Speaker
Dr
Jennie Thomas
(LATMOS/IPSL, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 Sorbonne Universites, UVSQ, CNRS, Paris, France)
Description
Black carbon (BC) concentrations has been observed in 22 snowpits sampled in the northwest sector of the Greenland ice sheet in April 2014. The pits contain a strong and widespread BC aerosol deposition event, which accumulated in the pits during two snow storms between 27 July and 2 August 2013. This event comprises a significant portion (57% on average across all pits) of total BC deposition measured in the snowpits (~10 month record). We link this deposition event to forest fires burning in Canada during summer 2013 using modeling and remote sensing tools. Specifically, we use high-resolution regional chemical transport modeling (WRF-Chem) combined with high-resolution fire emissions (FINNv1.5) to study aerosol emissions, transport, and deposition to Greenland snow during this event. The model captures the timing of the BC deposition event and shows that fires in Canada were the main source of deposited BC. The implications for understanding the influence of BC originating from fires on the optical properties of snow is discussed.
Significance statement
The 57% of black carbon aerosol deposition in 2013 in northwest Greenland measured in snowpits is linked to a specific event in late July/early August 2013. The origin of this event is emissions from forest fires burning in Canada.
Primary author
Dr
Jennie Thomas
(LATMOS/IPSL, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 Sorbonne Universites, UVSQ, CNRS, Paris, France)
Co-authors
Dr
Amber J. Soja
(National Institute of Aerospace, Resident at NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Boulevard, Mail Stop 420, Hampton, VA 23681-2199, United States)
Dr
Christine Wiedinmyer
(National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA)
Dr
Christopher M. Polashenski
(USACE-CRREL, Ft. Wainwright, Alaska, USA; Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA)
Dr
Hyun Deok Choi
(National Institute of Aerospace, Resident at NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Boulevard, Mail Stop 420, Hampton, VA 23681-2199, United States)
Dr
Jack E. Dibb
(Earth Systems Research Center, EOS, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA)
Dr
Jean-Christophe Raut
(LATMOS/IPSL, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 Sorbonne Universites, UVSQ, CNRS, Paris, France)
Dr
Jerome Fast
(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA)
Dr
Kathy S. Law
(LATMOS/IPSL, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 Sorbonne Universites, UVSQ, CNRS, Paris, France)
Dr
Kimberly A. Casey
(Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA)
Dr
Louis Marelle
(Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo, Norway)
Dr
Louisa K. Emmons
(National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA)
Dr
Mark G. Flanner
(Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA)
