THE BEMA-PROJECT - A NORTH-AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

Until recently, European regulatory agencies and photochemical modeler s had to use biogenic hydrocarbon emission models that were based almo st entirely on the results of investigations in North America. Field s tudies of biogenic hydrocarbon emissions have been conducted in North America and Europe for more than two decades but it is only recently t hat there has been an attempt at multidisciplinary (plant physiologist s, micrometeorologists, atmospheric scientists, landscape ecologists) held studies. Whereas past studies involved a few scientists with simi lar backgrounds, recent studies have been much more multi-disciplinary efforts involving more scientists. In North America, investigations o f biogenic hydrocarbon emissions have been important, but relatively m inor, components of regional studies such as the Southern Oxidant Stud y in the United States and the BOREAS experiment in Canada. None of th ese studies approach the level of participation id biogenic emission s tudies that occurred in the BEMA program. The BEMA project also addres sed another issue that is gaining interest in North America, seasonali ty. Variation in emission rates through the year need to be incorporat ed into models and longer field campaigns need to be incorporated into future experimental programs to better determine seasonality of hydro carbon emissions. The BEMA study has provided valuable insight into hy drocarbon emissions in the Mediterranean ecosystem. Both the similarit ies and differences between this ecosystem and typical North America e cosystems help us to understand biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science Ltd.