Surface-to-space atmospheric waves from Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption

Abstract

The January 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption was one of the most explosive volcanic events of the modern era1,2, producing a vertical plume that peaked more than 50 km above the Earth3. The initial explosion and subsequent plume triggered atmospheric waves that propagated around the world multiple times4. A global-scale wave response of this magnitude from a single source has not previously been observed. Here we show the details of this response, using a comprehensive set of satellite and ground-based observations to quantify it from surface to ionosphere. A broad spectrum of waves was triggered by the initial explosion, including Lamb waves5,6 propagating at phase speeds of 318.2 ± 6 m s−1 at surface level and between 308 ± 5 to 319 ± 4 m s−1 in the stratosphere, and gravity waves7 propagating at 238 ± 3 to 269 ± 3 m s−1 in the stratosphere. Gravity waves at sub-ionospheric heights have not previously been observed propagating at this speed or over the whole Earth from a single source8,9. Latent heat release from the plume remained the most significant individual gravity wave source worldwide for more than 12 h, producing circular wavefronts visible across the Pacific basin in satellite observations. A single source dominating such a large region is also unique in the observational record. The Hunga Tonga eruption represents a key natural experiment in how the atmosphere responds to a sudden point-source-driven state change, which will be of use for improving weather and climate models.

Tsunami Triggered by the Lamb Wave From the 2022 Tonga Volcanic Eruption and Transition in the Offshore Japan Region

“…A classical tsunami source, such as sea-floor crustal deformations and mass movements, can also generate tsunamis traveling at the same speed (Lynett, 2022). A slower atmospheric wave, such as an acoustic gravity wave, also contributes to the amplification of tsunamis, as its velocity is closer to the average speed of a tsunami (Carvajal et al, 2022;Kubota et al, 2022;Watanabe et al, 2022;Wright et al, 2022). Watanabe et al (2022) explained the negative pulse in Figure 2b as one of the acoustic gravity wave modes.…”

Out of the blue: Volcanic SO2 emissions during the 2021–2022 eruptions of Hunga Tonga—Hunga Ha’apai (Tonga)

“…Although the precise eruption magnitude and erupted volume remain uncertain, the 15 January 2022 HTHH eruption undoubtedly rivals the largest eruptions of the past Century or more. The maximum plume height of ~55 km for the overshooting tops (Carr et al, 2022) is unprecedented in the satellite era, Wright et al (2022) estimate an eruption energy yield of 10-28 Exajoules (EJ; 1 EJ =10 18 J), and Matoza et al (2022) report exceptional atmospheric Lamb wave amplitudes. Based on these metrics, the climactic 15 January 2022 HTHH explosion was likely larger than the 1991 Pinatubo eruption and comparable to the 1883 Krakatau eruption.…”

“…The latter occurred in dramatic fashion during the 15 January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH), a submarine volcano in Tonga. The 15 January 2022 HTHH eruption, which was the culmination of an eruptive sequence that began in December 2021, produced an eruption column with overshooting tops that rose to lower mesospheric altitudes (~55 km) (Carr et al, 2022), an umbrella cloud that rivalled the 1991 Pinatubo eruption in horizontal extent (Gupta et al, 2022), a plethora of atmospheric waves that propagated globally (Matoza et al, 2022;Wright et al, 2022), vigorous lightning, and local and distal tsunamis (Kubota et al, 2022). The highly explosive nature of the 2022 HTHH eruption was driven by violent magmaseawater interaction, and the event drew comparisons with the 1883 eruption of Krakatau (Indonesia), which produced some analogous atmospheric wave phenomena (Symons, 1888).…”

Rapid Volcanic Modification of the E‐Region Dynamo: ICON's First Glimpse of the Tonga Eruption

“…The eruption vapourized the surrounding seawater, lofting more than 100 million tons of water vapor tens of kilometers into the stratosphere (Millan et al, 2022). There, the vapor again condensed and released its latent heat, transferring energy into the atmosphere and generating outward propagating waves (Wright et al, 2022). Maletckii and Astafyeva (2022) estimated that it would take…”

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These energies are comparable to the energy released by the largest nuclear bombs, and rank the Tonga volcanic eruption as the strongest in the last 30 years (Duncombe, 2022). After the eruption, energy propagated outward via seismic waves traveling through the Earth (Poli & Shapiro, 2022), tsunamis moving across the ocean (Carvajal et al, 2022), and various acoustic and gravity wave modes propagating in the atmosphere, which were subsequently able to reach space and affect the ionosphere (Wright et al, 2022). Here, we will investigate the eruption's immediate ionospheric effect, examining how atmospheric waves emanating from the eruption rapidly modified the ionospheric dynamo, dramatically changing plasma behavior thousands of kilometers away.The United States Geological Survey (USGS) used seismic data to estimate that the main volcanic blast occurred at 4:14:45 Universal Time (UT) on 15 January 2022 (USGS, 2022).

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