A solar escalator: Observational evidence of the self-lifting of smoke and aerosols by absorption of solar radiation in the February 2009 Australian Black Saturday plume

We present an analysis of the evolution of the smoke plume caused by the Black Saturday bushfires, which started on 7 February 2009 in the Australian state of Victoria. Within 3 days this smoke plume was located at altitudes between 15 and 20 km thousands of kilometers away from its source region. Standard explanations for high tropospheric and lower stratospheric absorbing aerosols are either volcanic eruptions or pyroconvection. We performed a detailed analysis of various satellite observations, forward trajectory calculations, and meteorological conditions during the fire episode, yet we could not find evidence of either of these standard mechanisms explaining the observed plume evolution. Pyroconvection observed within the initial smoke plumes remained predominantly below 10 km altitude. Furthermore, there are not active volcanoes in the region. We postulate that the subsequent rise beyond approximately 10 km altitude during the first 3 days after the fires started was caused by absorption of short‐wave solar radiation in the plume. Observations indicate that the plume was highly absorptive and optically very thick. One‐dimensional plume height radiative transfer calculations with realistic assumptions about the optical properties of the smoke show that the plume could rise to 16–18 km after 5 days and up to 20 km after 10 days. The plume rise exhibits a characteristic step‐like time evolution that tracks the variation in diurnal insolation and resembles an escalator. We argue that this is the first time that this mechanism, known as “self‐lifting,” has been observed on a large scale. The key features of this mechanism and its implications are briefly discussed. Key Points Absorbing aerosols can cause their own lift by absorption of solar radiation First observational evidence that this process acts on a large scale Radiative modeling based on aerosol optical properties supports this idea