Introduction

Our collaborative research efforts aim to develop a state-of-the-art scalable framework for assessment and mitigation of wildfire-induced air pollution, which accounts for climate change effects. In collaboration with a group of accomplished researchers from UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Los Angeles, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, and EPRI, we aim to advance wildfire-related knowledge by: (1) bridging the gap between fine-scale physics-based and large-scale statistics-based wildfire models; (2) advancing the state of the art in wildfire emission estimation, coupled weather-fire simulation, and plume rise/transport modeling; (3) measuring physiochemical/optical/toxicological properties of fire emissions from heterogeneous fuels to evaluate population-level health effects; (4) assessing existing and innovative mitigation strategies for wildfires and wildfire-induced air pollution (including vegetation management, controlled burns, land-use policies, and fireproof construction techniques and materials); and (5) developing the scientific visualization framework to support knowledge dissemination, community engagement, and policy development. Our research addresses the critical need to assess and mitigate wildfire effects (and wildfire-induced air pollution in particular) on human health.

 

Related Publications

• Barbato M (2020). “A framework for assessment and mitigation of wildfire-induced air pollution considering climate change.” Proceedings (abstract), 3rd International Smoke Symposium (ISS3), April 20-24, 2020, Rayleigh, NC (USA) & Davis, CA (USA) (virtual event due to COVID-19).