Understanding the chemistry in western wildfire smoke has major ramifications for air quality, nutrient cycles, weather and climate. The Western wildfire Experiment for Cloud chemistry, Aerosol absorption and Nitrogen (WE-CAN) project systematically characterized the emissions and first day of evolution of western U.S. wildfire plumes. The project was focused on three sets of scientific questions related to fixed nitrogen, absorbing aerosols, cloud activation and chemistry in wildfire plumes. The data were collected from the NCAR/NSF C-130 research aircraft in co-ordination with the NSF-funded BB-FLUX project July and August 2018.

ACOM participated with the following instruments:

• TOGA

• HARP
• NOxyO3 Chemiluminescence Instrument
• PAN-CIMS
• Picarro G2401-m WS-CRDS CO2, CH4, CO and H2O
• Aerodyne CS-108 miniQCL CO, N2O and H2O

Andy Weinheimer and Alan Hills prepare their instruments for WE-CAN:

The C-130 at the NCAR Research Aviation Facility: