The Impact of Volcanic Eruptions of Different Magnitude on Stratospheric Water Vapour in the Tropics

Abstract. Volcanic eruptions increase the stratospheric water vapour (SWV) entry via long wave heating through the aerosol layer in the cold point region, and this additional SWV alters the atmospheric energy budget. We analyze tropical volcanic eruptions of different eruption strengths with sulfur (S) injections ranging from 2.5 Tg S up to 40 Tg S using EVAens, the 100-member ensemble of the Max Planck Institute – Earth System Model in its low resolution configuration (MPI-ESM-LR) with artificial volcanic forcing generated by the Easy Volcanic Aerosol (EVA) tool. Significant increases in SWV are found for the mean over all ensemble members from 2.5 Tg S onward ranging between [5,160] %, while for single ensemble members the standard deviation between the control run members (0 Tg S) is larger than SWV increase of single ensemble members for the eruption strengths up to 20 Tg S. A historical simulation using observation based forcing files of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, which was estimated to have emitted (7.5 &pm; 2.5) Tg S, returns SWV increases slightly higher than the 10 Tg S EVAens simulations due to differences in the aerosol profile shape. An additional amplification of the tape recorder signal is also apparent, which is not present in the 10 Tg S run. These differences underline that it is not only the eruption volume, but also the aerosol layer shape and location with respect to the cold point that have to be considered for post-eruption SWV increases. The additional tropical clear sky SWV forcing for the different eruption strengths amounts to [0.02, 0.65] W/m2, ranging between [2.5, 4] percent of the aerosol radiative forcing in the 10 Tg S scenario. The monthly cold point temperature increases leading to the SWV increase are not linear with respect to AOD nor is the corresponding SWV forcing, among others, due to hysteresis effects, seasonal dependencies, aerosol profile heights, and feedbacks. However, knowledge of the cold point temperature increase allows for an estimation of SWV increases with a 12 % increase per Kelvin increase in mean cold point temperature, and yearly averages show an approximately linear behaviour in the cold point warming and SWV forcing with respect to the AOD.

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The impact of volcanic eruptions of different magnitude on stratospheric water vapor in the tropics

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-21-6565-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (8) ◽

pp. 6565-6591

Author(s):

Clarissa Alicia Kroll ◽

Sally Dacie ◽

Alon Azoulay ◽

Hauke Schmidt ◽

Claudia Timmreck

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Aerosol Layer ◽

Power Functions ◽

Max Planck ◽

Point Temperature ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapor ◽

Cold Point ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Increasing the temperature of the tropical cold-point region through heating by volcanic aerosols results in increases in the entry value of stratospheric water vapor (SWV) and subsequent changes in the atmospheric energy budget. We analyze tropical volcanic eruptions of different strengths with sulfur (S) injections ranging from 2.5 Tg S up to 40 Tg S using EVAens, the 100-member ensemble of the Max Planck Institute – Earth System Model in its low-resolution configuration (MPI-ESM-LR) with artificial volcanic forcing generated by the Easy Volcanic Aerosol (EVA) tool. Significant increases in SWV are found for the mean over all ensemble members from 2.5 Tg S onward ranging between [5, 160] %. However, for single ensemble members, the standard deviation between the control run members (0 Tg S) is larger than SWV increase of single ensemble members for eruption strengths up to 20 Tg S. A historical simulation using observation-based forcing files of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, which was estimated to have emitted (7.5±2.5) Tg S, returns SWV increases slightly higher than the 10 Tg S EVAens simulations due to differences in the aerosol profile shape. An additional amplification of the tape recorder signal is also apparent, which is not present in the 10 Tg S run. These differences underline that it is not only the eruption volume but also the aerosol layer shape and location with respect to the cold point that have to be considered for post-eruption SWV increases. The additional tropical clear-sky SWV forcing for the different eruption strengths amounts to [0.02, 0.65] W m−2, ranging between [2.5, 4] % of the aerosol radiative forcing in the 10 Tg S scenario. The monthly cold-point temperature increases leading to the SWV increase are not linear with respect to aerosol optical depth (AOD) nor is the corresponding SWV forcing, among others, due to hysteresis effects, seasonal dependencies, aerosol profile heights and feedbacks. However, knowledge of the cold-point temperature increase allows for an estimation of SWV increases of 12 % per Kelvin increase in mean cold-point temperature. For yearly averages, power functions are fitted to the cold-point warming and SWV forcing with increasing AOD.

