Articles | Volume 23, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Jan 2023
Research article |
| 03 Jan 2023
| 03 Jan 2023
In situ microphysics observations of intense pyroconvection from a large wildfire
David E. Kingsmill
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies,
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Jeffrey R. French
Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie,
Wyoming, USA
Neil P. Lareau
Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
Related authors
No articles found.
Timothy W. Juliano, Fernando Szasdi-Bardales, Neil P. Lareau, Kasra Shamsaei, Branko Kosović, Negar Elhami-Khorasani, Eric P. James, and Hamed Ebrahimian
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 47–52, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-47-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-47-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Following the destructive Lahaina Fire in Hawaii, our team has modeled the wind and fire spread processes to understand the drivers of this devastating event. The simulation results show that extreme winds with high variability, a fire ignition close to the community, and construction characteristics led to continued fire spread in multiple directions. Our results suggest that available modeling capabilities can provide vital information to guide decision-making during wildfire events.
Cited articles
Abatzoglou, J. T. and Williams, A. P.: Impact of anthropogenic climate
change on wildfire across western US forests, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,
113, 11770–11775, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607171113,
2016.
American Meteorological Society: Pyrocumulus, Glossary of Meteorology,
http://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Pyrocumulus,
last access: July 2022a.
American Meteorological Society: Pyrocumulonimbus, Glossary of Meteorology,
http://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Pyrocumulonimbus,
last access: July 2022b.
Andreae, M. O., Rosenfeld, D., Artaxo, P., Costa, A. A., Frank, G. P.,
Longo, K. M., and Silva-Dias, M. A. F.: Smoking rain clouds over the Amazon,
Science, 303, 1337–1342, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1092779, 2004.
Ashe, B., McAneney, K. J., and Pitman, A. J.: Total cost of fire in
Australia, J. Risk Res., 12, 121–136, https://doi.org/10.1080/13669870802648528, 2009.
Banta, R. M., Olivier, L. D., Holloway, E. T., Kropfli, R. A., Bartram, B.
W., Cupp, R. E., and Post, M. J.: Smoke-column observations from two forest
fires using Doppler lidar and Doppler radar, J. Appl. Meteorol., 31,
1328–1349, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1992)031<1328:SCOFTF>2.0.CO;2, 1992.
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Larkin, N. K., Kolden, C. A., and Stocks,
B.: Climate change presents increased potential for very large fires in the
contiguous United States, Int. J. Wildland Fire, 24, 892–899, https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15083, 2015.
Baum, T. C., Thompson, L., and Ghorbani, K.: The nature of fire ash
particles: Microwave material properties, dynamic behavior, and temperature
correlation, IEEE J. Sel. Topics Appl. Earth Observ. Remote Sens., 8,
480–492, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2014.2386394, 2015.
Baumgardner, D., Jonsson, H., Dawson, W., O'Connor, D., and Newton, R.: The
cloud, aerosol, and precipitation spectrometer (CAPS): A new instrument for
cloud investigations, Atmos. Res., 59–60, 251–264, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-8095(01)00119-3, 2001.
Brown, P. R. A. and Francis, P. N.: Improved measurements of the ice water
content in cirrus using a total-water probe, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 12,
410–414, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1995)012<0410:IMOTIW>2.0.CO;2, 1995.
Clements, C. B., Lareau, N. P., Kingsmill, D. E., Bowers, C. L., Camacho, C.
P., Bagley, R., and Davis, B.: RaDFIRE – The Rapid Deployments to Wildfires
Experiment: Observations from the fire zone, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 99,
2539–2559, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0230.1, 2018.
Coen, J. L., Cameron, M., Michalakes, J., Patton, E. G., Riggan, P. J., and
Yedinak, K. M.: WRF-fire: Coupled weather–wildland fire modeling with the
weather research and forecasting model, J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 52,
16–38, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-12-023.1, 2013.
Dennison, P. E., Brewer, S. C., Arnold, J. D., and Moritz, M. A.: Large
wildfire trends in the western United States, 1984–2011, Geophys. Res.
Lett., 41, 2928–2933, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL059576,
2014.
El Houssami, M., Mueller, E., Thomas, J. C., Simeoni, A., Filkov, A.,
Skowronski, N., Gallagher, M. R., Clark, K., and Kremens, R.: Experimental
procedures characterizing firebrand generation in wildland fires, Fire
Technol., 52, 731–751, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-015-0492-z, 2016.
Field, P. R., Heymsfield, A. J., and Bansemer, A.: Shattering and particle
interarrival times measured by optical array probes in ice clouds, J. Atmos.
Ocean. Technol., 23, 1357–1371, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH1922.1, 2006.
