Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)最新文献

{"title":"Environmental justice and rural poverty: Socioeconomic drivers of environmental impact in the Indian Sundarbans.","authors":"Chandan Roy","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2587009","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2587009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study explores the complex relationship between environmental degradation and rural poverty through the perspective of environmental justice in the Indian Sundarbans. This region is recognized for its ecological richness but faces significant socio-economic vulnerabilities. Despite the area's abundant natural resources and biodiversity, rural poverty persists, shaping resource use patterns and environmental outcomes. The main objective is to examine how rural poverty affects the environment and to identify key socio-economic factors influencing ecosystem services in the region. A stratified sampling technique was used to select households and data were collected through structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. Household-level CO<sub>2</sub> emissions were estimated from domestic fuel and energy consumption. Results show nearly half of the household emissions come from burning firewood for cooking and heating. These practices not only release stored carbon but also reduce the region's carbon removal capacity, directly contributing to environmental degradation. The people of the Sundarbans pollute far less than the national average, but they face the harshest impacts of climate change: rising sea levels, salinity intrusion and ecosystem decline that highlighting a profound environmental injustice. Among rural households, the extremely poor emit more CO<sub>2</sub> than the less poor because they depend on cutting trees to survive, further weakening the region's natural carbon sink. A log-linear regression model identifies education, dependency ratio, livelihood diversification and access to transport as major factors influencing natural resource-based income. The findings suggest that poverty, isolation and low education reinforce ecological stress, forming a poverty - environment trap. This study argues that protecting the Sundarbans' environmental integrity and enhancing its carbon sequestration potential are inseparable from improving human well-being. Achieving India's net-zero target by 2070 requires policies that expand clean energy access, build human capabilities and ensure justice for communities who contribute least to emissions but suffer the most from climate disruption.<i>Implications</i>: This study emphasizes the urgent need to integrate poverty alleviation with environmental sustainability in climate-vulnerable regions like the Indian Sundarbans. Rural poverty contributes to environmental degradation by increasing dependence on forest resources, leading to unsustainable practices and higher CO₂ emissions. Low education levels, limited livelihood opportunities and inadequate infrastructure intensify both poverty and ecological stress. To tackle environmental degradation, it is essential to implement conservation efforts alongside interventions that improve education, enhance connectivity, diversify livelihoods and strengthen social protection. Aligning environmental justice with rural development can break th","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"137-148"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145498029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research on multi-objective recycling network for used electromechanical products.","authors":"Jia Mao, Yifei Bai, Jin Liu, Yanzhi Zhou, Qi Sun","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2570272","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2570272","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Used electromechanical products containing hazardous components pose a significant threat to both the environment and human health. Therefore, society must emphasize and explore strategies for constructing a recycling network to enhance the recycling efficiency of used electromechanical products. In this paper, we propose a multi-institutional recycling network that includes recycling centers, reprocessing centers, and disposal centers, with recyclers responsible for the recycling operations. To enhance the effectiveness of this recycling network, we establish three optimization objectives: economic, environmental, and social. We develop a multi-objective mathematical optimization model specifically designed for the recycling network of used electromechanical products. This model aims to assist government entities and recyclers in addressing environmental challenges while simultaneously balancing economic and social impacts. By applying the multi-objective Gray Wolf optimization algorithm, we analyzed the results pertaining to the utilized electromechanical products. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on key parameters, which illuminated the relationships among economic costs, carbon emissions, and employment opportunities, thereby confirming the model's validity and practicality.