Informed Multi‐Scale Approach Applied to the British Columbia Fires of Late Summer 2017

Abstract

AbstractPyrocumulonimbus (PyroCb) clouds have a complex origin dependent on fire dynamics and meteorological conditions. When a pyrocumulonimbus cloud develops and is maintained over a period of time, it can inject significant aerosol into the troposphere and lower stratosphere, resulting in a longer‐term (months to years) occurrence of aerosol in the stratosphere. In this work, we investigate the British Columbia wildfires on 12–13 August 2017 using a multi‐scale simulation framework. We use the output of a physics‐based wildfire model (FIRETEC) with parameterized energy, particle, and gas emissions to drive the upper atmospheric aerosol mass injection within a regional cloud resolving model (HIGRAD). We demonstrate that vertical motions produced by latent heat release of the condensation of ice and cloud particles within the PyroCbs induce another 5 km of lifting of the simulated aerosol plume. Primary black carbon and organic aerosols (OAs) alone may not be enough to explain the observed aerosol burden, thus we show that secondary OA produced via condensation of gases by the fires, ash, and possibly dust can enhance lofted aerosol mass. A simulation with all emission mechanisms active, driven by the observed fuel load and environmental conditions, reasonably reproduces an aerosol profile inferred from observational data.