Dear Johan,

thank you for providing careful revisions to your manuscript. While you have managed to convince one of the referees, the second referee insists that more work is needed before your paper can be published in ACP. Specifically, the suggested process of troposphere-to-stratosphere self lofting of the ANY smoke plume needs to be presented in a more convincing way that accounts for the limitations of the considered data sets. I agree that such a claim needs to be backed by robust evidence and must avoid any indication of being an artefact of data sampling. I would therefore like to give you the opportunity to reply to the latest referee reports.

With best regards,
Matthias

Dear Johan,

thank you for providing your replies to the comments of the Referees and for revising your manuscript accordingly.

I am aware that you and Mike Fromm did not find agreement regarding the interpretation of the observations presented in your work and how they relate to earlier studies. While I personally find your argumentation convincing, it is also in ACP's spirit to enable the presentation of contrasting (and justifiable!) positions to spark further research.
Therefore, I am happy to accept your work for publication in ACP.

With best regards,
Matthias