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Volcanic aerosol heating in the tropical tropopause region and associated water vapour changes

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12318 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Clarissa Kroll ◽

Hauke Schmidt ◽

Claudia Timmreck

Keyword(s):

Water Vapour ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Aerosol Layer ◽

Volcanic Aerosol ◽

Surface Warming ◽

Tropical Tropopause ◽

Tropopause Region ◽

Cold Point ◽

The Impact

Large volcanic eruptions affect the distribution of atmospheric water vapour, for instance through cooling of the surface, warming of the lowermost stratosphere, and increasing the upwelling in the tropical tropopause region.To better understand the volcanic impact on the tropical tropopause region and associated changes in the water vapour distribution in the stratosphere we employ a combination of short term convection-resolving global simulations with ICON and long term low resolution ensemble simulations with the MPI-ESM1.2-LR EVAens, both with prescribed volcanic forcing. With the EVAens a long term statistical analysis of the water vapour trends during the build-up and decay of a volcanic aerosol layer is made possible. The impact of the heating in the cold point regions is studied for five different eruption magnitudes. Stratospheric water vapour changes are analyzed in simulations with synthetic and observation based aerosol profiles showing that the distance of the aerosol profile from the cold point region can be more important for the water vapour entry into the stratosphere than the emitted amount of sulfur.Whereas the EVAens is ideal to investigate the slow ascent of water vapour into the stratosphere the 10 km high resolution simulations with ICON allow insights into the convective changes after volcanic eruptions going beyond the limitations parameterizations usually impose on the model data.

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The role of methane in projections of 21st century stratospheric water vapour

10.5194/acp-2016-545 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Revell ◽

Andrea Stenke ◽

Eugene Rozanov ◽

William Ball ◽

Stefan Lossow ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapour ◽

Methane Oxidation ◽

21St Century ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Lower Stratosphere ◽

Climate Model ◽

Radiative Balance ◽

Canonical Representative ◽

Cold Point ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. Stratospheric water vapour (SWV) is an important component of the Earth's atmosphere as it affects both radiative balance and the chemistry of the atmosphere. Key processes driving changes in SWV through the 21st century include dehydration of air masses transiting the cold-point tropopause (CPT) and methane oxidation. Increasing surface temperatures may strengthen the Brewer-Dobson circulation, such that more methane is transported into the stratosphere where it can be oxidised to SWV. We use a chemistry-climate model to simulate changes in SWV through the 21st century following the four canonical Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Furthermore, we quantify the contribution that methane oxidation makes to SWV following each of the RCPs. The methane contribution to SWV maximises in the upper stratosphere, however modelled SWV trends are found to be driven predominantly by warming of the CPT and strengthening of the Brewer-Dobson circulation rather than by increasing methane oxidation. SWV changes by −5 % to 60 % (depending on the location in the atmosphere and emissions scenario) and increases in the lower stratosphere in all RCPs through the 21st century. Because the lower stratosphere is where water vapour radiative forcing maximises, SWV's influence on surface climate is also expected to increase through the 21st century.

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Review of : The Impact of Volcanic Eruptions of Different Magnitude on Stratospheric Water Vapour in the Tropics by Kroll et al. (https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-1191)

10.5194/acp-2020-1191-rc1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anonymous

Keyword(s):

Water Vapour ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

The Tropics ◽

The Impact ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapour

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Impact of the Ambae, Raikoke and Ulawun eruptions in 2018-2019 on the global stratospheric aerosol layer and climate

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-2406 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Corinna Kloss ◽

Pasquale Sellitto ◽

Bernard Legras ◽

Jean-Paul Vernier ◽

Fabrice Jégou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Stratospheric Aerosol ◽

Orthogonal Polarization ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Aerosol Layer ◽

