BORTAS is an air campaign held in the summer 2011 at the airport of Halifax (Canada), where observations were made on the emissions from forest fires in the boreal forest.

The Bortas air campaign was organized from July 5 to August 3, 2011 at the airport of Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada) with PI Prof. Paul Palmer (University of Edinburgh), using the English scientific plane BAe146 aboard the which was installed, among others, the TD-LIF instrument. The main objective was the study of the photochemical age and of the processes of air masses containing the products emitted by summer boreal fires and the way in which these air masses can impact on the chemical composition at medium-long distance from the source of the 'emission. Alongside the air campaign, measures were also used on ground and radiofrequency platforms in Canada and the Azores and satellite observations.

More details on the BORTAS project can be found here (Blog Bortas) and here (University of Edinburgh).

Associated publications:

Aruffo E., F. Biancofiore, P. Di Carlo, M. Busilacchio, M. Verdecchia, B. Tomassetti, C. Dari-Salisburgo, F. Giammaria, S. Bauguitte, J. Lee, S. Moller, J. Hopkins, S. Punjabi, S. Andrews, A. C. Lewis, P. I. Palmer, E. Hyer, M. Le Breton, C. Percival, Impact of biomass burning emission on total peroxy nitrates: fire plume identification during the BORTAS campaign, 
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1–16, 2016 (Impact factor 2016: 3.089)

Busilacchio M., P. Di Carlo, E. Aruffo, F. Biancofiore, C. Dari Salisburgo, F. Giammaria, S. Bauguitte, J. Lee, S. Moller, J. Hopkins, S. Punjabi, S. Andrews, A. C. Lewis, M. Parrington, P. I. Palmer, E. Hyer, G. M. Wolfe, Production of peroxy nitrates in boreal biomass burning plumes over Canada during the BORTAS campaign, 
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3485–3497, 2016. (Impact factor 2016: 5.318)

olleys M. D., H. Coe, G. McFiggans, J. W. Taylor, S. J. O’Shea, M. Le Breton, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, S. Moller, P. Di Carlo, E. Aruffo, P. I. Palmer, J. D. Lee, C. J. Percival, and M. W. Gallagher, Properties and evolution of biomass burning organic aerosol from Canadian boreal forest fires, 
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3077–3095, 2015. (Impact factor 2015: 5.114)

Parrington, M., P. I. Palmer, A. C. Lewis, J. D. Lee, A. R. Rickard, P. Di Carlo, J. W. Taylor, J. R. Hopkins, S. Punjabi, D. E. Oram, G. Forster, E. Aruffo, S. J. Moller, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, J. D. Allan, H. Coe, and R. J. Leigh, Ozone photochemistry in boreal biomass burning plumes, 
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7321-7341, 2013. (Impact factor 2013: 5.298)

Palmer P. I., M. Parrington, J. D. Lee, A. C. Lewis, A. R. Rickard, P. F. Bernath, T. J. Duck, D. L. Waugh, D. W. Tarasick, S. Andrews, E. Aruffo, L. J. Bailey, E. Barrett, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, K. R. Curry, P. Di Carlo, et al., Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites (BORTAS) experiment: design, execution and science overview, 
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6239-6261, 2013. (Impact factor 2013: 5.298)