Results of AOD measurements and aerosol dispersion composition in atmosphere of the Baikal region during wildfires in summer 2021

Abstract

The paper analyzes the optical and microphysical properties of aerosols at station Tory (AERONET), at "Boyarsky" station and the mass concentration of microdispersed aerosol of PM10 and PM2.5 fractions in July-September 2021. A high content of AOD aerosol (τ0.5) was detected in August at a wavelength of 0.5 microns, which was 0.92. During of strong smoke in the atmosphere, an increase in the radius of fine particles up to 0.26 μm and volume concentration up to 0.11 μm3/μm2 was noted. Because the physical properties and chemical composition of smoke aerosols change significantly with plume age, with the size and mass of smoke aerosols increasing with aging.

Variability of aerosol concentrations of fractions PM10 and PM2.5 in the atmosphere surface layer at the reference monitoring station Boyarsky

“…Once smoke aerosols are entrained into the BL, thermal turbulent mixing further mixes aerosols from the BL top downward to the surface, resulting in increased PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations and poor air quality over regions far from the wildfire sources. For instance, an episode of Yakutia wildfires in July-august 2021 resulted in 16 and 15-fold increase in PM10 and PM2.5 over Lake Baikal (st. Boyarsky) [8].…”