The Impact ◽

Aerosol Plume

Using a combination of satellite, ground-based and in-situ observations, and radiative transfer modelling, we quantify the impact of the most recent moderate volcanic eruptions (Ambae, Vanuatu in July 2018; Raikoke, Russia and Ulawun, New Guinea in June 2019) on the global stratospheric aerosol layer and climate.For the Ambae volcano (15&#176;S and 167&#176;E), we use the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III), the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS), the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Himawari geostationary satellite observations of the aerosol plume evolution following the Ambae eruption of July 2018. It is shown that the aerosol plume of the main eruption at Ambae in July 2018 was distributed throughout the global stratosphere within the global large-scale circulation (Brewer-Dobson circulation, BDC), to both hemispheres. Ground-based LiDAR observations in Gadanki, India, as well as in-situ Printed Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) measurements acquired during the BATAL campaign confirm a widespread perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer due to this eruption. Using the UVSPEC radiative transfer model, we also estimate the radiative forcing of this global stratospheric aerosol perturbation. The climate impact is shown to be comparable to that of the well-known and studied recent moderate stratospheric eruptions from Kasatochi (USA, 2008), Sarychev (Russia, 2009) and Nabro (Eritrea, 2011). Top of the atmosphere radiative forcing values between -0.45 and -0.60 W/m2, for the Ambae eruption of July 2018, are found.In a similar manner the dispersion of the aerosol plume of the Raikoke (48&#176;N and 153&#176;E) and Ulawun (5&#176;S and 151&#176;E) eruptions of June 2019 is analyzed. As both of those eruptions had a stratospheric impact and happened almost simultaneously, it is challenging to completely distinguish both events. Even though the eruptions occurred very recently, first results show that the aerosol plume of the Raikoke eruption resulted in an increase in aerosol extinction values, double as high as compared to that of the Ambae eruption. However, as the eruption occurred on higher latitudes, the main bulk of Raikoke aerosols was transported towards the northern higher latitude&#8217;s in the stratosphere within the BDC, as revealed by OMPS, SAGE III and a new detection algorithm for SO2 and sulfate aerosol using IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer). Even though the Raikoke eruption had a larger impact on the stratospheric aerosol layer, both events (the eruptions at Raikoke and Ambae) have to be considered in stratospheric aerosol budget and climate studies.

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The role of methane in projections of 21st century stratospheric water vapour

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-16-13067-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (20) ◽

pp. 13067-13080 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Laura E. Revell ◽

Andrea Stenke ◽

Eugene Rozanov ◽

William Ball ◽

Stefan Lossow ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapour ◽

Methane Oxidation ◽

21St Century ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Lower Stratosphere ◽

Climate Model ◽

Radiative Balance ◽

Canonical Representative ◽

Cold Point ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. Stratospheric water vapour (SWV) is an important component of the Earth's atmosphere as it affects both radiative balance and the chemistry of the atmosphere. Key processes driving changes in SWV include dehydration of air masses transiting the cold-point tropopause (CPT) and methane oxidation. We use a chemistry–climate model to simulate changes in SWV through the 21st century following the four canonical representative concentration pathways (RCPs). Furthermore, we quantify the contribution that methane oxidation makes to SWV following each of the RCPs. Although the methane contribution to SWV maximizes in the upper stratosphere, modelled SWV trends are found to be driven predominantly by warming of the CPT rather than by increasing methane oxidation. SWV changes by −5 to 60 % (depending on the location in the atmosphere and emissions scenario) and increases in the lower stratosphere in all RCPs through the 21st century. Because the lower stratosphere is where water vapour radiative forcing maximizes, SWV's influence on surface climate is also expected to increase through the 21st century.

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Review of "The Impact of Volcanic Eruptions of Different Magnitude on Stratospheric Water Vapour in the Tropics" by Kroll et al.

10.5194/acp-2020-1191-rc2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anonymous

Keyword(s):

Water Vapour ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

The Tropics ◽

The Impact ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapour

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The impact of temperature resolution on trajectory modeling of stratospheric water vapour

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-14-29209-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (21) ◽

pp. 29209-29236 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

T. Wang ◽

A. E. Dessler ◽

M. R. Schoeberl ◽

W. J. Randel ◽

J.-E. Kim

Keyword(s):

