HR: 0800h
AN: A21B-0857    [Abstracts]
TI: In-situ Observations of a Biomass Burning Plume in the Lower Stratosphere During the CRYSTAL-FACE Mission Flight of July 9, 2002.
AU: * Knapp, D J
EM: david@ucar.edu
AF: NCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Weinheimer, A J
EM: wein@ucar.edu
AF: NCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Ridley, B A
EM: ridley@ucar.edu
AF: NCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AB: Biomass burning products in the atmosphere are understood to contribute significantly to at least local, regional and probably global, climate forcing. Anthropogenic and natural biomass burning products are significant sources of the global black carbon, CO, CH3Cl, NMHC and NOx budgets. Elevated levels of aerosol surface areas and trace gases were observed in the Lower Stratosphere during portions of a CRYSTAL-FACE mission flight off the coasts of the Yucatan peninsula and Honduras. Numerous investigations from this mission suggest the influence of a highly active forest fire season in North America on the flight study area. In this study, HYSPLIT-modeled back trajectories and plume forward trajectories suggest that at least a partial source of the constituents was a pyroCb plume from the "Mustang" fire in North Eastern Utah on July 2, 2002. GOES-8 thermal imagery indicates a large pyroCb plume erupted from that fire to altitudes of 12.0 - 13.4 km MSL as derived from cloud top temperatures and a local sounding profile. Local meteorological conditions were favorable for strong vertical development during this pyroCb, and a strong upper-level high pressure system centered over Texas supported general circulation from North America to the Gulf region in early July 2002.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0322 Constituent sources and sinks
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005