Modelling dispersion of smoke from wilde fires in Ucraine and Belarus

During the two week period of August 25 - September 10, 2002, numerous fires occurred in Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia. During the first week of this period, the smoke plume was transported eastward, while during the second it extended to Central Europe. In the present study,we have investigated the transport and transformation of particulate matter emitted from the biomass burning using the on-line global model GEM-AQ (Global Environmental Multiscale Model with Air Quality). The GEM-AQ model was run on a global, variable-resolution grid focusing in a high, uniform resolution grid over Central-Eastern Europe.Objective analysis datasets were used for updating the meteorological fields every 6 hours.The smoke was uniformly injected into 4-km thick columns (6 model layers).The emission fluxes were generated from the real-time Fire Locating and Modelling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBÉ) system. The modelled plume extension was compared with MODIS satellite images of smoke plume and the modelled aerosol optical depth with the values measured at the AERONET stations. From these comparisons it appears that the evolution of the smoke path is correctly reproduced and that the arrival time of the plume is well predicted.There are, however, some discrepancies between the measured and modelled values of the optical depth.This could be due to uncertainties related to the estimation of the total flux and of the injection height of the smoke