Techniques to Redistribute Smoke Emissions

Emissions can be spatially and temporally redistributed by burning during periods of good atmospheric dispersion (dilution) and when prevailing winds will transport smoke away from sensitive areas (avoidance) so that air quality standards are not violated. Redistribution of emissions does not necessarily reduce overall emissions.

1. Burn when dispersion is good. Smoke concentrations can be reduced by diluting the smoke through a greater volume of air, either by burning during good dispersion conditions when the atmosphere is unstable or burning at slower rates. If burning progresses too slowly, smoke accumulation due to evening atmospheric stability can occur.
2. Share the airshed. Establishing a smoke management program that links both local and interstate jurisdictions will create opportunities to share the airshed and reduce the likelihood of smoke impacts.
3. Avoid sensitive areas. The most obvious way to avoid smoke impacts is to burn when the wind is blowing away from all smoke-sensitive areas such as highways, airports, populated areas, and scenic vistas. Wind direction must be considered during all phases of burning. For example, the prevailing winds during the day time may move the smoke away from a major highway; however, at night, drainage winds can carry the smoke toward the highway.
4. Burn smaller units. Short term emissions and impacts can be reduced by burning subsets of a large unit over multiple days. Total emissions are not reduced if the entire area is eventually burned.
5. Burn more frequently. Burning more frequently does not allow fuels to accumulate, thus there are less emissions with each burn. Frequent, low intensity fires can prevent unwanted vegetation from becoming established. If longer fire rotations are used, the vegetation has time to grow resulting in the production of extra biomass and extra fuel loading at the time of burning. This technique generally has positive effects on land management goals since it results in fire regimes that more closely mimic the frequency of natural fire in many ecosystems.