Effect of the eruption of El Chichon on stratospheric aerosol size and composition

Oberbeck, V. R.; Danielsen, Edwin F.; Snetsinger, K. G.; Ferry, G. V.; Fong, W.; Hayes, Dennis M.

doi:10.1029/gl010i011p01021

Cited by 89 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Our relatively monodispersive size distributions for stratospheric aerosols agree well with the size distribution obtained by Michalsky et al (1984) for their JAN/FEB observations at 46.4*N. On the other hand, size distributions of stratospheric aerosols were measured on board the NASA U-2 aircraft using particle size spectrometers by Knollenberg and Huffman (1983), and using palladium wire impactors by Oberbeck et al (1983) over the North America continent.…”

Section: Characteristics Of Aerosol Size Distributionssupporting

confidence: 87%

Atmospheric Turbidity and Aerosol Size Distribution in Winter at Tsukuba: Effects of the Eruption of E1 Chichon

Asano¹,

Sekiguchi²,

Kobayashi³

et al. 1985

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

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The aerosol optical thickness of the atmosphere was measured using a spectropyrheliometer at Tsukuba for three winter seasons from October 1980 to March 1983. The optical thickness was abnormally large in the ('82-'83) winter, because of the enhancement of the stratospheric aerosols due to the volcanic eruptions of El Chichon.Size distributions of aerosols in the vertical air column were inferred, which show characteristic features of bimodal distribution for the pre-E1 Chichon season and power law distribution for the post-E1 Chichon season.Optical properties of the El Chichon volcanic aerosols have been estimated; the stratospheric optical thickness was about 0.1 on the wavelength average in the ('82-'83) winter, and aerosol size distributions were relatively monodispersive with a mode radius around 0.3 *m. Possible effects of the enhanced stratospheric aerosols on the solar radiation budget were estimated and compared with available observations. The El Chichon induced aerosols in the ('82-'83) winter could reduce the total solar radiation on the ground by as much as 3-4% on cloudless days, and enhance the spherical albedo by about 10%.

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Section: Characteristics Of Aerosol Size Distributionssupporting

confidence: 87%

Atmospheric Turbidity and Aerosol Size Distribution in Winter at Tsukuba: Effects of the Eruption of E1 Chichon

Asano¹,

Sekiguchi²,

Kobayashi³

et al. 1985

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

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“…The results in Fig. 8 show that aerosols of El Chichon origin had monomodal volume spectra with a mode radius of about 0.5 ,*m. These volume spectra are in good agreement with those observed around northern hemisphere mid-latitudes retrieved from groundbased solar irradiance measurements (Michalsky et al, 1984;Asano et al, 1985) and from direct and indirect airborne measurements (Knollenberg and M. Shiobara, T. Hayasaka, T. Nakajima and M. Tanaka Huffman,1983; Oberbeck et al, 1983;Hofmann and Rosen, 1984;Spinhirne and King, 1985;Nakajima et al, 1986a). Airborne samples of aerosols in the stratosphere and their component analysis with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were carried out by several investigators after the eruption of El Chichon (e.g.…”

Section: B the El Chichon Aerosolssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…9, we summarize the relationship between the volume mode radius of aerosols and elapsed time after the eruption, using previously reported values (Knollenberg and Huffman, 1983;Oberbeck et al, 1983;Hofmann and Rosen, 1984;Michalsky et al, 1984;Asano et al, 1985;Spinhirne and King, 1985;Nakajima et al, 1986a) and a model of nonvolatile aerosols from the Agung (8*25'S, 115*30'E) eruption in 1963 (Mossop, 1964;Toon and Pollack, 1976). Original size distributions reported in those literatures were converted, if necessary, to volume spectra in order to compare consistently with our results.…”

Section: B the El Chichon Aerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the present study, size distributions of stratospheric aerosols due to the El Chichon eruption were estimated as a difference between columnar size distributions before and after the eruption. After investigating the results and referring to previous studies on El Chichon aerosols (Knollenberg and Huffman,1983;Oberbeck et al, 1983;Hofmann and Rosen, 1984;Michalsky et al, 1984;Asano et al, 1985;Spinhirne and King, 1985;Nakajima et al, 1986a), we constructed a model of stratospheric aerosols pertaining to the period after the El Chichon eruption. Size distributions of tropospheric aerosols (including the background stratospheric aerosols in the strict sense) were also derived by subtracting the modeled distribution of the El Chichon aerosols from the columnar total aerosol distributions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aerosol Monitoring Using a Scanning Spectral Radiometer in Sendai, Japan

