREX-AQ is to improve understanding of wildfire and agricultural fire impacts on air quality, weather, and climate. It will use detailed measurements of gases and aerosols emitted from wildfires and agricultural fires to address science topics and evaluate impacts on local and regional air quality, and how satellite data can be used to estimate emissions more accurately.
The Primary Mission Partners are:
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LR Tech’s role in the project is to provide on-site technical assistance while Measurement instrument is flying on U2 aircraft to collect data.
Fire is an important natural event in many ecosystems, but it also poses costly risks to human health and property. These risks have increased in recent decades due in part to shifts in the health of wildland ecosystems due to climate change and forest management practices.
Most fire emissions generated in the United States each year are from wildfires in western states and from agricultural fires in the southwest.
When wildfires burn, they don't only damage land, homes, and businesses. Wildfire emissions, which can be transported over long distances, can be toxic and contribute to the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone and fine particles in the atmosphere. Those emissions affect human health and the environment, so scientists want to know what's in wildfire smoke.
Find more about the mission here.