Citation

Yu P, Toon OB, Bardeen CG, Bucholtz A, Rosenlof KH, Saide PE, Da Silva A, Ziemba LD, Thornhill KL, Jimenez JL, Campuzano-Jost P, Schwarz JP, Perring AE, Froyd KD, Wagner NL, Mills MJ, Reid JS. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 2016; 121(12): 7079-7087.

Affiliation

Naval Research Laboratory Monterey California USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Geophysical Union, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/2015JD024702

PMID

27867782

Abstract

The Rim Fire of 2013, the third largest area burned by fire recorded in California history, is simulated by a climate model coupled with a size-resolved aerosol model. Modeled aerosol mass, number, and particle size distribution are within variability of data obtained from multiple-airborne in situ measurements. Simulations suggest that Rim Fire smoke may block 4-6% of sunlight energy reaching the surface, with a dimming efficiency around 120-150 W m(-2) per unit aerosol optical depth in the midvisible at 13:00-15:00 local time. Underestimation of simulated smoke single scattering albedo at midvisible by 0.04 suggests that the model overestimates either the particle size or the absorption due to black carbon. This study shows that exceptional events like the 2013 Rim Fire can be simulated by a climate model with 1° resolution with overall good skill, although that resolution is still not sufficient to resolve the smoke peak near the source region.

Language: en