3-dimensional simulation of the effects of wildfires on atmospheric pollution in Greece
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Date
2026-02-26
Authors
Καμηλάκη, Μυρτώ
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Abstract
As climate changes, wildfires are becoming an increasingly important source of air pollution, emitting both vapors and particles. This work focuses on the single most important pollutant resulting from these wildfires, biomass burning organic aerosols (bbOA). Part of these particles is emitted (primary), while the rest is produced in the atmosphere during the reactions of the emitted organic vapors (secondary). Wildfire events are on the rise in Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean region to the detriment of air quality impacting the environment and having negative effects on public health. This diploma thesis studies the evolution of wildfire emissions on the atmosphere of Greece using PMCAMx-SR, a three-dimensional Eulerian chemical transport model with explicit source resolution of bbOA focusing on their vertical evolution and effects far from the fire.
Two wildfire episodes are studied: the fire in Dadia National Park in Northeastern Greece (21-28 July 2022) and the subsequent fires in southern Albania (30-31 July 2022). Using a zero-out analysis, the contribution of each wildfire episode to particulate matter (PM) concentrations in the atmosphere was isolated, quantified and visualized. In general, secondary aerosols are the dominant components of the bbOA far from the fire whereas primary dominate near the source. The Dadia wildfire produced sustained and widespread pollution across the Aegean Sea, and mainland Greece, while the Albanian fires had a smaller but clearly detectable impact over western and southern Greece. Significant impact, in these two case studies, is predicted up to 2km from the ground.
Additional simulations examine the impact of fire emission injection height on the simulated wildfire plume. Assuming that all emissions are at the ground level instead of distributing them at different atmospheric heights, increased predicted surface concentrations of aerosols near the fire. Likewise placing all the emissions at a given altitude above ground results in a local maximum of the corresponding concentrations at that height. The spatial spread of bbOA is similar for every assumed injection height. However, the predicted vertical concentration profile of pollution both near and far from the source is affected by the assumed emission height.
Overall, wildfires play a substantial part in atmospheric pollution affecting the air from ground surface up to elevated atmospheric layers, extending far from the fire location. PMCAMx-SR appears to be an effective 3D modelling tool that can capture wildfire plume dynamics and aid the management of air quality.
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Keywords
Atmospheric pollution, Wildfires, Organic aerosol, Biomass nurning, Chemical transport model, Fine particulate matter, Air quality, Emission injection height, PMCAMx-SR, PM2.5