Articles | Volume 26, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6629-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6629-2026
Research article
 | 
18 May 2026
Research article |  | 18 May 2026

Representing extreme fires and their radiative effects in a global climate model via variable scaling of emissions

Elizabeth Quaye, Ben T. Johnson, James M. Haywood, Guido R. van der Werf, Roland Vernooij, Stephen A. Sitch, and Tom Eames

Related authors

On the Range of Marine Cloud Brightening Radiative Forcing across Earth System Models
Haruki Hirasawa, Knut von Salzen, Matthew Henry, Josh Smith, Frida A.-M. Bender, Cindy Wang, Sarah Doherty, Robert Wood, Philip J. Rasch, and James Haywood
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5460,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5460, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Global fire emissions impact on tropospheric chemistry and radiation in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM)
Li Xu, Qi Tang, Qing Zhu, William J. Riley, Guido R. van der Werf, Yang Chen, Michael J. Prather, and James T. Randerson
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4288,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4288, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) contribution to CMIP7 – description of new experimental protocols and preliminary results
Daniele Visioni, Alan Robock, Alistair Duffey, Matthew Henry, Haruki Hirasawa, Walker Raymond Lee, Cindy Wang, Kelsey Roberts, Shingo Watanabe, Michelle Simões Reboita, Masahiro Sugiyama, Ben Kravitz, Jim Haywood, Simone Tilmes, Frédéric K. Bonou, Jack Chen, Timofei Sukhodolov, Sandro Vattioni, Andrin Jörimann, Diego Villanueva, Ryan Vella, Paul Farron, Ewa Bednarz, Ulrike Niemeier, Colleen Golja, and Juan A. Añel
Geosci. Model Dev., 19, 8469–8499, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-8469-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-8469-2026, 2026
Short summary
Stratospheric ozone projections under sulfur-based stratospheric aerosol injection: Insights from the multi-model G6-1.5K-SAI experiment
Ewa M. Bednarz, Amy H. Butler, James M. Haywood, Matthew Henry, Andy Jones, Ben Kravitz, Walker R. Lee, Douglas G. MacMartin, Amanda C. Maycock, Takashi Sekiya, Shingo Watanabe, and Daniele Visioni
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 12751–12770, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-12751-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-12751-2026, 2026
Short summary
Impacts of droughts on biomass burning emissions, air quality, and public health in the Amazon
Leo T. H. Ng, Jia Mao, Xueying Liu, Shixian Zhai, Dominic Fawcett, Stephen Sitch, Luiz E. O. C. Aragao, and Amos P. K. Tai
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 11835–11855, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11835-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11835-2026, 2026
Short summary

Cited articles

AERONET: Aerosol Optical Depth, North America, September 2020 level 2 data, AERONET [data set], https://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/draw_map_display_aod_v3.html?level=3 (last access: 14 May 2026), 2020. 
Andela, N., Morton, D. C., Giglio, L., Paugam, R., Chen, Y., Hantson, S., van der Werf, G. R., and Randerson, J. T.: The Global Fire Atlas of individual fire size, duration, speed and direction, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 529–552, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-529-2019, 2019. 
Baars, H., Radenz, M., Floutsi, A. A., Engelmann, R., Althausen, D., Heese, B., Ansmann, A., Flament, T., Dabas, A., Trapon, D., Reitebuch, O., Bley, S., and Wandinger, U.: Californian Wildfire Smoke Over Europe: A First Example of the Aerosol Observing Capabilities of Aeolus Compared to Ground-Based Lidar, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL092194, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092194, 2021. 
Boucher, O.: Atmospheric Aerosols: Properties and Climate Impacts, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9649-1, 2015. 
Download
Short summary
We find aerosol optical depths in a global climate model are overestimated during extreme wildfire events if emissions are scaled up by a factor of two, typically applied to improve simulated aerosol on seasonal–annual timescales. We propose a technique where a variable scaling factor is determined by fuel consumption, improving correlation in five fire-affected areas. We explore the impact of this change on aerosol radiative effects, during extreme events and on broader space and time scales.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint