Wildfire Smoke in the Stratosphere Over Europe–First Measurements of Depolarization and Lidar Ratios at 355, 532, and 1064 nm

¹ Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
² Cyprus University of Technology, Dep. of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Limassol, Cyprus

^* Email: haarig@tropos.de

Published online: 7 July 2020

Abstract

Canadian wildfire smoke was detected in the troposphere and lower stratosphere over Europe in August and September 2017. Lidar measurements from various stations of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) observed the stratospheric smoke layer. Triple-wavelength (355, 532, and 1064 nm) lidar measurements of the depolarization and the lidar ratio are reported from Leipzig, Germany. The particle linear depolarization ratio of the wildfire smoke in the stratosphere had an exceptional strong wavelength dependence reaching from 0.22 at 355 nm, to 0.18 at 532 nm, and 0.04 at 1064 nm. The lidar ratio increased with wavelength from 40±16 sr at 355 nm, to 66±12 sr at 532 nm, and 92±27 sr at 1064 nm. The development of the stratospheric smoke plume over several months was studied by long-term lidar measurements in Cyprus. The stratospheric smoke layers increased in altitude up to 24 km height.