ACPD Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ACPD 1680-7375 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acpd-10-20303-2010 A subsiding regional forest fire aerosol layer at Whistler, BC: implications for interpretation of mountaintop chemistry observations Mc Kendry I. G. 1 Gallagher J. 1 Campuzano Jost P. 2 Bertram A. 2 Strawbridge K. 3 Leaitch R. 4 Macdonald A. M. 4 Department of Geography, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Centre for Atmospheric Research Experiments, Environment Canada, Egbert, Canada Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 27 08 2010 10 8 20303 20327 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/20303/2010/acpd-10-20303-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/20303/2010/acpd-10-20303-2010.pdf

On 30 August 2009, intense forest fires in interior BC, together with synoptic scale meteorological subsidence and easterly winds resulted in transport of a broad forest fire plume across southwestern BC. The physico-chemical and optical characteristics of the plume as observed from Saturna island (AERONET), CORALNet-UBC and the Whistler Mountain air chemistry facility were consistent with forest fire plumes that have been observed elsewhere in continental North America. However, the importance of smoke plume subsidence in relation to the interpretation of mountaintop chemistry observations is highlighted on the basis of deployment both a <i>CL31</i> ceilometer and a single particle mass spectrometer (SPMS) in a mountainous setting. The SPMS was used to identify the biomass plume based on levoglucosan and potassium markers. Data from the SPMS are also used to show that the biomass plume was correlated with nitrate, but not correlated with sulphate or sodium. This study not only provides baseline measurements of biomass burning plume physico-chemical characteristics in western Canada, but also highlights the importance of <i>lidar</i> remote sensing methods in the interpretation of mountaintop chemistry measurements.

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