J1.3 Variability of Georgia and Florida air quality as a function of radar derived aerosol coverage and height

Understanding the vertical distribution of aerosols is critical for air quality and other climate applications. Since current tools for obtaining this information have limited spatial and temporal coverage, we explore the use of radar data for obtaining injection heights of biomass burning aerosols produced from intense fires in southern Georgia during spring 2007. Using over 3 days of WSR-88 radar data from Jacksonville Florida between 23 – 27 May 2007, we quantify smoke injection heights using a modified severe storm algorithm products. Our analysis indicates that the maximum injection height is ~5 km for the strongest fire on 24 May, with an overall mean injection height > 3 km. Radar data are also capable of providing the diurnal variation of aerosol heights, which is shown to be related to variations in downstream air quality. This research represents the initial step in a much longer term effort aimed at improving future air quality forecasting applications through statistical and numerical modeling.