Measurements of characteristics of stratospheric aerosol layer at Siberian lidar station in Tomsk

Abstract

In this report we present an analysis of lidar measurements of aerosol optical characteristics in the stratosphere over Tomsk, based on which we determined the periods of increased aerosol content after anomalous aerosol layers of nonvolcanic origin from severe forest fires in Canada were recorded in summer-fall period of 2017. Owing to the pyroconvection, the fire products were lifted to the stratosphere and spread over the entire Northern Hemisphere. The thickness of the recorded aerosol layers of non-volcanic origin was comparable to that produced by one of volcanoes in Pacific Ring of Fire in 2006-2012. A background state of aerosol loading has been established in the stratosphere over Tomsk since November 2017. Time series of long-term measurements of integrated aerosol backscattering coefficient Вaπ for the background stratospheric state from 2012 to July 2017 was used to construct a linear regression of the form Вaπ=2.2213•10−4−1.7936•10-7•t. Our regional empirical model of background stratospheric aerosol for 2000-2016 was corrected to include the measurements from 2016 to 2019.