Black carbon lofts wildfire smoke high into the stratosphere to form a persistent plume
Abstract
Extensive and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest of the United States in 2017 injected large quantities of smoke into the stratosphere. Yu et al. used satellite observations and modeling to characterize the history and chemistry of that smoke. The smoke rose to altitudes between 12 and 23 kilometers within 2 months owing to solar heating of black carbon. The smoke then remained in the stratosphere for more than 8 months. Photochemical loss of organic carbon resulted in a smoke lifetime 40% shorter than expected.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 09, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aax1748
Entities
People
- Alan Robock
- Charles G. Bardeen
- David A. Peterson
- Eric T. Wolf
- Joost de Gouw
- Karen H Rosenlof
- Michael D. Fromm
- Owen Toon
- Pengfei Yu
- Robert W. Portmann
- Ru-shan Gao
- Sean Davis
- Troy D. Thornberry
- Yunqian Zhu
Organizations
- Jinan University
- National Center for Atmospheric Research
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Rutgers University
- United States Naval Research Laboratory
- University of Colorado
- Virtual Planetary Laboratory