<i>Implications</i>: This study on recycling networks for used electromechanical products holds significant implications. It promotes a circular economy by reducing primary resource use and environmental pollution. The network fosters a new industrial chain for recycling, dismantling, and remanufacturing, which can stimulate large-scale industry growth and create employment. Furthermore, the research aligns with national strategies like China's \"14th Five-Year\" Plan, providing insights to help refine recycling policies and accelerate the development of a comprehensive waste materials recycling system.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"49-66"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145234634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of crosswind and shroud geometry on performance of low-flow, nonassisted flares.","authors":"Jenna E Stolzman, Ashray Mohit, Luis Gutierrez, Justin Long, Jessica Brysch, Jesse Capecelatro, Margaret Wooldridge","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2566810","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2566810","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Flaring serves as an important safety and emissions compliance tool in industries such as oil and gas production, refineries, and landfills. Nonassisted, low-flow (≤100 thousand cubic feet per day (MSCFD)), utility (pipe) flares are widely used in practice, yet there are limited studies of real-world conditions. Additionally, while shrouds (windshields) are commonly used to mitigate wind effects, their impact on flare performance is previously undocumented. This study introduces a novel outdoor testing facility designed to evaluate low-flow flares and quantitatively assess their performance with and without shrouds. Experiments were conducted at flare-gas flow rates of 5 to 75 MSCFD using natural gas and an 80% natural gas/20% propane blend (by volume) under crosswind speeds from 0 to over 35 miles per hour (MPH). Combustion efficiency (CE) and methane destruction removal efficiency (DRE_CH4) were determined for all operating conditions. While CE for a baseline utility flare (3-inch diameter pipe equipped with a pilot ignition system) was over 96.5% for crosswinds below 10 MPH, the CE decreased rapidly for crosswinds above 10 MPH, with CE <70% for crosswinds above 30 MPH. The utility flare results were compared with results of prior wind-tunnel studies and prior proposed scaling relationships and incorporated into machine learning (ML) models. The scaling relationships show poor correlation with the body of data, but the ML models yielded good agreement (R² = 0.84) when crosswind turbulence intensity was incorporated as an input parameter. The current work investigated retrofitting a utility flare with different shroud designs, which increased CE ≥96.5% for all conditions, demonstrating the effectiveness of shrouds as practical and cost-effective strategies to improve utility flare performance. The results showed low sensitivity to different shroud designs.<i>Implications</i>: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industry and other monitoring organizations commonly assume flares operate at 98% destruction efficiency; however, recent aerial surveys have revealed efficiencies as low as 91.1%, resulting in up to five times more methane emissions than expected. Low-flow (≤100 MSCFD) utility flares, widely deployed at oil and gas production sites, have limited performance data under real world conditions. This study addresses that gap by providing new experimental data on low-flow utility flares, identifying a new parameter important for predicting flare efficiency and demonstrating a practical solution for significantly reducing emissions.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"28-48"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145461101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Public radiation dose from conventional gas-well produced water used as a pavement deicer.","authors":"William Rish, LeeAnn Racz, Alan Hale","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2565287","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2565287","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conventional oil and gas wells produce wastewater, or brine, that has a beneficial use as a road deicer. However, the brine also contains naturally occurring radium (Ra-226 and Ra-228). This work modeled radiation doses to an adult and a 15-year-old receptor (the highest dose age group) from two scenarios. Scenario 1 considers exposures during recreational activities from deicer runoff to roadside soils following repeated deicer applications. Scenario 2 assumes that a residence with farming is built on soil having the same radiation content as the roadside soils in Scenario 1. Maximum detected Ra-226 and Ra-228 levels in brine samples taken from six conventional gas wells located in northern Ohio were used, along with conservative assumptions, to model annual whole-body doses. Accounting for Ra-226 and Ra-228 decay and assuming limited radium buildup in roadside soil, as supported by experimental and empirical evidence, modeled doses for an adult and 15-year-old were predicted to reach an asymptote at approximately year 50 of 0.0077 and 0.012 millisieverts per year (mSv/yr), respectively, in Scenario 1, and 0.025 and 0.040 mSv/yr in Scenario 2. Assuming no limit on buildup and the northern Ohio average of 30 brine applications per season, accumulated doses were predicted as 0.0010 mSv/yr for an adult and 0.0087 mSv/yr for a 15-year-old, respectively, in Scenario 1 at year 50 and 0.19 and 0.30 mSv/yr in Scenario 2. These dose estimates are within the U.S. EPA and NRC standards of 0.25 to 1 mSv/yr for protecting the general public and well below the natural background dose. This analysis predicts that use of conventional gas-well brine as a road deicer is unlikely to pose an unacceptable radiation risk to the public. The analysis is sensitive to the level of radiation buildup in soils; more field studies on radium transport processes are warranted.