Wildfire-driven thunderstorms cause a volcano-like stratospheric injection of smoke

NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science
David A PetersonMatthew T DeLand

Abstract

Intense heating by wildfires can generate deep, smoke-infused thunderstorms, known as pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb), which can release a large quantity of smoke particles above jet aircraft cruising altitudes. Injections of pyroCb smoke into the lower stratosphere have gained increasing attention over the past 15 years due to the rapid proliferation of satellite remote sensing tools. Impacts from volcanic eruptions and other troposphere-to-stratosphere exchange processes on stratospheric radiative and chemical equilibrium are well recognized and monitored. However, the role of pyroCb smoke in the climate system has yet to be acknowledged. Here, we show that the mass of smoke aerosol particles injected into the lower stratosphere from five near-simultaneous intense pyroCbs occurring in western North America on 12 August 2017 was comparable to that of a moderate volcanic eruption, and an order of magnitude larger than previous benchmarks for extreme pyroCb activity. The resulting stratospheric plume encircled the Northern Hemisphere over several months. By characterizing this event, we conclude that pyroCb activity, considered as either large singular events, or a full fire season inventory, significantly perturb the lower stratosphe...Continue Reading

References

Jul 15, 2015·Nature Communications·Sandra M AnderssonAndreas Zahn
Sep 28, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Anthony LeRoy Westerling
Jun 1, 2016·Remote Sensing of Environment·Louis GiglioChristopher O Justice

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Citations

Jul 13, 2019·Scientific Reports·Andrew J DowdyNicholas McCarthy
Nov 28, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Jeannine DitasYafang Cheng
Aug 26, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Leif G JahnRyan C Sullivan
Nov 28, 2021·Scientific Reports·Matthias StockerAndrea K Steiner

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
Profiler
CLASS

Software Mentioned

PyroCbs
CALIOP
OMPS
Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite ( OMPS ) Nadir Mapper
Goddard Modeling and Assimilation Office Goddard Earth Observi...

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