The direct radiative effect of wildfire smoke on a severe thunderstorm event in the Baltic Sea region

Abstract

On August 8, 2010, a severe derecho type thunderstorm in the Baltic Sea region coincided with smoke from wildfires in Russia. Remarkable smoke aerosol concentrations, with a maximum aerosol optical depth of more than 2 at 550nm, were observed near the thunderstorm. The impact of the wildfire smoke on the thunderstorm through direct radiative effects was investigated using the Hirlam Aladin Research for Mesoscale Operational Numerical Weather Prediction in Euromed (HARMONIE) model. HARMONIE was successfully able to resolve the dynamics of the thunderstorm, and simulations that considered the influence of the smoke-related aerosols were compared to simulation without aerosols. As simulated by the HARMONIE model, the smoke reduced the shortwave radiation flux at the surface by as much as 300W/m2 and decreased the near-surface temperature by as much as 3°C in the vicinity of the thunderstorm and respectively 100W/m2 and 1°C in the thunderstorm region. Atmospheric instability decreased through the direct radiative effect of aerosols, and several dynamic features of the simulated thunderstorm appeared slightly weaker.