Quantifying atmospheric pollution across north america from boreal forest fires: a combined analysis of atmospheric modelling and ground-based remote sensing

Abstract

This paper describes the interpretation of the 2010 summer LIDAR observations from Dal- housie University, Nova Scotia. The GEOS-Chem global 3D chemistry transport model was used to identify the chemical and optical properties of aerosols passing over the LIDAR site. The project evaluated the modelled aerosol in terms of altitude, thickness, and backscatter in comparison to the plume detected by the LIDAR. The HYSPLIT langrangian particle transfer model was used to identify the source regions of the aerosols detected based on modelling the plumes backwards trajectory. Previous studies suggested that biomass burning aerosols were the predominant source of observed variability during the Canadian summers [McKendry et al., 2010, Duck et al., 2007]. These findings were supported by this research. Additionally anthropogenic contributions from the eastern United States appeared to be a major contributor in the bottom 2km of the troposphere, with at times contributing up to 75% of the net aerosol concentration and thus 75% of the backscatter.