Features of the Extreme Fire Season of 2021 in Yakutia (Eastern Siberia) and Heavy Air Pollution Caused by Biomass Burning

Abstract

Yakutia (Eastern Siberia) is one of the most fire-prone regions of Russia, which is frequently affected by large-scale wildfires despite a relatively short warm period, which usually lasts from May to September. In 2021, Yakutia experienced the worst fire season over the last four decades. In this study, we investigate features of the extreme fire season, factors that promote extreme fire weather, and heavy air pollution caused by biomass burning in the region utilizing multiple satellite and ground-based observations along with reanalysis data and forward-trajectory modelling. The results demonstrate that the total number of hotspots (HS) in 2021 amounted to ~150,000, which is almost twice as much as the previous record year (2020). One of the main features of the 2021 fire season was the period of extensive growth of the number of HS, which occurred from 24 July to 12 August. High fire danger during the fire season was promoted by positive anomalies in monthly air temperature (August) and negative anomalies in monthly precipitation (May–July). August of 2021 in central Yakutia was the second most hot August (14.9 °C) during a 43-year NCEP-DOE Reanalysis record (1979–2021). In addition, the intensification of wildfires during August 2021 was associated with persistent high-pressure systems, which promoted dry weather conditions in the region by blocking the transport of moist air masses from the western part of Russia. The low wind speeds, observed in the center of a high-pressure system, led to the accumulation of wildfire emissions in the atmosphere, which significantly affect air quality in the region. The monthly mean aerosol optical depth values in July 2021 were 0.82 (MODIS MAIAC) and 1.37 (AERONET) which were 14.9 and 18.7 times higher than respective values of 2007 (the year with minimal wildfires in the Asian part of Russia and Yakutia). Based on aerosol index observations and forward trajectories, we demonstrate that smoke plumes originated from the study area were transported over long distances reaching the Ural Mountains in the west, Mongolia in the south, the North Pole in the north, and Alaska in the east, traveling the distances of ~2000–7000 km. Maximum spatial extent of the smoke plumes reached ~10–12 mln. km2.