1. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 1 Aerosol boomerang: Rapid around-the-world transport of smoke from the December 2006 Australian forest fires observed from space Ruud Dirksen, KNMI Folkert Boersma, Jos de Laat, Piet Stammes

2. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 2 14 December 2006: severe forest fires in SE Australia release aerosol boomerang Pyroconvective lofting facilitated long range transport Determine the plume’s altitude: OMI O 2 -O 2, CALIOP, TM4 Conclusions

3. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 3 Meteorological situation 14 Dec 2006 Weathermap of 14 December 2006, 1600 LT Cold front passing over fire location

4. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 4 The Victoria blowup 14 Dec 2006 Observed by MODIS Courtesy M. Fromm

5. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 5 OMI O 2 -O 2 cloud algorithm Absorption & scattering -O 2 -O 2 collision complex @477nm, pressure dependent -Measures air column above cloud -Linedepth  cloud height -Background  cloud fraction

6. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 6 Altitude information O 2 -O 2  Adjacent clouds: 1-5km  Scene pressure of plume itself yields higher altitudes OMI RGB 15 Dec NZ Source region TM4 tropopause

7. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 7 Evolution of the plume 21 Dec Cloudless 19 Dec High Clouds CALIPSO footprint Orbit 12924 Orbit 12953 TM4 tropopause

8. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 8 15 Dec 17 Dec 14 Dec 16 Dec 19 Dec 18 Dec 20 Dec 21 Dec 23 Dec 22 Dec 24 Dec 25 Dec TM4 simulation Passive tracer Water soluble Injection height 248 hPa (~10km) reproduces OMI AAI observations CTMs don’t incorporate latent heat from fires, emissions released at ground level

9. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 9 CALIOP TM4 profiles for various injection heights Injection height 248 hPa gives best agreement with CALIOP observations

10. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 10 Injection height Courtesy Maria Val Martin High resolution 1-D plume rise model to simulate lofting of the plume by pyro-convection Input: Meteorological conditions at fire location on 14 Dec 2006 Fire front intensity, latent heat

11. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 11 21 Dec 23 Dec 24 Dec 22 Dec 20 Dec 21 Dec 23 Dec 24 Dec 22 Dec 20 Dec Water soluble tracer TM4 captures evolution and removal of the plume passive tracer TM4 simulations with water soluble tracer show the removal of the plume by scavenging. Model the whole life cycle of the event

12. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 12 Conclusions Spectacular case of around-the-world transport of smoke from 2006 Australian forest fires Passing cold front + heat from the fire caused pyroconvective lofting of plume to tropopause region CALIOP retrieves 11-15 km plume altitude OMI O 2 -O 2 sensitive to high aerosol plume TM4 simulations observed lifecycle of plume best for: –Injection at ~10 km –Soluble tracer

13. ISTP 2009 - 22 Oktober 2008 13 Questions?