Filkov, A., Prohanov, S., Mueller, E., Kasymov, D., Martynov, P., El
Houssami, M., Thomas, J. Skowronski, N., Butler, B., Gallagher, M., Clark,
K., Mell, W., Kremens, R., Hadden, R. M., and Simeoni, A.: Investigation of
firebrand production during prescribed fires conducted in a pine forest,
Proc. Combust. Inst., 36, 3263–3270, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2016.06.125, 2017.
Flannigan, M. D., Krawchuk, M. A., de Groot, W. J., Wotton, B. M., and
Gowman, L. M.: Implications of changing climate for global wildland fire,
Int. J. Wildland Fire, 18, 483–507, https://doi.org/10.1071/WF08187, 2009.
Fromm, M., Tupper, A., Rosenfeld, D., Servranckx, R., and McRae, R.: Violent
pyro-convective storm devastates Australia's capital and pllutes the
stratosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05815, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025161, 2006.
Gerber, H., Arends, B., and Ackerman, A.: New microphysics sensor for
aircraft use, Atmos. Res., 31, 235–252, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-8095(94)90001-9, 1994.
Heymsfield, A. J. and Kajikawa, M.: An improved approach to calculating
terminal velocities of plate-like crystals and graupel, J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 1088–1099, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1987)044<1088:AIATCT>2.0.CO;2, 1987.
Heymsfield, A. J. and McFarquhar, G. M.: High albedos of cirrus in the
tropical Pacific warm pool: Microphysical interpretations from CEPEX and
from Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, J. Atmos. Sci., 53, 2424–2451,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1996)053<2424:HAOCIT>2.0.CO;2, 1996.
Heymsfield, A. J. and Parrish, J. L.: A computational technique for
increasing the effective sampling volume of the PMS two-dimensional particle
size spectrometer, J. Appl. Meteor., 17, 1566–1572, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1978)017<1566:ACTFIT>2.0.CO;2, 1978.
Heymsfield, A. J., Bansemer, A., Field, P. R., Durden, S. L., Stith, J. L.,
Dye, J. E., Hall, W., and Grainger, C. A.: Observations and
parameterizations of particle size distributions in deep tropical cirrus and
stratiform precipitating clouds: Results from in situ observations in TRMM
field campaigns, J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 3457–3491, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2002)059<3457:OAPOPS>2.0.CO;2, 2002.
Holroyd III., E. W.: Some techniques and uses of 2D-C habit classification
software for snow particles, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 4, 498–511,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1987)004<0498:STAUOC>2.0.CO;2, 1987.
Ivić, I. R., Curtis, C., and Torres, S. M.: Radial-based noise power
estimation for weather radars, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 30, 2737–2753,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-13-00008.1, 2013.
Jethva, H. and Torres, O.: Satellite-based evidence of wavelength-dependent aerosol absorption in biomass burning smoke inferred from Ozone Monitoring Instrument, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 10541–10551, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-10541-2011, 2011.
Johnston, F. H., Henderson, S. B., Chen Y., Randerson, J. T., Marlier, M.,
Defries, R. S., Kinney, P., Bowman, D. M., and Brauer, M.: Estimated global
mortality attributable to smoke from landscape fires, Environ. Health
Perspect., 120, 695–701, https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104422, 2012.
Jones, B. A. and Berrens, R. P.: Application of an original wildfire smoke
health cost benefits transfer protocol to the western US, 2005–2015,
Environ. Manage., 60, 809–822, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0930-4, 2017.
Jones, B. A., Thacher, J. A., Chermak, J. M., and Berrens, R. P.: Wildfire
smoke health costs: a methods case study for a Southwestern US `mega-fire',
J. Environ. Econ. Policy, 5, 181–199, https://doi.org/10.1080/21606544.2015.1070765, 2016.
Junghenn-Noyes, K. T., Kahn, R. A., Sedlacek, A., Kleinman, L., Limbacher,
J. A., and Li, Z.: Wildfire smoke particle properties and evolution, from
space-based multi-angle imaging, Remote Sens., 12, 769, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12050769, 2020a.
Junghenn-Noyes, K. T., Kahn, R. A., Limbacher, J. A., Li, Z., Fenn, M. A.,
Giles, D. M., Hair, J. W., Katich, J. M., Moore, R. H., Robinson, C. E.,
Sanchez, K. J., Shingler, T. J., Thornhill, K. L., Wiggins, E. B., and
Winstead, E. L.: Wildfire smoke particle properties and evolution, from
space-based multi-angle imaging II: The Williams Flats Fire during the
FIREX-AQ campaign, Remote Sens., 12, 3823, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12223823, 2020b.