<i>Implications</i>: The manuscript entitled \"Public Radiation Dose from Conventional Gas-Well Produced Water Used as a Pavement Deicer\" presents modeled radiation doses to the public from two conservative scenarios in which conventional gas-well wastewater brine is used as a pavement deicer. Given the heightened public interest in potential human health risks from oil and gas drilling operations, this analysis offers timely insight into a relevant topic. In particular, it demonstrates that such brine can be beneficially used as a deicer without unacceptable risk from radiation even under highly conservative scenarios.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"13-27"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145126878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction.","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2589715","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2589715","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"78-80"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145592739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling of emission measurement error due to uneven distribution of particulate matter in stacks.","authors":"Stanislav Knotek, Jan Geršl, Chris Dimopoulos, Marc D Coleman","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2558943","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2558943","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Legislative requirements for emission limits from industrial processes are becoming increasingly stringent and therefore a lower uncertainty of measurement of emissions released to the atmosphere is needed and possible sources of measurement errors need to be reconsidered. In this paper, we investigate a measurement error of industrial emissions of particulate matter from stacks caused by the selection of sampling positions in stacks with uneven particle distribution and we determine its dependence on different flow fields inside the stacks and on the size of the particles. CFD modeling is used to analyze particle distributions in stacks with a diameter of 0.75m and with three different shapes of a supply pipe (straight, one or two bends) generating different flow fields, considering sizes of the particles from 10μm to 50μm (Stokes numbers from 0.007 to 0.18). Concentration fields in several cross-sections are compared and significant changes of the particle distribution are observed when the shape of the supply pipe or the emission particle diameter are changed. The error of the emission mass flow rate as it would be determined according to the EN 15259 standard can reach about 30% for particle diameters of 20μm. Larger particles and the presence of bends lead to stronger particle clustering and near-wall accumulation which tend to increase the error. This should be taken into account in the iso-kinetic sampling practice.<i>Implications</i>: This study highlights the significant impact of particulate matter distribution on the accuracy of emission measurements in industrial stacks. The findings demonstrate that uneven particle distribution, particularly in setups with bends causing stronger particle clustering and near-wall accumulation, can introduce measurement errors of up to 50% depending on flow conditions. These results suggest that current standard sampling methods (e.g., EN 15259) may not always provide accurate emission mass flow rate estimations, especially for larger particles. The study underscores the need for improved sampling strategies or mixing devices to ensure reliable regulatory compliance in emission monitoring.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145608482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation and source apportionment of persistent decadal air pollution disparities in Kansas City, Missouri.","authors":"Shreeram Ojha, Luke Monroe, Amy Christiansen","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2572810","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2572810","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Midwestern city of Kansas City, Missouri, has a long history of redlining practices that have deeply segregated the city. This segregation persists to the present, making Kansas City an important place to study pollution disparities. However, the monitoring landscape in Kansas City is sparse, leading to unique challenges in identifying pollution disparities. Here, we examine disparities in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (KCMA) across demographics and present methodology that can be applied to other cities with sparse monitoring infrastructure. We examine quantitative decadal trends in disparities from 2010 to 2019 using Census tract demographic information and PM_2.5 modeled at the intra-urban scale. We find statistically significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05) differences in PM_2.5 distributions between predominantly White communities and communities of color that persist throughout the