MIPAS observations of volcanic sulfate aerosol and sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere

Günther, Annika; Höpfner, Michael; Sinnhuber, Björn-Martin; Grießbach, Sabine; Deshler, Terry; Clarmann, T. von; Stiller, G. P.

doi:10.5194/acp-18-1217-2018

Cited by 36 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…All these periods are strongly influenced by an enhanced aerosol load of the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) region caused by volcanic eruptions. Dedicated MIPAS aerosol analyses show that the PSC seasons 2008/2009, 2010/2011, and 2011/2012 are influenced by the volcanic eruptions of Kasatochi (Günther et al, 2018), Sarychev (Wu et al, 2017), Grimsvötn, and Nabro Günther et al, 2018) in August 2008, June 2009, May 2011, and July 2011. Due to the fact that the Bayesian classifier so far does not include a differentiation between background or volcanic aerosols and PSCs, these events have been treated and classified as PSC particles.…”

Section: Interannual Variability In Psc Coveragementioning

confidence: 99%

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

Spang¹,

Hoffmann²,

Müller³

et al. 2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument aboard the European Space Agency (ESA) Envisat satellite operated from July 2002 to April 2012. The infrared limb emission measurements provide a unique dataset of day and night observations of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) up to both poles. A recent classification method for PSC types in infrared (IR) limb spectra using spectral measurements in different atmospheric window regions has been applied to the complete mission period of MIPAS. The method uses a simple probabilistic classifier based on Bayes' theorem with a strong independence assumption on a combination of a well-established two-colour ratio method and multiple 2-D probability density functions of brightness temperature differences. The Bayesian classifier distinguishes between solid particles of ice, nitric acid trihydrate (NAT), and liquid droplets of supercooled ternary solution (STS), as well as mixed types.A climatology of MIPAS PSC occurrence and specific PSC classes has been compiled. Comparisons with results from the classification scheme of the spaceborne lidar CloudAerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the Cloud-Aerosol-Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite show excellent correspondence in the spatial and temporal evolution for the area of PSC coverage (A PSC ) even for each PSC class. Probability density functions of the PSC temperature, retrieved for each class with respect to equilibrium temperature of ice and based on coincident temperatures from meteorological reanalyses, are in accordance with the microphysical knowledge of the formation processes with respect to temperature for all three PSC types.This paper represents unprecedented pole-covering dayand nighttime climatology of the PSC distributions and their composition of different particle types. The dataset allows analyses on the temporal and spatial development of the PSC formation process over multiple winters. At first view, a more general comparison of A PSC and A ICE retrieved from the observations and from the existence temperature for NAT and ice particles based on the European Centre for MediumRange Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis temperature data shows the high potential of the climatology for the validation and improvement of PSC schemes in chemical transport and chemistry-climate models.

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Section: Interannual Variability In Psc Coveragementioning

confidence: 99%

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

Spang¹,

Hoffmann²,

Müller³

et al. 2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…In addition, over the last decade several new satellite instruments producing observations relevant to the stratospheric aerosol layer have become operational. For example, we now have a 2002-2012 record of global altitude-resolved SO 2 , carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and aerosol volume density measurements provided by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding Environmental Satellite (MIPAS ENVISAT; Höpfner et al, 2013Glatthor et al, 2015;Günther et al, 2018). Furthermore aerosol extinction vertical profiles are available from limb-profiling instruments, such as the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY;2002-2012Bovensmann et al, 1999;von Savigny et al, 2015), the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS;2001-present;Bourassa et al, 2007), and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler SuiteLimb Profiler (OMPS-LP;2011-present;Rault and Loughman, 2013), and from the active sensor lidar measurements such as the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS; 2015-present; Yorks et al, 2015) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP;2006-present;Vernier et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP): motivation and experimental design

