NASA A-Train and Terra Observations of the 2010 Russian Wildfires

Wildfires raged throughout western Russia and parts of Eastern Europe during a persistent heat wave in the summer of 2010. Anomalously high surface temperatures (35-41 C) and low relative humidity (9-25 %) from mid- June to mid-August 2010 shown by analysis of radiosonde data from multiple sites in western Russia were ideal con- ditions for the wildfires to thrive. Measurements of out- going longwave radiation (OLR) from the Atmospheric In- frared Sounder (AIRS) over western Russian indicate persis- tent subsidence during the heat wave. Daily three-day back- trajectories initiated over Moscow reveal a persistent anti- cyclonic circulation for 18 days in August, coincident with the most intense period of fire activity observed by Mod- erate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This unfortunate meteorological coincidence allowed transport of polluted air from the region of intense fires to Moscow and the surrounding area. We demonstrate that the 2010 Rus- sian wildfires are unique in the record of observations ob- tained by remote-sensing instruments on-board NASA satel- lites: Aura and Aqua (part of the A-Train Constellation) and Terra. Analysis of the distribution of MODIS fire products and aerosol optical thickness (AOT), UV aerosol index (AI) and single-scattering albedo (SSA) from Aura's Ozone Mon- itoring Instrument (OMI), and total column carbon monox- ide (CO) from Aqua's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) show that the region in the center of western Russia sur- rounding Moscow (52 -58 N, 33 -43 E) is most severely impacted by wildfire emissions. Over this area, AIRS CO, OMI AI, and MODIS AOT are significantly enhanced rela- tive to the historical satellite record during the first 18 days in August when the anti-cyclonic circulation persisted. By mid-August, the anti-cyclonic circulation was replaced with westerly transport over Moscow and vicinity. The heat wave ended as anomalies of surface temperature and relative hu- midity, and OLR disappeared. After 18 August the fire activ- ity greatly diminished over western Russia and levels of the satellite smoke tracers returned to values typical of previous years.

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