A STATEWIDE STUDY OF WILDFIRE IMPACTS ON AIR QUALITY

In the last few decades, wildfires in Texas have increased in intensity and frequency. 1 in 6 Americans live in areas with significant wildfire risk in 2022. Between 2018 - 2022, 43,351 wildfires burned 1,789,914 acres across the state of Texas and during this 5-year period, 84% of all wildfires ignited within 2 miles of a community. The largest wildfire in Texas history occurred this year on February 26 in Hutchinson County, burning over 1 million acres of land. The wildfire smoke affected surrounding areas like El Paso, listing an air quality index (AQI) of about 126. This AQI indicates an unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups of people, especially elderly and kids. We use various geoprocessing tools and ArcGIS Pro to map the major wildfires in Texas during the last 10 years (2013-2023). Wildfires that burned at least 10,000 acres are considered major fire events. We investigate various attributes of wildfires such as acres burned, duration of fires, vegetation type burned, cause of fire, etc. and plot these data to illustrate the spatial distribution. Particulate matter (PM), an air pollutant, is emitted from wildfires, which can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Using wildfire data from the National Interagency Fire Center and air quality data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we will find the impacts of wildfire events on PM concentrations in Texas. The outcome of this project will help us identify the contribution of wildfire-driven PM in Texas.