Wildfire smoke in the Siberian Arctic in summer: source characterization and plume evolution from airborne measurements

• Published in: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Main Authors: Paris, J.-D., Stohl, A., Nédélec, P., Arshinov, M.Yu., Panchenko, M.V., Shmargunov, V.P., Law, Kathy S., Belan, B.D., Ciais, Philippe
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), ICOS-RAMCES (ICOS-RAMCES), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Laboratoire d'aérologie (LAERO), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics (IAO), Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS), TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ICOS-ATC (ICOS-ATC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Arctic; The Landing; Yakutsk; black carbon; Siberia
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00416203; https://hal.science/hal-00416203/document; https://hal.science/hal-00416203/file/acp-9-9315-2009.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-9315-2009

International audience We present airborne measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), equivalent black carbon (EBC) and ultra fine particles over North-Eastern Siberia in July 2008 performed during the YAK-AEROSIB/POLARCAT experiment. During a "golden day" (11 July 2008) a number of biomass burning plumes were encountered with CO concentration enhancements of up to 500 ppb relative to a background of 90 ppb. Number concentrations of aerosols in the size range 3.5–200 nm peaked at 4000 cm−3 and the EBC content reached 1.4 μg m−3. These high concentrations were caused by forest fires in the vicinity of the landing airport in Yakutsk where during the descent measurements in fresh smoke could be made. We estimate a combustion efficiency of 90±3% based on CO and CO2 measurements. The emission factor of CO emitted was 59.6±15.2 g CO per kilogram of dry matter burned, suggesting an increase in the average northern hemispheric CO concentration of 3.0–7.2 ppb per million hectares of Siberian forest burned. For BC, we estimate an emission factor of 0.52±0.07 g BC kg−1, comparable to values reported in the literature. The emission ratio of ultra-fine particles (3.5–200 nm) was 26 cm−3 (ppb CO)−1, consistent with other airborne studies.