Mercury from BB: fate & uncertainty assessment

Mercury emissions from Biomass Burning (BB) are not well characterized: previous estimates suggest that over the period 1997-2006 were 675 (±240) Mg/y globally. The entire process of emission calculation is characterized by uncertainty, from fire detection to emission compilation. Fate is also unclear and depends on a number of competing factors. Using the Mercury Chemical Transport model ECHMERIT, a statistical analysis of deposition fields resulting from simulations adopting three different BB inventories (FINNv1.0, GFEDv3.1, and GFASv1.0), three Enhancement Ratios (ERs), different Hg oxidation mechanisms has been made to estimate and assess the sources of uncertainty.