Emissions of trace gases and aerosols from the terrestrial biosphere are significant. These emissions can impact air quality and climate, and it is therefore important to quantify the magnitude of the emissions, their spatial and temporal distributions, and environmental controls. This talk will discuss the development of emission estimates from fires and from undisturbed vegetation. An emissions model has been developed to provide modelers and managers quick emission estimates of trace gases and aerosols from fires in North and Central America. The emissions estimates are driven by satellite observations and now include mercury.
Recent results show that mercury emissions from fires in the US are comparable to mercury emissions from power plants. Biogenic emissions are estimated with the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN). Results from MEGAN in the continental US predict higher isoprene emissions, but lower monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions, than previous inventories.  As a result, the contribution of secondary organic aerosol from sesquiterpenes is now estimated to be much lower than previous studies.