Smoking out the chemistry of wildfires

As deadly wildfires continue to sweep through many regions, the US government has initiated a project to characterise the chemistry of Western Pacific wildfires this summer, with 15 to 20 smoke observation flights out of Boise, Idaho.

The effort, which began on 25 July and will continue through late August, involves flying two specially equipped planes directly into, above and below smoke plumes to measure their gas and aerosol emissions. The goal is to understand the chemical changes that wildfires undergo over time and how their properties might vary, as well as their environmental consequences.