Siberian wildfire smoke observations from space-based multi-Angle imaging: A multi-year regional analysis of smoke particle properties, their evolution, and comparisons with North American boreal fire plumes

Abstract

The physical and chemical properties of biomass burning (BB) smoke particles vary with fuel type and burning conditions, greatly affecting their impact on climate and air quality. However, the factors affecting smoke particle properties are not well characterized on a global scale, and the factors controlling their evolution during transport are not well constrained. From observations of the Multi-Angle Imaging Spectrometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite, smoke aerosol optical depth (AOD) can be retrieved, along with constraints on near-source plume vertical extent, smoke age, and particle size, shape, light-Absorption, and absorption spectral dependence. Previous work demonstrated the robust, statistical characterization of BB particles across Canada and Alaska using MISR and other remote sensing data. Here we expand upon this work, studying over 3600 wildfire plumes across Siberia. We leverage the MISR Research Aerosol (RA) algorithm to retrieve smoke particle properties and the MISR Interactive Explorer (MINX) tool to retrieve plume heights and the associated wind vectors. These results are compared statistically to available observations of fire radiative power (FRP), land cover characteristics, and meteorological information. Correlations appear between the retrieved smoke particle properties, smoke age, local ambient conditions, and fuel type, allowing us in many cases to infer the dominant aging mechanisms and the timescales over which they occur. Specifically, we find that plumes located in areas with higher peat content are subject to less oxidation and condensation/hydration compared with other plume types (e.g., forest and grassland), and are predominantly affected by dilution instead.