Biomass burning is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CO, CH4, H2, CH3Cl, NO, HCN, CH3CN, COS, etc) and aerosols. In particular, atmospheric aerosols released from biomass burning can interact with solar radiation directly, through scattering and absorption processes, and indirectly through the modulation of cloud properties. Aerosols containing absorbing material such as black carbon (soot) may reduce cloud cover and liquid water through an increase in atmospheric heating rates by absorption of solar radiation.

This project involves the role of the LCLUC Program Scientist, Dr. Christopher Justice, who provides strategic support for the NASA Land-Cover and Land-Use Change (LCLUC) program. The LCLUC Program is an interdisciplinary scientific theme within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The goal of NASA's Science Mission Directorate is to study the Earth as an integrated system, emphasizing observations made from the unique perspective of space, together with the associated laboratory, field, theoretical, and modeling research.