Out of the blue: volcanic SO2 emissions during the 2021-2022 Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha'apai eruptions

Abstract

Most volcanism on Earth is submarine, but volcanic gas emissions by submarine eruptions are rarely observed and hence largely unquantified. On 15 January 2022 a submarine eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) volcano (Tonga) generated an explosion of historic magnitude, and was preceded by ~1 month of Surtseyan eruptive activity and two precursory explosive eruptions. We present an analysis of ultraviolet (UV) satellite measurements of volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) between December 2021 and the climactic 15 January 2022 eruption, comprising an unprecedented record of Surtseyan eruptive emissions. UV measurements from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite, the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) on Suomi-NPP, the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on ESA's Sentinel-5P, and the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) are combined to yield a consistent multi-sensor record of eruptive degassing. We estimate SO 2 emissions during the eruption's key phases: the initial 19 December 2021 eruption (~0.01 Tg SO 2 ); continuous SO 2 emissions from 20 December 2021-early January 2022 (~0.12 Tg SO 2 ); the 13 January 2022 stratospheric eruption (0.06 Tg SO 2 ); and the paroxysmal 15 January 2022 eruption (~0.4-0.5 Tg SO 2 ); yielding a total SO 2 emission of ~0.6-0.7 Tg SO 2 for the eruptive episode. We interpret the vigorous SO 2 emissions observed prior to the January 2022 eruptions, which were significantly higher than measured in the 2009 and 2014 HTHH eruptions, as strong evidence for a rejuvenated magmatic system. High cadence DSCOVR/ EPIC SO 2 imagery permits the first UV-based analysis of umbrella cloud spreading and volume flux in the 13 January 2022 eruption, and also tracks early dispersion of the stratospheric SO 2 cloud injected on January 15. The ~0.4-0.5 Tg SO 2 discharged by the paroxysmal 15 January 2022 HTHH eruption is low relative to other eruptions of similar magnitude, and a review of other submarine eruptions in the satellite era indicates that modest SO 2 yields may be characteristic of submarine volcanism, with the emissions and atmospheric impacts likely dominated by water vapor. The origin of the low SO 2 loading awaits further investigation but scrubbing of SO 2 in the water-rich eruption plumes and rapid conversion to sulfate aerosol are plausible, given the exceptional water emission by the 15 January 2022 HTHH eruption.

Evolution of the Climate Forcing During the Two Years After the Hunga Tonga‐Hunga Ha'apai Eruption

“…Hunga also injected at least 0.5 Tg of SO 2 into the stratosphere (Carn et al, 2022) although this amount may have been as much as 1.5 Tg (Sellitto et al, 2024). SO 2 oxidation forms a sulfate aerosol layer that was detected by the Ozone Mapping and Profile Suite limb profiler (OMPS) (Taha et al, 2022) shortly after the eruption.…”

Stratospheric Climate Anomalies and Ozone Loss Caused by the Hunga Tonga‐Hunga Ha'apai Volcanic Eruption

“…The excess moisture is expected to remain in the stratosphere for several years and could exert a substantial impact on the climate system (Jenkins et al., 2023; Li & Newman, 2020; Solomon et al., 2010). A moderate amount of sulfur‐containing gases, approximately 0.4–0.5 Tg sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), about 30 times lower than the emission from Pinatubo (Carn et al., 2022), was lofted into the stratosphere by the HTHH eruption and quickly converted to sulfate aerosol particles (Zhu et al., 2022). Simulations carried out with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), a coupled chemistry‐climate model, suggest the excessive moisture halves the SO 2 lifetime and promotes faster sulfate aerosol formation, resulting in large perturbations to stratospheric aerosol evolution (Zhu et al., 2022).…”

The Cross Equatorial Transport of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Eruption Plume

“…As shown in Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements (Millán et al, 2022, hereafter M22) and balloon sondes (Vomel et al 2022) a significant amount of water vapor was injected into the southern hemisphere (SH) mid-stratosphere. HT also injected SO 2 which produced a distinctive aerosol layer (Taha et al, 2022), although SO 2 injection was modest for an eruption of this size (Carn et al, 2022;M22). The MLS estimated water injection was up to 146 Tg (M22) or ˜10% of the total stratospheric water vapor prior to the eruption.…”