King, W. D., Parkin, D. A., and Handsworth, R. J.: A hot-wired liquid water
device having fully calculable response characteristics, J. Appl. Meteor.,
17, 1809–1813, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1978)017<1809:AHWLWD>2.0.CO;2, 1978.
Kleinman, L. I., Sedlacek III, A. J., Adachi, K., Buseck, P. R., Collier, S., Dubey, M. K., Hodshire, A. L., Lewis, E., Onasch, T. B., Pierce, J. R., Shilling, J., Springston, S. R., Wang, J., Zhang, Q., Zhou, S., and Yokelson, R. J.: Rapid evolution of aerosol particles and their optical properties downwind of wildfires in the western US, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13319–13341, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13319-2020, 2020.
Knollenberg, R. G.: The optical array: An alternative to scattering or
extinction for airborne particle size determination, J. Appl. Meteor., 9,
86–103, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1970)009<0086:TOAAAT>2.0.CO;2, 1970.
Kochanski, A. K., Jenkins, M. A., Yedinak, K., Mandel, J., Beezley, J., and
Lamb, B.: Toward an integrated system for fire, smoke and air quality
simulations, Int. J. Wildland Fire, 25, 534–546, https://doi.org/10.1071/WF14074, 2016.
Konovalov, I. B., Beekmann, M., Berezin, E. V., Formenti, P., and Andreae, M. O.: Probing into the aging dynamics of biomass burning aerosol by using satellite measurements of aerosol optical depth and carbon monoxide, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4513–4537, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4513-2017, 2017.
Koo, E., Pagni, P. J., Weise, D. R., and Woycheese, J. P.: Firebrands and
spotting ignition in large-scale fires, Int. J. Wildland Fire, 19, 810–843,
https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07119, 2010.
Korolev, A. V., Strapp, J. W., Isaac, G. A., and Nevzorov, A. N.: The
Nevzorov airborne hot-wire LWC–TWC probe: Principle of operation and
performance characteristics, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 15, 1495–1510,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1998)015<0708:EOTAOP>2.0.CO;2, 1998.
Lakshmanan, V., Hondl, K., Potvin, C. K., and Preignitz, D.: An improved
method for estimating radar echo-top height, Wea. Forecast., 28, 481–488,
https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-12-00084.1, 2013.
Lang, T. J., Rutledge, S. A., Dolan, B., Krehbiel, P., Rison, W., and
Lindsey, D. T.: Lightning in wildfire smoke plumes observed in Colorado
during summer 2012, Mon. Weather Rev., 142, 489–507, https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-13-00184.1, 2014.
Lareau, N. P. and Clements, C. B.: Environmental controls on pyrocumulus and pyrocumulonimbus initiation and development, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4005–4022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4005-2016, 2016.
Lareau, N. P., Nauslar, N. J., and Abatzoglou, J. T.: The Carr fire vortex:
A case of pyrotornadogenesis? Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 13107–13115,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080667, 2018.
Lareau, N. P., Nauslar, N. J., Bentley, E., Roberts, M., Emmerson, S.,
Brong, B., Mehle, M., and Wallman, J.: Fire-generated tornadic vortices,
B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103, E1296–E1320, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0199.1, 2022.
Lawson, R. P., O'Connor, D., Zmarzly, P., Weaver, K., Baker, B. A., Mo, Q.,
and Jonsson, H.: The 2D-S (stereo) probe: Design and preliminary tests of a
new airborne, high-speed, high-resolution particle imaging probe, J. Atmos.
Ocean. Technol., 23, 1462–1471, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH1927.1, 2006.
Manzello, S. L. and Foote, E. I. D.: Characterizing firebrand exposure from
wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires: Results from the 2007 Angora fire,
Fire Technol., 50, 105–124, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-012-0295-4, 2014.
Manzello, S. L., Maranghides, A., and Mell, W. E.: Firebrand generation from
burning vegetation, Int. J. Wildland Fire, 16, 458–462, https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06079, 2007.
Manzello, S. L., Maranghides, A., Shields, J. R., Mell, W. E., Hayashi, Y.,
and Nii, D.: Mass and size distribution of firebrands generated from burning
Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) trees, Fire Mater., 33, 21–31, https://doi.org/10.1002/fam.977, 2009.
McCarthy, N., McGowan, H., Guyot, A., and Dowdy, A.: Mobile X-pol radar: A
new tool for investigating pyroconvection and associated wildfire
meteorology, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 99, 1177–1195, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0118.1, 2018.
McCarthy, N., Guyot, A., Dowdy, A., and McGowan, H.: Wildfire and weather
radar: A review, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 266–286, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029285, 2019a.
