P52  Analysis of the 2002 Yakutsk Wildfires using the WRF-Chem-SMOKE Model and Satellite Data

Lu, Zheng and Irina N. Sokolik, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences,  Atlanta, GA

WRF-Chem-SMOKE is a modified version of the public WRF-Chem model with a fully coupled atmospheric dynamic-aerosol-cloud microphysics-precipitation-radiation modules. In this study, we examine the emission and impact of smoke aerosols during an extreme fire season in summer 2002 in the Yakutsk region, Russia. MODIS active fire products were used to compute the smoke emission that provides an input into the WRF-Chem-SMOKE model. A new module was developed to compute size- and composition-resolved smoke aerosols based on MODIS fire radiative power (FRP). The FRP-based emission was evaluated against independent data, including the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED). In addition, 3D smoke fields and aerosol optical depth (AOD) simulated with WRF-Chem-SMOKE were compared against satellite data (MODIS AOD and OMI AI) to further assess the realism of the FRP-based smoke emission. Smoke-induced changes in cloud properties (LWP, IWP, etc.) and resulting changes in the amount and spatiotemporal distribution of precipitation were examined.