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- Title
Observations and Impacts of Long‐Range Transported Wildfire Smoke on Air Quality Across New York State During July 2021.
- Authors
Shrestha, Bhupal; Brotzge, Jerald A.; Wang, Junhong
- Abstract
Wildfires are a significant source of PM2.5 that adversely affect local and regional air quality. However, tracking wildfire smoke and their impacts are difficult. This study explores how a ground‐based Doppler lidar network can improve monitoring of long‐range transported wildfire smoke. As a case study, this paper reviews the transported wildfire smoke and its impact on air quality across New York State (NYS) during two events: 18–21 and 25–27 July 2021. Observations of wildfire smoke and enhancement of PM2.5 across NYS during those events were consistent across ground‐based sensors, satellites, back trajectory analyses, and model forecasts. However, for some of the days, the model over/under‐forecasted smoke plumes. Overall, this study highlights the value of the NYS Mesonet Profiler Network to monitor wildfire smoke with high spatiotemporal resolution. Such a relatively dense network can be a valuable observational tool for evaluating PM2.5, and aiding satellite measurements and air quality forecasting models. Plain Language Summary: Anthropogenic emissions of PM2.5 have declined across New York State (NYS) and nationally over the last two decades. However, increasing frequency and intensity of wildfire activity threatens to reverse this long‐term PM2.5 trend. During July 2021, wildfire smoke from Southern Canada and Northwestern US significantly elevated PM2.5 (in exceedance of the US EPA standards) 5,000 km away in NYS. Yet, air quality forecasting models performed poorly in the presence of the wildfire smoke. Thus, it has become increasingly important to monitor transported wildfire smoke and understand its impact on surface air‐quality. The New York State Mesonet Profiler Network is one such tool that can be used to monitor long‐range transported wildfire smoke, track its vertical and spatial extent across NYS in real‐time, assess its impact on air quality and complement/augment air quality forecasting models and satellite observations. Key Points: A long‐range transported wildfire smoke event significantly enhanced PM2.5 across New York State in July 2021Multi‐platform observations are used to understand the details of the eventA lidar network can help to monitor smoke event, assess impacts on surface PM2.5, aid satellite measurements and improve forecasting models
- Subjects
NEW York (State); AIR quality; SMOKE plumes; DOPPLER lidar; WILDFIRES; WILDFIRE prevention; SMOKE
- Publication
Geophysical Research Letters, 2022, Vol 49, Issue 19, p1
- ISSN
0094-8276
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2022GL100216