Aerosols and storms over North America

Launched in May 2024, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has been making waves, with the first images from three of its scientific instruments already delivered. Now, the spotlight is firmly on the atmospheric lidar, the most advanced of the satellite’s four instruments. This cutting-edge sensor has captured detailed 20 km-high vertical profiles of atmospheric aerosols – tiny particles and droplets from natural sources like wildfires, dust, and sea spray, and from human activities like industrial emissions or burning of wood – and clouds across various regions of the globe.

This profile, captured on 4 August by the atmospheric lidar, is a strip over North America. Here, the presence of tropical storm Debby is clear to see over the Gulf of Mexico, as are large convective clouds further north. As these clouds are optically very thick, as can be seen in the multispectral imager information, the lidar captures details of the cloud tops, but cannot see below them. Additionally, a striking red layer of aerosols is visible in the central part of the profile. These aerosols have been carried by the wind from forest fires that have been burning for a number of weeks in several regions of Canada. Smoke from forest fires plays a complex role in climate change, with both immediate and long-term effects that can disrupt weather patterns, accelerate global warming, as well as impact air quality when close to the ground.

Beneath this dense layer of smoke lies a more diffuse concentration of aerosols, originating from a variety of sources.

Read full story: EarthCARE profiles atmospheric particles in detail