Quantifying the variability of potential black carbon transport from cropland burning in Russia driven by atmospheric blocking events

Abstract

The deposition of short-lived aerosols and pollutants on snow above the Arctic Circle transported from northern mid-latitudes have amplified the short term warming in the Arctic region. Specifically, black carbon has received a great deal of attention due to its absorptive efficiency and its fairly complex influence on the climate. Cropland burning in Russia is a large contributor to the black carbon emissions deposited directly onto the snow in the Arctic region during the spring when the impact on the snow/ice albedo is at its highest. In this study, our focus is on identifying a possible atmospheric pattern that may enhance the transport of black carbon emissions from cropland burning in Russia to the snow-covered Arctic. Specifically, atmospheric blocking events are large-scale patterns in the atmospheric pressure field that are nearly stationary and act to block migratory cyclones. The persistent low-level wind patterns associated with these mid-latitude weather patterns are likely to accelerate potential transport and increase the success of transport of black carbon emissions to the snow-covered Arctic during the spring. Our results revealed that overall, in March, the transport time of hypothetical black carbon emissions from Russian cropland burning to the Arctic snow is shorter (in some areas over 50 hours less at higher injection heights) and the success rate is also much higher (in some areas up to 100% more successful) during atmospheric blocking conditions as compared to conditions without an atmospheric blocking event. The enhanced transport of black carbon has important implications for the efficacy of deposited black carbon. Therefore, understanding these relationships could lead to possible mitigation strategies for reducing the impact of deposition of black carbon from crop residue burning in the Arctic.

Reviews & Syntheses: Arctic Fire Regimes and Emissions in the 21st Century

“…Shorter fire return intervals combined with climate change-induced drought will reduce the resiliency of evergreen and broadleaf species to re-seed and/or establish after wildfires, leading to expansion of grassland ecosystems in what is now Northern Canadian forests . Increased grass-dominated landscapes would create a new fire regime of frequent but low severity fires, with the likelihood of SLCF transport to the Arctic most likely in the spring months of March through May (Hall and Loboda, 2018).…”

“…For example, the timing of fires in agricultural landscapes, boreal forest fires, and the Arctic tundra occur during the early spring to early summer months (i.e., March through May for 50° N and May and June for 60° N and 65° as seen in Suppl. to the Arctic is possible and critical for the cryosphere (Hall and Loboda, 2018) and air pollution (Law and Stohl, 2007), both from long-range (Thomas et al, 2017) and local sources of BC deposition (Evangeliou et al, 2019). For example, BC transport is possible as early as March into mid-May for agricultural landscapes of eastern Europe (Hall and Loboda, 2017) and peatlands, grasslands, and forests in North America (Qi and Wang, 2019), with fires grasslands, forests, and agricultural lands most common in southern Siberia (Kukavskaya et al, 2016) and the Russian Far East (Hayasaka et al, 2020) during the spring months of March, April, and May.…”

“…These crops are commonly managed via open burning practices in the U.S., eastern Europe, Russia, and Canada (Kutcher and Malhi, 2010;McCarty et al, 2017;Theesfeld and Jelinek, 2017;Shiwakoti et al, 2019;Thompson and Morrison, 2020). Thus, seasonality of burns and management of croplands, grasslands, and deciduous forests may occur at times when transport of emissions to the Arctic is likely, i.e., late winter/early spring for Russia (Hall and Loboda, 2018;Qi and Wang, 2019) and Canada and north central U.S. (Viatte et al, 2015), respectively.…”

Recognizing Women Leaders in Fire Science

“…Her notable works include the development of new algorithms for determining burned area and carbon cycle products in satellite sensor imagery [34] and assessing fire risk in Russia [243]. Her recent works have included efforts to assess black carbon emissions from cropland burning in Russia, with impacts on the Arctic [244,245].…”

Recognizing Women Leaders in Fire Science: Revisited

“…Her notable works include the development of new algorithms for determining burned area and carbon-cycle products in satellite sensor imagery [200], and assessing fire risk in Russia [412]. Her recent works include efforts to assess black carbon emissions from cropland burning in Russia, with impacts on the Arctic [413,414].…”