Revealing important nocturnal and day-to-day variations in fire smoke emissions through a multiplatform inversion

Authors

Pablo E. Saide, University of Iowa
David A. Peterson, National Research Council
Arlindo da Silva, NASA
Bruce Anderson, NASAFollow
Luke D. Ziemba, NASA
Glenn Diskin, NASAFollow
Glen Sachse, National Institute of AerospaceFollow
Jonathan Hair, NASA
Carolyn Butler, NASA
Marta Fenn, NASA
Jose L. Jimenez, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Pedro Campuzano-Jost, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Anne E. Perring, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Joshua P. Schwarz, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Milos Z. Markovic, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Phil Russell, NASA
Jens Redemann, NASA
Yohei Shinozuka, NASA
David G. Streets, Argonne National Laboratory
Fang Yan, Argonne National Laboratory
Jack E. Dibb, University of New HampshireFollow
Robert Yokelson, University of Montana, Missoula
O Brian Toon, University of Colorado Boulder
Edward Hyer, Naval Research Laboratory
Gregory R. Carmichael, University of Iowa

Abstract

We couple airborne, ground-based, and satellite observations; conduct regional simulations; and develop and apply an inversion technique to constrain hourly smoke emissions from the Rim Fire, the third largest observed in California, USA. Emissions constrained with multiplatform data show notable nocturnal enhancements (sometimes over a factor of 20), correlate better with daily burned area data, and are a factor of 2-4 higher than a priori estimates, highlighting the need for improved characterization of diurnal profiles and day-to-day variability when modeling extreme fires. Constraining only with satellite data results in smaller enhancements mainly due to missing retrievals near the emissions source, suggesting that top-down emission estimates for these events could be underestimated and a multiplatform approach is required to resolve them. Predictions driven by emissions constrained with multiplatform data present significant variations in downwind air quality and in aerosol feedback on meteorology, emphasizing the need for improved emissions estimates during exceptional events. Key Points Hourly smoke emissions from a wildfire are constrained with multiplatform data Diurnal profiles for modeling extreme fire events need to be improved Only a multiplatform approach allows to fully resolve emissions for these events

Department

Earth Sciences, Earth Systems Research Center

Publication Date

6-5-2015

Journal Title

Geophysical Research Letters

Publisher

American Geophysical Union Publications

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1002/2015GL063737

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Saide, P. E., et al. (2015), Revealing important nocturnal and day-to-day variations in fire smoke emissions through a multiplatform inversion, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 3609–3618, doi:10.1002/2015GL063737.

Rights

©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

0094-8276