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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • aerosol indirect effect
  • pyroCb
  • cloud lifetime effect

Index Terms

  • Atmospheric Processes: Clouds and aerosols
  • Global Change: Climate variability
  • Atmospheric Processes: Clouds and cloud feedbacks

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 35, L22809, 5 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008GL035680

Evidence of the cloud lifetime effect from wildfire-induced thunderstorms

Daniel T. Lindsey

Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, NOAA, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Michael Fromm

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C., USA

A case study is presented of pyro-cumulonimbi (pyroCbs) forming over Canadian forest fires. Cloud-top ice effective radius values of these pyroCbs are significantly smaller than are those within surrounding convection. The smoke provides a massive source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), resulting in smaller cloud droplets which freeze homogeneously at temperatures around −40°C and produce very small ice crystals. It is also shown that the pyroCb anvils persist 6–12 hours longer than convectively-generated cirrus anvils from nearby convection. This provides evidence for the so-called cloud lifetime effect, an aerosol indirect effect identified by the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

Received 12 August 2008; accepted 14 October 2008; published 25 November 2008.

Citation: Lindsey, D. T., and M. Fromm (2008), Evidence of the cloud lifetime effect from wildfire-induced thunderstorms, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L22809, doi:10.1029/2008GL035680.

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