Shiobara¹,

Hayasaka

Nakajima

et al. 1991

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

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Measurements of direct solar irradiance and sky radiance were carried out in Sendai, Japan for the period from September 1981 to May 1985 using a scanning spectral radiometer (aureolemeter). Size distributions of columnar total aerosols were retrieved by inverting both spectral optical thickness and solar aureole radiance data.The size distribution of aerosols due to the El Chichon eruption in 1982 was estimated as the difference between columnar volume spectra before and after the eruption. The results indicate that the El Chichon aerosol had a monomodal volume spectrum with a mode radius about 0.5 ,*m; their contribution to the total aerosol volume reached the maximum in the winter of 1983, i. e. December 1982 to February 1983, then gradually decaying to the normal level prior to the eruption by the spring of 1985.A seasonal model of tropospheric aerosols over Sendai was constructed by subtracting the volume spectrum of the El Chichon aerosol model from that of the columnar total aerosols, and successfully represented by a bimodal log-normal function. The aerosols in spring and summer seasons have different features in respect of volume spectra. The coarse particle mode aerosols with radii around 3 *m are predominant in spring while the accumulation mode aerosols with radii around 0.2µm are predominant in summer.

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“…Using the El Chichón particle size distributions reported by Oberbeck et al (1983) and Hofmann and Rosen (1983), they have calculated a tropopause forcing of the order of -2.5 Wm −2 up to about -5.0 Wm −2 . These values correspond to an effec-tive radius of the order of 0.5 µm, while the forcing would be about 2 Wm −2 at 1.5 µm, and would even become a positive forcing (i.e.…”

Section: The Pinatubo Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term climatic impact of the 1991 volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and effects on atmospheric tracers

Pitari

Mancini

2002

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Large explosive volcanic eruptions are capable of injecting considerable amounts of particles and sulphur gases (mostly sulphur dioxide) above the tropopause, causing increases in the stratospheric aerosol optical depth that may be even larger than one order of magnitude. The efolding particle lifetime in the stratosphere is much longer than in the troposphere (one year versus a few days) so that climatic perturbations in a timeframe of a few years are produced after major volcanic eruptions. A climate-chemistry coupled model is used here to study the dynamical effects of the radiative forcing due to stratospheric aerosols formed after the June, 1991 cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. It is shown that the dynamical perturbation is twofold: (a) the stratospheric mean meridional circulation is affected by local aerosol radiative heating (mostly located in the tropical lower stratosphere); (b) the planetary wave propagation in the mid-to high-latitude lower stratosphere is altered as a consequence of decreasing atmospheric stability due to the climatic perturbation. Dynamical results of the climate model are compared with available observations; a discussion is made regarding the similarities with the dynamical regime of the easterly phase of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation. Major findings of this study are: (a) radiatively forced changes in the stratospheric circulation during the first two years after the eruption may, to a large extent, explain the observed trend decline of long-lived greenhouse gases (CH 4 and N 2 O, in particular); (b) the dynamical perturbation helps explain why simple photochemical studies of the ozone trends during 1991-1993 generally fail in reproducing the satellite observed feature consisting of a 2% additional global ozone depletion during 1993 with respect to 1992. In both cases we conclude that an increase in the mid-to high-latitude downward flux at the tropopause is the key factor for explaining the behaviour of these atmospheric tracers during 1991/92.

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Effect of the eruption of El Chichon on stratospheric aerosol size and composition

Cited by 89 publications

References 7 publications

Atmospheric Turbidity and Aerosol Size Distribution in Winter at Tsukuba: Effects of the Eruption of E1 Chichon

Atmospheric Turbidity and Aerosol Size Distribution in Winter at Tsukuba: Effects of the Eruption of E1 Chichon

Aerosol Monitoring Using a Scanning Spectral Radiometer in Sendai, Japan

Short-term climatic impact of the 1991 volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and effects on atmospheric tracers

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