McCarthy, N. F., Guyot, A., Protat, A., Dowdy, A. J., and McGowan, H.:
Tracking pyrometeors with meteorological radar using unsupervised machine
learning, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084305, 2019b.
McFarquhar, G. M., Finlon, J. A., Stechman, D. M., Wu, W., Jackson, R. C.,
and Freer, M.: University of Illinois/Oklahoma Optical Array Probe (OAP)
Processing Software, Version 3.2, https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.1285969, 2018.
Melnikov, V. M. and Zrnić, D. S.: Autocorrelation and cross-correlation
estimators of polarimetric variables, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 24,
1337–1350, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH2054.1, 2007.
Melnikov, V. M., Zrnic, D. S., Rabin, R. M., and Zhang, P.: Radar
polarimetric signatures of fire plumes in Oklahoma, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35,
L14815, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL034311, 2008.
National Interagency Fire Center: Incident specific data, National Interagency Fire Center, ftp://ftp.wildfire.gov/public/incident_specific_data/great_basin/2016_Incidents/Pioneer/ (last access: 4 November 2021), 2016.
NOAA: Operational modes and volume coverage patterns. WSR-88D meteorological
observations: Part C: WSR-88D products and algorithms, Federal
Meteorological Handbook 11, FCM-H11C-2017, Office of the Federal Coordinator
for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, 5-1–5-24, https://www.icams-portal.gov/resources/ofcm/fmh/FMH11/fmh11partC.pdf (last access: July 2022),
2017.
NOAA: NEXRAD Inventory: Choose Day and Product, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/chooseday.jsp?id=kcbx, NOAA [data set], last access: April 2017, 2022.
O'Dell, K., Hornbrook, R. S., Permar, W., Levin, E. J. T., Garofalo, L. A.,
Apel, E. C., Blake, N. J., Jarnot, A., Pothier, M. A., Farmer, D. K., Hu,
L., Campos, T., Ford, B., Pierce, J. R., and Fischer, E. V.: Hazardous air
pollutants in fresh and aged western US wildfire smoke and implications for
long-term exposure, Environ. Sci. Technol., 54, 11838–11847, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04497, 2020.
Parks, S. A. and Abatzoglou, J. T.: Warmer and drier fire seasons
contribute to increases in area burned at high severity in western US
forests from 1985 to 2017, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, 10 pp., https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089858, 2020.
Peace, M., Mattner, T., Mills, G., Kepert, J., and McCaw, L.: Fire-modified
meteorology in a coupled fire–atmosphere model, J. Appl. Meteorol.
Climatol., 54, 704–720, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-14-0063.1, 2015.
Peterson, D. A., Thapa, L. H., Saide, P. E., Soja, A. J., Gargulinski, E.
M., Hyer, E. J., Weinzierl, B., Dollner, M., Schöberl, M., Papin, P. P.,
Kondragunta, S., Camacho, C. P., Ichoku, C., Moore, R. H., Hair, J. W.,
Crawford, J. H., Dennison, P. E., Kalashnikova, O. V., Bennese, C. E., Bui,
T. P., DiGangi, J. P., Diskin, G. S., Fenn, M. A., Halliday, H. S., Jimenez,
J., Nowak, J. B., Robinson, C., Sanchez, K., Shingler, T. J., Thornhill, L.,
Wiggins, E. B., Winstead, E., and Xu, C.: Measurements from inside a
thunderstorm driven by wildfire: The 2019 FIREX-AQ field experiment, B.
Am. Meteorol. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0049.1,
2022.
Radke, L. F., Stith, J. L., Hegg, D. A., and Hobbs, P. V.: Airborne studies
of particles and gases from forest fires, J. Air Pollut. Control Assoc.,
28, 30-34, https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1978.10470566,
1978.
Radke, L. F., Hegg, D. A., Hobbs, P. V., Nance, J. D., Lyons, J. H.,
Laursen, K. K., Weiss, R. E., Riggan, P. J., and Ward, D. E.: Particulate
and trace gas emissions from large biomass fires in North America, in:
Global Biomass Burning: Atmospheric, Climatic, and Biospheric Implications,
edited by: Levine, J. S., MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 209–224,
ISBN 9780262121590, 1991.
Reid, J. S., Koppmann, R., Eck, T. F., and Eleuterio, D. P.: A review of biomass burning emissions part II: intensive physical properties of biomass burning particles, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 799–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-5-799-2005, 2005.
Rodriguez, B., Lareau, N. P., Kingsmill, D. E., and Clements, C. B.: Extreme
pyroconvective updrafts during a megafire, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL089001,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089001, 2020.
Rosenfeld, D.: TRMM observed first direct evidence of smoke from forest
fires inhibiting rainfall, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3105–3108, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL006066, 1999.
Rosenfeld, D. and Lensky, I. M.: Satellite-based insights into
precipitation formation processes in continental and maritime convective
clouds, B. Am. Meteor. Soc., 79, 2457–2476, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<2457:SBIIPF>2.0.CO;2, 1998.
Rosenfeld, D., Fromm, M., Trentmann, J., Luderer, G., Andreae, M. O., and Servranckx, R.: The Chisholm firestorm: observed microstructure, precipitation and lightning activity of a pyro-cumulonimbus, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 645–659, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-645-2007, 2007.
Schwarzenboeck, A., Mioche, G., Armetta, A., Herber, A., and Gayet, J.-F.: Response of the Nevzorov hot wire probe in clouds dominated by droplet conditions in the drizzle size range, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2, 779–788, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2-779-2009, 2009.
Thelen, B., French, N. H., Koziol, B. W., Billmire, M., Owen, R. C.,
Johnson, J., Ginsberg, M., Loboda, T., and Wu, S.: Modeling acute
respiratory illness during the 2007 San Diego wildland fires using a coupled
emissions-transport system and generalized additive modeling, Environ.
Health, 12, 94–115, https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-12-94, 2013.
Thomas, J. C., Mueller, E. V., Santamaria, S., Gallagher, M., El Houssami,
M., Filkov, A., Clark, K., Skowronski, N., Hadden, R. M., Mell, W., and
Simeoni, A.: Investigation of firebrand generation from an experimental
fire: Development of a reliable data collection methodology, Fire Saf. J.,
91, 864–871, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.04.002,
2017.
Toivanen, J., Engel, C. B., Reeder, M. J., Lane, T. P., Davies, L., Webster,
S., and Wales, S.: Coupled atmosphere-fire simulations of the Black Saturday
Kilmore East wildfires with the unified model, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst.,
11, 210–230, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017MS001245, 2019.
University of Wyoming: King Air Research Aircraft, PRojects and data requests, University of Wyoming [data set], https://www.uwyo.edu/atsc/uwka/facility-data-requests.html, last access: August 2019.
Wang, D., Guan, D., Zhu, S., Mac Kinnon, M., Geng, G., Zhang, Q., Zheng, H.,
Lei, T., Shao, S. Gong, P., and Davis, S. J.: Economic footprint of
California wildfires in 2018, Nat. Sustain., 4, 252–260, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00646-7, 2021.
Wang, Z., French, J., Vali, G., Wechsler, P., Haimov, S., Rodi, A., Deng,
M., Leon, D., Snider, J., Peng, L., and Pazmany, A. L.: Single aircraft
integration of remote sensing and in situ sampling for the study of cloud
microphysics and dynamics, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 93, 653–668, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00044.1, 2012.
Westerling, A. L.: Increasing western US forest wildfire activity:
sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 371,
20150178, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0178, 2016.
Westerling, A. L., Hidalgo, H. G., Cayan, D. R., and Swetnam, T. W.: Warming
and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity, Science,
313, 940–943, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1128834, 2006.
Williams, F. A.: Urban and wildland fire phenomenology, Prog. Energy
Combust. Sci., 8, 317–354, https://doi.org/10.1016/0360-1285(82)90004-1, 1982.
Xu, R., Yu, P., Abramson, M. J., Johnston, F. H., Samet, J. M., Bell, M. L.,
Haines, A., Ebi, K. L., Li, S., and Guo, Y.: Wildfires, global climate
change, and human health, N. Engl. J. Med., 383, 2173–2181, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr2028985, 2020.
Yue, X., Mickley, L. J., Logan, J. A., and Kaplan, J. O.: Ensemble
projections of wildfire activity and carbonaceous aerosol concentrations
over the western United States in the mid-21st century, Atmospheric.
Environ., 77, 767–780, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.003, 2013.
Zrnic, D., Zhang, P., Melnikov, V., and Mirkovic, D.: Of fire and smoke
plumes, polarimetric radar characteristics, Atmosphere, 11, 363, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11040363, 2020.
Short summary
This study uses in situ aircraft measurements to characterize the size and shape distributions of 10 µm to 6 mm diameter particles observed during six penetrations of wildfire-induced pyroconvection. Particles sampled in one penetration of a smoke plume are most likely pyrometeors composed of ash. The other penetrations are through pyrocumulus clouds where particle composition is most likely a combination of hydrometeors (ice particles) and pyrometeors (ash).
This study uses in situ aircraft measurements to characterize the size and shape distributions...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint