Articles | Volume 15, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11513-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11513-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Oct 2015
Research article |
| 20 Oct 2015
Cold Smoke: smoke-induced density currents cause unexpected smoke transport near large wildfires
N. P. Lareau
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Fire Weather Research Laboratory, San José State University, San José, CA, USA
C. B. Clements
Fire Weather Research Laboratory, San José State University, San José, CA, USA
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Cited
20 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Effect of the atmospheric stability condition on buoyant plume dynamics R. Dubey et al. 10.1063/5.0237192
- Crown fire initiation of a thunderstorm N. McCarthy et al. 10.1071/WF21146
- Wildfire smoke exposure has significant economic impacts on California’s licensed cannabis industry C. Dillis et al. 10.1088/1748-9326/acef3e
- Where and why do conifer forests persist in refugia through multiple fire events? W. Downing et al. 10.1111/gcb.15655
- Assimilation of Aerosol Optical Depth Into the Warn‐on‐Forecast System for Smoke (WoFS‐Smoke) T. Jones et al. 10.1029/2022JD037454
- Atmospheric turbulence and wildland fires: a review W. Heilman 10.1071/WF22053
- The Mean and Turbulent Properties of a Wildfire Convective Plume N. Lareau & C. Clements 10.1175/JAMC-D-16-0384.1
- Environmental controls on pyrocumulus and pyrocumulonimbus initiation and development N. Lareau & C. Clements 10.5194/acp-16-4005-2016
- Wildfire Smoke Particulate Matter Concentration Measurements Using Radio Links From Cellular Communication Networks A. Guyot et al. 10.1029/2020AV000258
- Wildfire and prescribed burning impacts on air quality in the United States D. Jaffe et al. 10.1080/10962247.2020.1749731
- Evaluating Wildfire Smoke Transport Within a Coupled Fire‐Atmosphere Model Using a High‐Density Observation Network for an Episodic Smoke Event Along Utah's Wasatch Front D. Mallia et al. 10.1029/2020JD032712
- Effects of Density Current, Diurnal Heating, and Local Terrain on the Mesoscale Environment Conducive to the Yarnell Hill Fire J. Ising et al. 10.3390/atmos13020215
- Modeling Wildfire Smoke Feedback Mechanisms Using a Coupled Fire‐Atmosphere Model With a Radiatively Active Aerosol Scheme A. Kochanski et al. 10.1029/2019JD030558
- Impact of Wildfires on Mineral Dust Emissions in Europe L. Menut et al. 10.1029/2022JD037395
- Wildfire Smoke Observations in the Western United States from the Airborne Wyoming Cloud Lidar during the BB-FLUX Project. Part II: Vertical Structure and Plume Injection Height M. Deng et al. 10.1175/JTECH-D-21-0093.1
- Ingesting GOES-16 fire radiative power retrievals into Warn-on-Forecast System for Smoke (WoFS-Smoke) T. Jones et al. 10.1071/WF23133
- On the propagation of planar gravity currents into a stratified ambient T. Zahtila et al. 10.1063/5.0190835
- A Compact, Flexible, and Robust Micropulsed Doppler Lidar P. Schroeder et al. 10.1175/JTECH-D-19-0142.1
- The Rapid Deployments to Wildfires Experiment (RaDFIRE): Observations from the Fire Zone C. Clements et al. 10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0230.1
- Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts F. Tedim et al. 10.3390/fire1010009
20 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Effect of the atmospheric stability condition on buoyant plume dynamics R. Dubey et al. 10.1063/5.0237192
- Crown fire initiation of a thunderstorm N. McCarthy et al. 10.1071/WF21146
- Wildfire smoke exposure has significant economic impacts on California’s licensed cannabis industry C. Dillis et al. 10.1088/1748-9326/acef3e
- Where and why do conifer forests persist in refugia through multiple fire events? W. Downing et al. 10.1111/gcb.15655
- Assimilation of Aerosol Optical Depth Into the Warn‐on‐Forecast System for Smoke (WoFS‐Smoke) T. Jones et al. 10.1029/2022JD037454
- Atmospheric turbulence and wildland fires: a review W. Heilman 10.1071/WF22053
- The Mean and Turbulent Properties of a Wildfire Convective Plume N. Lareau & C. Clements 10.1175/JAMC-D-16-0384.1
- Environmental controls on pyrocumulus and pyrocumulonimbus initiation and development N. Lareau & C. Clements 10.5194/acp-16-4005-2016
- Wildfire Smoke Particulate Matter Concentration Measurements Using Radio Links From Cellular Communication Networks A. Guyot et al. 10.1029/2020AV000258
- Wildfire and prescribed burning impacts on air quality in the United States D. Jaffe et al. 10.1080/10962247.2020.1749731
- Evaluating Wildfire Smoke Transport Within a Coupled Fire‐Atmosphere Model Using a High‐Density Observation Network for an Episodic Smoke Event Along Utah's Wasatch Front D. Mallia et al. 10.1029/2020JD032712
- Effects of Density Current, Diurnal Heating, and Local Terrain on the Mesoscale Environment Conducive to the Yarnell Hill Fire J. Ising et al. 10.3390/atmos13020215
- Modeling Wildfire Smoke Feedback Mechanisms Using a Coupled Fire‐Atmosphere Model With a Radiatively Active Aerosol Scheme A. Kochanski et al. 10.1029/2019JD030558
- Impact of Wildfires on Mineral Dust Emissions in Europe L. Menut et al. 10.1029/2022JD037395
- Wildfire Smoke Observations in the Western United States from the Airborne Wyoming Cloud Lidar during the BB-FLUX Project. Part II: Vertical Structure and Plume Injection Height M. Deng et al. 10.1175/JTECH-D-21-0093.1
- Ingesting GOES-16 fire radiative power retrievals into Warn-on-Forecast System for Smoke (WoFS-Smoke) T. Jones et al. 10.1071/WF23133
- On the propagation of planar gravity currents into a stratified ambient T. Zahtila et al. 10.1063/5.0190835
- A Compact, Flexible, and Robust Micropulsed Doppler Lidar P. Schroeder et al. 10.1175/JTECH-D-19-0142.1
- The Rapid Deployments to Wildfires Experiment (RaDFIRE): Observations from the Fire Zone C. Clements et al. 10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0230.1
- Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts F. Tedim et al. 10.3390/fire1010009
Saved (final revised paper)
Saved (final revised paper)
Saved (preprint)
Latest update: 02 Jul 2025
Short summary
This paper presents first observations of smoke-induced density currents, which are a boundary-layer flow phenomenon resulting from radiative shading by wild fire smoke. Our analysis uses a mobile Doppler lidar to reveal the anatomy and evolution of one such density current in northern California. The results show that these density currents can flow counter to the ambient wind and spread over long distances (e.g. 25km), causing unexpected smoke impacts.
This paper presents first observations of smoke-induced density currents, which are a...
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