ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Remote Sens.
Sec. Atmospheric Remote Sensing
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsen.2025.1654779
This article is part of the Research TopicEarth Observations from the Deep Space: 10 Years of the DSCOVR MissionView all 5 articles
Climatology and variability of smoke aerosols from MAIAC EPIC observations over North America (2016-2024)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, United States
- 2NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States
- 3US Naval Research Laboratory Marine Meteorology Division, Monterey, United States
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This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the monthly, seasonal, and interannual variability of smoke aerosol properties over North America from 2016 to 2024, using data retrieved from the MAIAC algorithm applied to NASA's EPIC instrument aboard the DSCOVR spacecraft. The MAIAC EPIC data provide high-frequency, multi-year retrievals of key smoke properties, including aerosol optical depth (AOD), spectral absorption, aerosol layer height (ALH), and inferred black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) concentrations. The analysis reveals strong seasonal and regional variations, with peak smoke activity occurring in spring over Mexico and in summer over Canada and the western United States. Canadian and Alaskan smoke plumes frequently reach higher altitudes and exhibit elevated AOD, while smoke in Mexico tends to remain at lower altitudes with notably higher BC concentrations, likely influenced by smaller and lower-intensity fires and mixed biomass burning sources (agriculture and forest). The eastern United States, as a downwind region, shows increasing smoke influences, characterized by elevated ALH and rising levels of AOD and absorbing aerosols. Most study regions show a significant increase in smoke AOD (up to 5% per year in Canada), absorbing AOD, and BrC concentrations, highlighting the growing impact of wildfires on atmospheric composition and their potential implications for climate, air quality, and solar energy resources. These findings underscore the utility of MAIAC EPIC observations for monitoring multi-year smoke aerosol changes and for assessing their environmental consequences.
Keywords: North America, Smoke aerosol, MAIAC, epic, DSCOVR EPIC
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 17 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Choi, Lyapustin, Wang, Hyer, Eck and Korkin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Myungje Choi, Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, United States
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