The unexpected radiative impact of the Hunga Tonga eruption of 15th January 2022

Sellitto, Pasquale; Podglajen, Aurélien; Belhadji, Redha; Boichu, Marie; Carboni, Elisa; Cuesta, Juan; Duchamp, Clair; Kloss, Corinna; Siddans, Richard; Bègue, Nelson; Blarel, Luc; Jégou, Fabrice; Khaykin, Sergey; Renard, Jean‐Baptiste; Legras, Bernard

doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00618-z

Cited by 51 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…We have computed the additional IR cooling for Jan 19, using the RTM, and at 27.5 km it is ˜3K/day reaching ˜5K/day at 30 km. Our estimate of the radiative forcing is in agreement with Silletto et al (2022) who also noted that the aerosol plume has almost no net radiative impact. This magnitude of localized cooling just off the equator is sufficient to force the Rossby wave (Gill, 1980).…”

Section: Cross Equatorial Transport Shortly After the Eruptionsupporting

confidence: 90%

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

Schoeberl¹

2022

Preprint

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Following the eruption, cross-equatorial transport of the water vapor occurs even though the meteorology does not appear to support this.• IR cooling associated with the enhanced water vapor after the eruption likely generated waves that produced the cross-equatorial flow. • QBO-induced secondary circulation several months after the eruption also produced cross-equatorial transport of water vapor.

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Section: Cross Equatorial Transport Shortly After the Eruptionsupporting

confidence: 90%

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

Schoeberl¹

2022

Preprint

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“…Estimates of aerosol radiative heating by Silletto et al. (2022) show that longwave aerosol cooling and shortwave aerosol heating nearly cancel leaving water vapor cooling as the major radiative component. We assume, for simplicity, that the amount of water vapor available is now limited by the saturation mixing ratio over ice that is, excess water forms ice particles that quickly fall out until the relative humidity is reduced to 100%.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis and Impact of the Hunga Tonga‐Hunga Ha'apai Stratospheric Water Vapor Plume

Schoeberl

Wang

Ueyama

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

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The Hunga Hunga-Tonga Ha'apai (HT) (20.54°S, 178.3°W) submarine volcano violently erupted on 15 January 2022. The volcanic explosivity index (VEI) was 5, comparable to Krakatau eruption in 1883. Since HT was a submarine volcano, it appears to have lofted a significant amount of water into the stratosphere. Indeed, Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements show that HT water enhancement was quite high relative to SO 2 (Millán et al., 2022)-hereafter M22. The MLS estimated water injection was up to 146 Tg (M22). The eruption plume was detected up to 57 km on 15 January 2022 (Carr et al., 2022;Proud et al., 2022). The Ozone Mapping and Profile Suite-Limb Profiler (OMPS-LP) detected extinction enhancements above 45 km (Taha et al., 2022).In this paper we will examine at the evolution of the water vapor and aerosol enhancements that followed the HT eruption. M22 noted that the amount of water deposited in the stratosphere by HT was unprecedented in the modern history of volcanic eruption observations. Several MLS water vapor profiles made shortly after the eruption show concentrations exceeding 300 ppmv against a normal stratospheric concentration of ∼4 ppmv. As the eruption evolved, MLS water vapor maps show that above about 2 hPa (∼43 km), the plume quickly spreads and that the water vapor enhancement disperses. A secondary maximum at about 25 hPa (∼26 km) persists (M22). The aerosol field shows similar behavior with rapid dispersal at higher altitudes but persistent high levels of aerosol extinction below ∼25 hPa (∼26 km) (Taha et al., 2022). The aerosol extinction in this layer grows over the 30 days following the eruption presumably due to the conversion of SO 2 to sulfate aerosols (e.g., Zhu et al., 2020).There are several key questions concerning the HT eruption: Why did the unusual water vapor layer form and persist? How is it related to the aerosol layer? Below we show that the water vapor enhancement overlaps the top of the extinction anomaly, but they are distinct, and furthermore the two enhancements vertically separate over

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“…During this phase, the water vapour follows the aerosol downward motion. Sellitto et al (2022 explain this behaviour by the cooling effect of water vapour infrared emission, which is strong as long as the water vapour is concentrated and is located well above its neutral radiative level. Sedimentation is then a secondary effect.…”

Section: The 6-month Evolution Of the Zonal Meanmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution and dynamics of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai sulfate aerosol plume in the stratosphere

et al. 2022

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Abstract. We use a combination of spaceborne instruments to study the unprecedented stratospheric plume after the Tonga eruption of 15 January 2022. The aerosol plume was initially formed of two clouds at 30 and 28 km, mostly composed of submicron-sized sulfate particles, without ash, which is washed out within the first day following the eruption. The large amount of injected water vapour led to a fast conversion of SO2 to sulfate aerosols and induced a descent of the plume to 24–26 km over the first 3 weeks by radiative cooling. Whereas SO2 returned to background levels by the end of January, volcanic sulfates and water still persisted after 6 months, mainly confined between 35∘ S and 20∘ N until June due to the zonal symmetry of the summer stratospheric circulation at 22–26 km. Sulfate particles, undergoing hygroscopic growth and coagulation, sediment and gradually separate from the moisture anomaly entrained in the ascending branch Brewer–Dobson circulation. Sulfate aerosol optical depths derived from the IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) infrared sounder show that during the first 2 months, the aerosol plume was not simply diluted and dispersed passively but rather organized in concentrated patches. Space-borne lidar winds suggest that those structures, generated by shear-induced instabilities, are associated with vorticity anomalies that may have enhanced the duration and impact of the plume.

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The unexpected radiative impact of the Hunga Tonga eruption of 15th January 2022

Cited by 51 publications

References 46 publications

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

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

Analysis and Impact of the Hunga Tonga‐Hunga Ha'apai Stratospheric Water Vapor Plume

The evolution and dynamics of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai sulfate aerosol plume in the stratosphere

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