The Dynamics of Megafire Smoke Plumes in Climate Models: Why a Converged Solution Matters for Physical Interpretations

Guimond, Stephen R.; Reisner, Jon; Dubey, Manvendra K.

doi:10.1029/2022ms003432

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The overall heating rate of the SWIRL is slightly smaller during this 10-day period, ∼3.7 K/day, indicating less smoke-induced heating than from 13 to 23 February. Further simulations with radiative coupling, such as in Guimond et al (2023), are necessary to elucidate cause and effect.…”

Section: Swirl Forecastsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They showed that the aerosol heating was able to form and maintain synoptic-scale stratospheric anticyclones. A high-resolution (∼7 km) nonhydrostatic simulation of the PNE SWIRL was performed by Guimond et al (2023). They examined the vorticity dynamics of the plume and showed that divergence in the updraft dilutes the background absolute vorticity resulting in an anticyclonic vortex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Smoke with Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL) Generated by the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday PyroCb Plume

Allen,

Fromm,

Kablick

et al. 2024

JGR Atmospheres

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The discovery of smoke‐induced dynamical anomalies in the stratosphere associated with the 2019/2020 Australian New Year pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) super outbreak initiated a new field of study involving aerosol/weather anomalies. This paper documents the dynamical anomalies associated with the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday pyroCb outbreak. Positive potential vorticity anomalies (indicating anticyclonic rotation) with horizontal extent ∼1000 km and vertical thickness ∼2 km are associated with the plume, which we classify as a Smoke With Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL). The SWIRL initially formed east of Australia, but then moved westward, crossing over Australia, and continuing to Africa. The SWIRL lasted for nearly three weeks (13 February–4 March), traveling ∼27,000 km and rising from potential temperatures of ∼410–500 K (altitudes ∼18–21 km). The altitude of the SWIRL is corroborated with coincident satellite‐based profiles of H2O, CO, HCN, O3, and aerosol extinction. A vertical temperature dipole (±3 K) accompanied the PV anomaly, as verified with coincident Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation temperatures. The SWIRL dissipated as it passed over Africa. Operational ECMWF forecasts with early initialization (13 February) and late initialization (21 February) are examined. In the early case, the forecasted PV anomaly disappeared within 4 days, as expected due to lack of smoke heating in the forecast model. In the late case, while the forecasted PV anomaly was weaker than in the reanalyzes, a remnant anomaly remained out to 10 days.

show abstract

Section: Swirl Forecastsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smoke with Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL) Generated by the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday PyroCb Plume

Allen,

Fromm,

Kablick

et al. 2024

JGR Atmospheres

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, we expect that the co-injection of a heating tracer and of air, resulting in a plume initially trapped within a low absolute PV anticyclone, plays a key role in preventing the dilution of the plume along its ascent, through the effects of both dynamical isolation in a low PV vortex and radiative relaxation. However, a few previous studies (e.g., Doglioni et al, 2022;Guimond et al, 2023) have reported on simulations of ATPs that did not include an initial PV anomaly. In order to assess the actual impact of this parameter on the evolution of the plume, we performed a simulation including the same initial tracer field as UP-REF but not the initial PV anomaly; that is, 𝜇 i = 𝜇 (simulation UP-NOPV).…”

Section: Isolation Of the Plume From Environmental Air: Impact Of The...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Doglioni et al (2022) simulated smoke-charged vortices in the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry Climate Model global model by introducing sunlight-absorbing aerosols. Guimond et al (2023) characterised the sensitivity of global simulations of stratospheric wildfire plumes to model resolution. Though both studies considered the instantaneous tendencies induced by the heating, they did not investigate the mechanisms governing the continuous evolution of the plume.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of diabatically forced anticyclonic plumes in the stratosphere

Podglajen,

Legras,

Lapeyre

et al. 2024

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A new class of vortices has been observed in the stratosphere following extreme wildfires (Canada 2017, Australia 2020) and volcanic eruptions (Raikoke 2019). These vortices are long‐lived mesoscale anticyclones (hundreds to 1,000 km in diameter) trapping plumes of aerosols and combustion/volcanic compounds. Owing to their unusual composition, these anticyclonically trapped plumes (ATPs) are associated with a significant radiative heating, which fuels their ascent through the stratosphere. This article investigates the dynamics of ATPs using two complementary approaches: analytically, in a potential vorticity (PV) perspective, and through idealised numerical simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. In both cases, we consider the vortical flow forced by a heating Lagrangian tracer. By reformulating the problem in the potential radius–potential temperature coordinate system introduced for tropical cyclones, we first clarify that ATP formation is concomitant with the injection of air into the stratosphere at extratropical latitudes. Then, we derive a set of simplified one‐dimensional equations describing the subsequent evolution of the flow after the injection. The equation obtained for the tracer is a variant of the classical Burgers' equation. In qualitative agreement with the three‐dimensional WRF simulations, this theoretical model predicts that ATPs develop an upper tracer front associated with sustained near‐zero anticyclonic PV, followed by a smooth tracer tail of cyclonic PV. Radiative relaxation of the temperature perturbations induced by the anticyclone and the presence of an initial PV anomaly tend to stabilise ATPs during their ascent. Finally, we note that the theory predicts a similar relationship between the plume and anticyclonic PV for cooled ATPs, which is supported by three‐dimensional simulations and may apply to the 2022 Hunga volcanic plume.

show abstract

The impact of volcanic eruptions, pyrocumulonimbus plumes, and the Arctic polar vortex intrusions on aerosol loading over Tomsk (Western Siberia, Russia) as observed by lidar from 2018 to 2022

Gerasimov,

Zuev,

Savelieva

et al. 2024

International Journal of Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Dynamics of Megafire Smoke Plumes in Climate Models: Why a Converged Solution Matters for Physical Interpretations

Cited by 4 publications

References 26 publications

Smoke with Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL) Generated by the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday PyroCb Plume

Smoke with Induced Rotation and Lofting (SWIRL) Generated by the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday PyroCb Plume

Dynamics of diabatically forced anticyclonic plumes in the stratosphere

The impact of volcanic eruptions, pyrocumulonimbus plumes, and the Arctic polar vortex intrusions on aerosol loading over Tomsk (Western Siberia, Russia) as observed by lidar from 2018 to 2022

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About