2666 Regional Simulations of Stratospheric Lofting of Smoke Plumes from Urban Fires

Friday, February 18, 2011: 8:00 AM
145B (Washington Convention Center )
Georgiy Stenchikov , King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Alan Robock , Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Michael Fromm , NRL, Code 7227 Remote Sensing Division, Washington, DC 20375-5351, DC
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The self-lofting of absorbing sooty aerosols from urban fires is an important physical process that prolongs the climatic effects of aerosols, as has been found in global climate model simulations conducted with relatively coarse spatial resolution.  To evaluate this finding and more accurately estimate the rate of lifting and spreading of aerosols from urban fires we have conducted fine-resolution simulations of aerosol plumes using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), accounting for aerosol radiative heating and its effect on atmospheric dynamics.  We have found that dense aerosol layers heated by solar radiation can be lofted up to a few kilometers per day.  The lofting effect depends on the aerosol short-wave absorption optical depth and spatial scale of the plume.  These results confirm previous findings of aerosol heating feedback to aerosol atmospheric life-time and explain the observations of the plume evolution from the local-scale Kuwaiti oil well fires.

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