past decade in all seasons. On an annual basis, majority Black and African-American (BAA) Census tracts have experienced on average 2.7% (0.2 µg m^-3) higher PM_2.5 burden than majority White American (WA) Census tracts. Higher disparities occur between the most and least WA Census tracts (3.4%; 0.3 µg m^-3). The largest disparities in PM_2.5 occur during winter (6.8%; 0.7 µg m^-3). Despite large overall decreases in PM_2.5 mass concentrations of 27%, the disparity between communities remains remarkably persistent over time, indicating that the pollution gap between communities has not been narrowed by emissions regulations. Source attribution simulations performed via the Intervention Model for Air Pollution (InMAP) suggest that non-point sources such as residential heating contribute primarily to observed PM_2.5 disparities. This suggests that the air pollution disparity in Kansas City can be at least partially addressed through mitigation efforts targeting non-point sources of pollution.<i>Implications</i>: It is widely acknowledged in the field of environmental justice that communities of color are disproportionately exposed to higher levels of pollution than predominantly White communities in the United States. In Kansas City, which has not been evaluated for air quality-related environmental justice concerns before, we note a PM_2.5 disparity along demographic lines and find that non-point emissions contribute the most to this observed disparity. Our results suggest that efforts targeting pollution from non-point sources (e.g., anthropogenic dust, residential heating, commercial combustion, and waste disposal) could be critical to reducing pollution disparities in the region alongside reductions in total air pollution.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"67-77"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145380753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low-energy CO₂ mineralization of asbestos-containing waste (ACW) via ammonium salt leaching: A route to detoxification and carbon sequestration.","authors":"Sangwon Park, Jeongyun Kim, Gwangmok Kim","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2562086","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2562086","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The safe management of asbestos-containing waste (ACW) remains an environmental and public health priority. This study proposes a low-energy treatment strategy integrating ammonium salt leaching with aqueous CO₂ carbonation to chemically stabilize fibrous asbestos structures. Although Ca²⁺ was not significantly leached from ACW using ammonium sulfate, the system achieved up to 99.9% conversion efficiency of dissolved Ca²⁺ to crystalline calcite (CaCO₃) during carbonation. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of calcite as the dominant product, and SEM images revealed the complete loss of fibrous morphology, replaced by rhombohedral carbonate layers. The ammonium-based process effectively modifies the surface of asbestos materials, forming a protective carbonate coating that limits fiber release. These results suggest that the addition of external Ca sources (e.g., CaO) may be required to ensure sufficient carbonation and full surface stabilization, given the low Ca leaching efficiency in ammonium salt systems. The process operates under ambient temperature and pressure, offering a safe and scalable alternative to thermal treatment methods for ACW stabilization.<i>Implications:</i> This study introduces a low-energy, scalable approach for the detoxification of asbestos-containing waste (ACW) through ammonium salt-assisted leaching and in situ CO₂ carbonation. By transforming hazardous fibrous asbestos into carbonate-coated, non-fibrous particulates, the method significantly reduces airborne toxicity while concurrently utilizing CO₂ as a reactive agent. The dual benefits of waste stabilization and carbon utilization position this process as a promising candidate for sustainable hazardous waste management and climate-responsive environmental engineering solutions.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"967-980"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145380755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Performance of low-cost PM_2.5 monitors during the HOMEChem experiment.","authors":"Jonathan D Gingrich, Elizabeth Graham, Erin Boedicker, Sameer Patel, Richard L Corsi, Delphine K Farmer, Marina E Vance","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2552252","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2552252","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Indoor environments contain some of the largest sources of human exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5). Emissions of PM_2.5 can vary greatly from source to source, among different types of environments, and even among the same type of environment, such as residences. Research- and regulatory-grade instrumentation are cost prohibitive for monitoring such variability. Low-cost monitors may offer a solution, though they are prone to some well-documented biases and limitations. We assessed the accuracy of three consumer-grade (Air Quality Egg, PurpleAir, and Speck) and one research-grade (WashU) low-cost PM_2.5 monitors during a controlled field study in a test house. We used experimental data from a variety of indoor meals and sources (background, window