et al. 2018

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Abstract. The Stratospheric Sulfur and its Role in Climate (SSiRC) Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP) explores uncertainties in the processes that connect volcanic emission of sulfur gas species and the radiative forcing associated with the resulting enhancement of the stratospheric aerosol layer. The central aim of ISA-MIP is to constrain and improve interactive stratospheric aerosol models and reduce uncertainties in the stratospheric aerosol forcing by comparing results of standardized model experiments with a range of observations. In this paper we present four co-ordinated inter-model experiments designed to investigate key processes which influence the formation and temporal development of stratospheric aerosol in different time periods of the observational record. The Background (BG) experiment will focus on microphysics and transport processes under volcanically quiescent conditions, when the stratospheric aerosol is controlled by the transport of aerosols and their precursors from the troposphere to the stratosphere. The Transient Aerosol Record (TAR) experiment will explore the role of small-to moderate-magnitude volcanic eruptions, anthropogenic sulfur emissions, and transport processes over the period 1998-2012 and their role in the warming hiatus. Two further experiments will investigate the stratospheric sulfate aerosol evolution after major volcanic eruptions. The Historical Eruptions SO 2 Emission Assessment (HErSEA) experiment will focus on the uncertainty in the initial emission of recent large-magnitude volcanic eruptions, while the Pinatubo Em-

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“…This boundary is derived from the maximum product of the meridional PV gradient and zonal wind speed on isentropic surfaces, which identifies a PV contour that best represents the dynamical discontinuity on each isentropic surface. It can be used as an isentropic transport barrier and to determine the isentropic cross-barrier transport related to Rossby wave breaking (Haynes and Shuckburgh, 2000;Kunz et al, 2011a, b). In Fig.…”

Section: Quasi-horizontal Transport From the Tropics To Antarcticamentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-range transport of volcanic aerosol from the 2010 Merapi tropical eruption to Antarctica

Grießbach²,

Hoffmann³

2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Volcanic sulfate aerosol is an important source of sulfur for Antarctica, where other local sources of sulfur are rare. Midlatitude and high-latitude volcanic eruptions can directly influence the aerosol budget of the polar stratosphere. However, tropical eruptions can also enhance polar aerosol load following long-range transport. In the present work, we analyze the volcanic plume of a tropical eruption, Mount Merapi in 2010, and investigate the transport pathway of the volcanic aerosol from the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) to the lower stratosphere over Antarctica. We use the Lagrangian particle dispersion model Massive-Parallel Trajectory Calculations (MPTRAC) and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) SO 2 measurements to reconstruct the altitude-resolved SO 2 injection time series during the explosive eruption period and simulate the transport of the volcanic plume using the MPTRAC model. AIRS SO 2 and aerosol measurements, the aerosol cloud index values provided by Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), are used to verify and complement the simulations. The Lagrangian transport simulation of the volcanic plume is compared with MIPAS aerosol measurements and shows good agreement. Both the simulations and the observations presented in this study suggest that volcanic plumes from the Merapi eruption were transported to the south of 60 • S 1 month after the eruption and even further to Antarctica in the following months. This relatively fast meridional transport of volcanic aerosol was mainly driven by quasi-horizontal mixing from the TTL to the extratropical lower stratosphere, and most of the quasi-horizontal mixing occurred between the isentropic surfaces of 360 to 430 K. When the plume went to Southern Hemisphere high lati-tudes, the polar vortex was displaced from the South Pole, so that the volcanic plume was carried to the South Pole without penetrating the polar vortex. Although only 4 % of the sulfur injected by the Merapi eruption was transported into the lower stratosphere south of 60 • S, the Merapi eruption contributed up to 8800 t of sulfur to the Antarctic lower stratosphere. This indicates that the long-range transport under favorable meteorological conditions enables a moderate tropical volcanic eruption to be an important remote source of sulfur for the Antarctic stratosphere.

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MIPAS observations of volcanic sulfate aerosol and sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere

Cited by 36 publications

References 71 publications

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

The Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP): motivation and experimental design

Long-range transport of volcanic aerosol from the 2010 Merapi tropical eruption to Antarctica

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