California wildfire smoke contributes to a positive atmospheric temperature anomaly over the western United States

Gomez, James L.; Allen, Robert J.; Li, King-Fai

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024

Articles | Volume 24, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 24, issue 11

Research article

|

14 Jun 2024

Research article |

| 14 Jun 2024

California wildfire smoke contributes to a positive atmospheric temperature anomaly over the western United States

James L. Gomez, Robert J. Allen, and King-Fai Li

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024-supplement

Data sets

Aqua AIRS Level 3 Standard Daily Product using AIRS IR-only V6 AIRS Science Team and Joao Texeira https://doi.org/10.5067/AQUA/AIRS/DATA303

MERRA-2 inst3_3d_aer_Nv: 3d,3-Hourly,Instantaneous,Model- Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Mixing Ratio V5.12.4 Global Modeling And Assimilation Office and S. Pawson https://doi.org/10.5067/LTVB4GPCOTK2

MYD08_D3 MODIS/Aqua Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Daily L3 Global 1Deg CMG, NASA MODIS Adaptive Processing System MODIS Atmosphere Science Team https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD08_D3.061

CERES and GEO-Enhanced TOA, Within-Atmosphere and Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Daily Terra-Aqua Edition4A NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/Terra+Aqua/CERES/SYN1degDay_L3.004A

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Short summary

Wildfires in California (CA) have grown very large during the past 20 years. These fires emit sunlight-absorbing aerosols. Analyzing observational data, our study finds that aerosols emitted from large fires in northern CA spread throughout CA and Nevada and heat the atmosphere. This heating is consistent with larger-than-normal temperatures and dry conditions. Further study is needed to determine how much the aerosols heat the atmosphere and whether they are drying the atmosphere as well.