Characterizing Particulate Matter Impacts of Smoke From 2022 to 2023 Agricultural Burning in South Florida.

ABSTRACT: Smoke from agricultural fires is a potentially important source of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in the US. Sugarcane is burned in Florida to facilitate the harvesting process, with the majority of these fires occurring in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), where there is only one regulatory air quality monitor. During the 2022-2023 sugarcane burning season (October-May), we used public low-cost PurpleAir sensors, regulatory monitors, and 29 PurpleAir sensors deployed for this study to quantify PM_2.5 from agricultural fires. We found satellite imagery is of limited use for detecting smoke from agricultural fires in Florida due to the cloud cover, overnight smoke, and the fires being small and short-lived. For these reasons, surface measurements are critical for

SUBMITTER: Sablan O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12836378 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature