Heat flux assumptions contribute to overestimation of wildfire smoke injection into the free troposphere

Laura H. Thapa; Xinxin Ye; Johnathan W. Hair; Marta A. Fenn; Taylor Shingler; Shobha Kondragunta; Charles Ichoku; RoseAnne Dominguez; Luke Ellison; Amber J. Soja; Emily Gargulinski; Ravan Ahmadov; Eric James; Georg A. Grell; Saulo R. Freitas; Gabriel Pereira; Pablo E. Saide

doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00563-x

Communications Earth & Environment (Oct 2022)

Heat flux assumptions contribute to overestimation of wildfire smoke injection into the free troposphere

Laura H. Thapa,
Xinxin Ye,
Johnathan W. Hair,
Marta A. Fenn,
Taylor Shingler,
Shobha Kondragunta,
Charles Ichoku,
RoseAnne Dominguez,
Luke Ellison,
Amber J. Soja,
Emily Gargulinski,
Ravan Ahmadov,
Eric James,
Georg A. Grell,
Saulo R. Freitas,
Gabriel Pereira,
Pablo E. Saide

Affiliations

Laura H. Thapa: Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
Xinxin Ye: Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
Johnathan W. Hair: NASA Langley Research Center
Marta A. Fenn: NASA Langley Research Center
Taylor Shingler: NASA Langley Research Center
Shobha Kondragunta: NOAA NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Charles Ichoku: Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Howard University
RoseAnne Dominguez: Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI)
Luke Ellison: Science Systems and Applications Inc
Amber J. Soja: NASA Langley Research Center
Emily Gargulinski: National Institute of Aerospace
Ravan Ahmadov: CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder
Eric James: CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder
Georg A. Grell: NOAA Global Systems Laboratory
Saulo R. Freitas: National Institute for Space Research - INPE
Gabriel Pereira: Federal University of São João del-Rei
Pablo E. Saide: Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00563-x
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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False injections in wildfire plume rise simulations are partly due to the assumed radiant fraction of heat flux being 0.5–25 times higher than observations, according to an evaluation of a common plume rise parameterization against aircraft observations during the 2019 Western US wildfires.

Published in Communications Earth & Environment

ISSN: 2662-4435 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Geology; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences
Website: https://www.nature.com/commsenv/

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