SDSU experts available to discuss the science behind wildfire smoke forecasts 

Wildfire smoke from Canada is currently degrading air quality across the Midwest and Northeastern United States, with more than 700 fires burning north of the border. In the U.S., nearly 40,000 wildfires have already burned over 3.6 million acres this year, equal to roughly a million acres and 10,000 fires ahead of the 10-year average for mid-July, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
 
Two South Dakota State University researchers are available to explain the science behind the air quality forecasts millions of Americans are checking right now:

• Xiaoyang Zhang, Distinguished Professor of geography and geospatial sciences and co-director of SDSU's Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence
• Fangjun Li, research assistant professor at the Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence
   

Zhang and Li developed the hourly fire-emissions algorithm — built on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's newest geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites — that now feeds directly into the National Weather Service's National Air Quality Forecast Capability model. Their work, peer-reviewed in Remote Sensing of Environment, replaced older, cruder emissions models and gave NOAA its first hourly, satellite-based picture of wildfire smoke as it forms and spreads.
 
They can speak to:

• How satellites track wildfire smoke and emissions in near real time.
• Why states far from any fire, including South Dakota, can still see hazardous air quality when smoke gets trapped in the atmospheric boundary layer.
• What's next: their team's push to expand the algorithm across the globe.
   

Fangjun Li is available. He can be reached at fangjun.li@sdstate.edu/ 605-688-4511
 
Xiaoyang Zhang is available. He can be reached at xiaoyang.zhang@sdstate.edu.
 
Interviews can also be arranged through SDSU's University Marketing and Communications through email — sdsu.umc@sdstate.edu — or by calling 605-688-6161.