Abstract
Canadian wildfire smoke was detected in the troposphere and lower stratosphere over Europe in August and September 2017. Lidar measurements from various stations of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) observed the stratospheric smoke layer. Triple-wavelength (355, 532, and 1064 nm) lidar measurements of the depolarization and the lidar ratio are reported from Leipzig, Germany. The particle linear depolarization ratio of the wildfire smoke in the stratosphere had an exceptional strong wavelength dependence reaching from 0.22 at 355 nm, to 0.18 at 532 nm, and 0.04 at 1064 nm. The lidar ratio increased with wavelength from 40±16 sr at 355 nm, to 66±12 sr at 532 nm, and 92±27 sr at 1064 nm. The development of the stratospheric smoke plume over several months was studied by long-term lidar measurements in Cyprus. The stratospheric smoke layers increased in altitude up to 24 km height.
Highlights
In summer 2017, a record-breaking amount of wildfires in western Canada emitted a huge amount of biomass burning smoke into the atmosphere
This abstract describes the first measurement of the lidar ratio and the depolarization ratio at all three typical lidar wavelengths (355, 532, and 1064 nm) to give a full characterization of the optical properties of stratospheric smoke
The strong wavelength dependence of the particle linear depolarization ratio (PLDR) of the stratospheric smoke compared to the tropospheric smoke points to significant different conditions during transport or already during the emission process
Summary
In summer 2017, a record-breaking amount of wildfires in western Canada emitted a huge amount of biomass burning smoke into the atmosphere. For the first time a significant amount of smoke was detected in the stratosphere over Europe, where the lightextinction coefficients were 20 times stronger than after the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 [4]. The smoke in the stratospheric as well as in the troposphere reached Europe about 10 days after injection into the atmosphere over western Canada [5]. The stratospheric smoke layers remained for several months over Europe. In Cyprus the stratospheric smoke layers were detected till January 2018. This abstract describes the first measurement of the lidar ratio and the depolarization ratio at all three typical lidar wavelengths (355, 532, and 1064 nm) to give a full characterization of the optical properties of stratospheric smoke. The stratospheric smoke as a longterm phenomenon is discussed
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