opening, stir-fry, breakfast, toast, and chili cooking) to evaluate the monitors' time response and accuracy. Overall, the Air Quality Egg had the best performance during collocation periods, WashU had the best time response, and Speck had the best accuracy when compared to the reference monitors, both by percent accuracy and integrated concentration. All Plantower-based monitors were prone to overestimating concentrations, especially during cooking events, but they also better tracked the peaks as they occurred. Additionally, there were differences between different monitors that contained Plantowers, suggesting that casing, or microprocessors may also affect particulate matter concentration reporting in these devices. Thus, the Plantower-based monitors proved to be more precise, where the Speck was determined to be more accurate. These findings may help consumers and researchers determine how to assess the performance of low-cost air quality monitors.<i>Implications:</i> This work compared three consumer-grade and one lab-developed fine particulate matter monitors to research-grade instrumentation in controlled perturbations within a test-house. We show that the most popular model of sensor (Plantowers) overestimates cooking particulate matter emissions in comparison to research-grade instruments. While low-cost monitors have grown in popularity in the consumer setting, this overestimation may lead to a misunderstanding of exposure risk for consumers who are not aware of these limitations. These results are also necessary to understand how to use these monitors from a research standpoint, and the limitations to accurate readings one might expect.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"917-931"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144986505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SmokePath Explorer - a data driven smoke management tool to support prescribed fire planning in California, USA.","authors":"Azimeh Zare-Harofteh, Samantha J Kramer, ShihMing Huang, Charles R Scarborough, Kayla Besong, Naresh Kumar, Timothy Brown, Farnaz Hosseinpour","doi":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2553822","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10962247.2025.2553822","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>SmokePath Explorer is a web-based decision-support tool for California, U.S.A. that quantifies smoke transport probability and population exposure risk across the state, enabling data-driven strategies to minimize impacts while advancing fire management effectiveness. SmokePath integrates the California and Nevada Smoke and Air Committee (CANSAC) high-resolution (2-km) 20-year reanalysis climatology with HYSPLIT trajectory modeling. A total of 1.3 billion transport trajectories were precomputed with initializations four times per day at four distinct height levels capturing diurnal variations and injection height influences across various prescribed fire scenarios to support probabilistic smoke projections. Within the SmokePath online dashboard, users can input fire parameters and select specific months or weeks to assess smoke transport risk. The tool generates risk-level smoke transport contours from precomputed data and summarizes key meteorological variables. The system also provides population exposure estimates, including the total affected population, the number of smoke-sensitive facilities (i.e. educational and healthcare), and impacted USPS ZIP codes. User feedback has been key to developing SmokePath, enhancing usability, data integration, and decision-making for prescribed fire planning. To assess SmokePath's efficacy, we conducted case studies across diverse regions and validated results against independent observation datasets. These use cases assessed the accuracy of the WRF-CANSAC reanalysis dataset, which serves as the meteorological input for fire weather climatology and trajectory modeling. The fire case studies focused on identifying optimal burn windows and quantifying smoke transport patterns from (i) large multi-day prescribed fires, (ii) short duration (single-day) pile burns, and (iii) burns across diverse regions with complex topographic features. In most cases, modeled transport probability aligned with satellite-observed smoke plumes, capturing predominant dispersion patterns. Stakeholder feedback further supported the tool's practical utility - 85% indicated they would use SmokePath for prescribed fire planning, and 62% found it useful during wildfires.<i>Implications</i>: With catastrophic wildfires on the rise, California is expanding fuel treatments, including prescribed fire. While essential for mitigation, prescribed burns release smoke that can harm public health if unmanaged. SmokePath addresses this challenge by providing evidence-based insights on plume behavior to guide short- and long-term planning. The tool helps land managers schedule burns to minimize community impact, especially for vulnerable populations, and supports wildfire response with rapid smoke risk information. By improving public communication and enabling protective actions, SmokePath advances both health protection and the strategic use of prescribed fire.</p>","PeriodicalId":520693,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995)","volume":" ","pages":"932-952"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145002760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}