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Extreme Air Pollution Events in Hokkaido, Japan Traced Back to Early Snowmelt and Large-Scale Wildfires Over East Eurasia: Case StudiesTo identify the unusual climate conditions and their connections to air pollutions in a remote area due to wildfires, we examine three anomalous large-scale wildfires in May 2003, April 2008, and July 2014 over East Eurasia, as well as how products of those wildfires reached an urban city, Sapporo, in the northern part of Japan (Hokkaido), significantly affecting the air quality. NASA's MERRA-2 (the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2) aerosol re-analysis data closely reproduced the PM2.5 variations in Sapporo for the case of smoke arrival inJuly 2014. Results show that all three cases featured unusually early snowmelt in East Eurasia, accompanied by warmer and drier surface conditions in the months leading to the fires, inducing long-lasting soil dryness and producing environmental conditions conductive to active wildfires. Due to prevailing anomalous synoptic-scale atmospheric motions, smoke from those fires eventually reached a remote area, Hokkaido, and worsened the air quality in Sapporo. In futurestudies, continuous monitoring of the timing of Eurasian snowmelt and the air quality from the source regions to remote regions, coupled with the analysis of atmospheric and surface conditions, may be essential in more accurately predicting the effects of wildfires on air quality.
Document ID
20190002603
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Authors
Teppei J. Yasunari
(Hokkaido Univ. Sapporo, Japan)
Kyu-myong Kim
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, United States)
Arlindo M Da Silva
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, United States)
Masamitsu Hayasaki
(Japan Automobile Research Institute Tsukuba, Japan)
Masayuki Akiyama
(Institute of Environmental Science Sapporo, Japan)
Naoto Murao
(Hokkaido University Sapporo, Hokkaidô, Japan)
Date Acquired
April 18, 2019
Publication Date
April 25, 2018
Publication Information
Publication: Scientific Reports
Publisher: Nature Research
Volume: 8
Issue Publication Date: April 25, 2018
ISSN: 2045-2322
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN56900
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 17KT0066
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Use by or on behalf of the US Gov. Permitted.
Keywords
MERRA-2
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