Detection of Russian Fires Using MOPITT and MODIS Data

The great fires were detected through the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations over Northeast Asia. The large amount of smoke produced near Lake Baikal was transported to East Asia using high Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) as seen through the satellite images. The smoke pollution from the Russian forest fires would sometimes reach Korea through Mongolia and eastern China. In May 2003, a number of large fires blazed through eastern Russian, producing a thick, widespread pall of smoke over much of East Asia. This study focuses on the identification of the carbon monoxide (CO) for MOPITT released from MOPITT primarily into East Asia during the Russian Fires. In the wake of the fires, the 700hPa MOPITT retrieved CO concentrations which reached up to 250ppbv. Smoke aerosol retrieval using a separation technique was also applied to the MODIS data observed in 14-22 May 2003. Large AOT, 2.0 ~ 5.0, was observed over Korea on 20 May 2003 due to the influence of the long range transport of smoke aerosol plume from the Russian Fires.