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Burn Aerosol Burn

Wildfires, which can release large amounts of black carbon, brown carbon, sulfates, and nitrates, are another key source of aerosols. Fires are also a common component of agriculture in many countries. And, prior to fires, some vegetation can even emit substantial amounts of monoterpenes, a substance common in tree resin that transforms into aerosols and has a negative impact on air quality.

 

Image Information: Astronauts docked to the International Space Station took this image of a wildfire in southern Montana in August of 2007. For more details, please visit this Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth page. Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center/Image Science & Analysis Laboratory/Image ISS016-E-5526

 

--Adam Voiland, Goddard Space Flight Center

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Uploaded on April 7, 2010
Taken on August 17, 2007