A251-02
Australian wildfires inject a volcanic-scale smoke plume into the stratosphere

Thursday, 17 December 2020: 04:03
Virtual
David A Peterson1, Michael D Fromm2, Rick McRae3, Edward J Hyer1, James R Campbell4, Christopher P Camacho5, George P Kablick6, Ghassan Taha7 and Matthew T DeLand8, (1)Marine Meteorology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, United States, (2)Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States, (3)ACT Emergency Services Agency, Canberra, Australia, (4)Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, United States, (5)General Dynamics Information Technology, Monterey, CA, United States, (6)US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States, (7)Universities Space Research Association, NASA/code 614, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (8)Sci Systems & Applications Inc, Lanham, MD, United States
Abstract:
The Black Summer fire season of 2019-2020 in Australia was unprecedented in terms of the number and intensity of wildfire activity. Several of these wildfires generated deep, smoke-infused thunderstorms, known as pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb). This study examines the many remarkable features of the Australian New Years (ANY) pyroCb event (29 December 2019 – 04 January 2020), providing perspective on how it compares with other large pyroCb events and volcanic eruptions. The spatial and temporal evolution of pyroCb activity is examined in detail, along with the fire characteristics contributing to development. Results show that the ANY Event included 18 pyroCb anchor points, initiating more than 30 individual updrafts that injected smoke particles into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, with some of the largest occurring at night. Smoke plume properties are analyzed using the combination of lidar and ultraviolet aerosol index observations, revealing that the total aerosol particle mass injected into the lower stratosphere from the ANY events is about three times larger than previous benchmarks for extreme pyroCb activity (2017 Pacific Northwest Event). The ANY Event produced the second volcanic-scale smoke plume observed worldwide in less than three years, encircling the entire Southern Hemisphere, reaching unprecedented altitudes (30 km), and persisting for several months. This work motivates future study to understand the current and future roles of volcanic-scale pyroCb events in the global climate system.
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