Atmospheric Science

Major influence of tropical volcanic eruptions on the stratospheric aerosol layer during the last decade

J.‐P. Vernier

E-mail address:jeanpaul.vernier@nasa.gov

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA

LATMOS, CNRS, INSU, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin, Université de Paris 6, Guyancourt, France

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L. W. Thomason

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA

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J.‐P. Pommereau

LATMOS, CNRS, INSU, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin, Université de Paris 6, Guyancourt, France

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A. Bourassa

Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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J. Pelon

LATMOS, CNRS, INSU, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin, Université de Paris 6, Guyancourt, France

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A. Garnier

LATMOS, CNRS, INSU, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin, Université de Paris 6, Guyancourt, France

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A. Hauchecorne

LATMOS, CNRS, INSU, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin, Université de Paris 6, Guyancourt, France

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L. Blanot

LATMOS, CNRS, INSU, Université de Versailles Saint Quentin, Université de Paris 6, Guyancourt, France

ACRI‐ST, Sophia‐Antipolis, France

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C. Trepte

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA

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Doug Degenstein

Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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F. Vargas

Institute for Research and Development, Paraiba Valley University, São José dos Campos, Brazil

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First published: 30 June 2011
Cited by: 103

Abstract

[1] The variability of stratospheric aerosol loading between 1985 and 2010 is explored with measurements from SAGE II, CALIPSO, GOMOS/ENVISAT, and OSIRIS/Odin space‐based instruments. We find that, following the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, stratospheric aerosol levels increased by as much as two orders of magnitude and only reached “background levels” between 1998 and 2002. From 2002 onwards, a systematic increase has been reported by a number of investigators. Recently, the trend, based on ground‐based lidar measurements, has been tentatively attributed to an increase of SO2 entering the stratosphere associated with coal burning in Southeast Asia. However, we demonstrate with these satellite measurements that the observed trend is mainly driven by a series of moderate but increasingly intense volcanic eruptions primarily at tropical latitudes. These events injected sulfur directly to altitudes between 18 and 20 km. The resulting aerosol particles are slowly lofted into the middle stratosphere by the Brewer‐Dobson circulation and are eventually transported to higher latitudes.

Number of times cited: 103

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