Long-Range Plume Transport from Brazilian Burnings to Urban São Paulo: A Remote Sensing Analysis
In 2024, Brazil experienced record-breaking wildfire activity, underscoring the escalating influence of climate change. This study examines the long-range transport of wildfire-generated aerosol plumes to São Paulo, combining multi-platform observations to trace their origin and properties. During August and September—a period marked by intense fire outbreaks in Pará and Mato Grosso do Sul—lidar measurements performed at São Paulo detected pronounced aerosol plumes. To investigate their source and characteristics, we integrated data from the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) satellite, HYSPLIT back-trajectory modeling, and ground-based AERONET and Raman lidar measurements. Aerosol properties were derived from aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström exponent, and lidar ratio (LR) retrievals. Back-trajectory analysis identified three transport pathways originating from active fire zones, with coinciding AOD values (0.7–1.1) and elevated LR (60–100 sr), indicative of dense smoke plumes. Compositional analysis revealed a significant black carbon component, implicating wildfires near Corumbá (Mato Grosso do Sul) and São Félix do Xingu (Pará) as probable emission sources. These findings highlight the efficacy of satellite-based lidar systems, such as Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID) onboard EarthCARE, in atmospheric monitoring, particularly in data-sparse regions where ground instrumentation is limited.
Citação
@online{gabriel_marques_da2025,
author = {Gabriel Marques Da , Silva and Mateus Fernandes , Rodrigues
and Laura Silva , Pelicer and Gregori De Arruda , Moreira and
Alexandre , Cacheffo and Fábio Juliano Da Silva , Lopes and Luisa
D’Antola De , Mello and Giovanni , Souza and Eduardo , Landulfo},
title = {Long-Range Plume Transport from Brazilian Burnings to Urban
São Paulo: A Remote Sensing Analysis},
volume = {16},
number = {9},
date = {2025-08-29},
doi = {10.3390/atmos16091022},
langid = {pt-BR},
abstract = {In 2024, Brazil experienced record-breaking wildfire
activity, underscoring the escalating influence of climate change.
This study examines the long-range transport of wildfire-generated
aerosol plumes to São Paulo, combining multi-platform observations
to trace their origin and properties. During August and September—a
period marked by intense fire outbreaks in Pará and Mato Grosso do
Sul—lidar measurements performed at São Paulo detected pronounced
aerosol plumes. To investigate their source and characteristics, we
integrated data from the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer
(EarthCARE) satellite, HYSPLIT back-trajectory modeling, and
ground-based AERONET and Raman lidar measurements. Aerosol
properties were derived from aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström
exponent, and lidar ratio (LR) retrievals. Back-trajectory analysis
identified three transport pathways originating from active fire
zones, with coinciding AOD values (0.7–1.1) and elevated LR (60–100
sr), indicative of dense smoke plumes. Compositional analysis
revealed a significant black carbon component, implicating wildfires
near Corumbá (Mato Grosso do Sul) and São Félix do Xingu (Pará) as
probable emission sources. These findings highlight the efficacy of
satellite-based lidar systems, such as Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID)
onboard EarthCARE, in atmospheric monitoring, particularly in
data-sparse regions where ground instrumentation is limited.}
}