Water Vapour ◽

Vertical Resolution ◽

Tropical Tropopause Layer ◽

Tropical Tropopause ◽

Finite Resolution ◽

Cold Point ◽

Wave Induced ◽

The Impact ◽

Modern Era ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. Lagrangian trajectories driven by reanalysis meteorological fields are frequently used to study water vapour (H2O) in the stratosphere, in which the tropical cold-point temperatures regulate H2O amount entering the stratosphere. Therefore, the accuracy of temperatures in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) is of great importance for trajectory studies. Currently, most reanalyses, such as the NASA MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications), only provide temperatures with ~1.2 km vertical resolution in the TTL, which has been argued to introduce uncertainties in the simulations. In this paper, we quantify this uncertainty by comparing the trajectory results using MERRA temperatures on model levels (traj.MER-T) to those using temperatures in finite resolutions, including GPS temperatures (traj.GPS-T) and MERRA temperatures adjusted to recover wave-induced variability underrepresented by the current ~1.2 km vertical resolution (traj.MER-Twave). Comparing with traj.MER-T, traj.GPS-T has little impact on simulated stratospheric H2O (changes ~0.1 ppmv), whereas traj.MER-Twave tends to dry air by 0.2–0.3 ppmv. The bimodal dehydration peaks in traj.MER-T due to limited vertical resolution disappear in traj.GPS-T and traj.MER-Twave by allowing the cold-point tropopause to be found at finer vertical levels. Despite these differences in absolute values of predicted H2O and vertical dehydration patterns, there is virtually no difference in the interannual variability in different runs. Overall, we find that the finite resolution of temperature has limited impact on predicted H2O in the trajectory model.

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Aerosol influences on radiative heating rates in the Asian tropopause aerosol layer

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5145 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jie Gao ◽

Jonathon Wright

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Asian Monsoon ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Radiative Heating ◽

Spatiotemporal Variability ◽

Radiation Budget ◽

Aerosol Layer ◽

Heating Rates ◽

Aerosol Analysis

The Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) has emerged over recent decades to play an increasingly prominent role in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere above the Asian monsoon region. Although the effects of the ATAL on the surface and top-of-atmosphere radiation budget have been examined by several studies, the processes and effects by which the ATAL alters radiative transfer within the tropopause layer have been much less discussed. We have used a conditional composite approach to investigate aerosol mixing ratios and their impacts on radiative heating rates in the Asian monsoon tropopause layer in MERRA-2. We have then subsampled in time based on known volcanic eruptions and the evolution of emission and data assimilation inputs to the MERRA-2 aerosol analysis to isolate the ATAL contribution and compare it to radiative heating signatures in the monsoon anticyclone region after volcanic eruptions. The results indicate that the ATAL impact on radiative heating rates in this region is on the order of 0.1 K/day, similar to that associated with ozone variability in MERRA-2 but weaker than cloud radiative effects at these altitudes. We have validated these results and tested their sensitivity to variations in the vertical structure and composition of ATAL aerosols using offline radiative transfer simulations. The idealized simulations produce similar but slightly stronger responses of radiative heating rates to the ATAL and are in good agreement with previous estimates of the top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing. Although the ATAL perturbations inferred from MERRA-2 are only about 10% of mean heating rates at these levels, their spatial distribution suggests potential implications for both isentropic and diabatic transport within the monsoon anticyclone, which should be examined in future work. Our results are limited by uncertainties in the composition and spatiotemporal variability of the ATAL, and reflect only the conditions in this layer as represented by MERRA-2. Targeted observations and model simulations are needed to adequately constrain the uncertainties, particularly with respect to the relative proportions and contributions of nitrate aerosols, which are not included in the MERRA-2 aerosol analysis.

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Evolution of tracer and ice crystal distribution in the young plumes of overshooting turrets from the StratoClim golden flight

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9756 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sergey Khaykin ◽

Martina Krämer ◽

Elizabeth Moyer ◽

Silvia Bucci ◽

Armin Afchine ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Asian Monsoon ◽

Convective Transport ◽

Ice Crystals ◽

Ice Crystal ◽

Satellite Measurements ◽

Cold Point ◽

Ice Water ◽

The Impact ◽

Stratospheric Water Vapour

Deployment of the high-altitude M55-Geophysica aircraft in Kathmandu during Summer 2017 within StratoClim campaign has yielded a wealth of unique high-resolution measurements in the Asian Monsoon Anticyclone (AMA). In a particular flight (F8, 10 August 2017) the aircraft flew at the cold-point tropopause level through active overshoots and their outflows minutes to hours old. The measurements reveal up to 2500 ppmv of ice water above 17 km in large aggregated ice crystals up to 700 &#181;m in diameter. Smaller crystals were observed as high as 18.8 km (410 K). Tracer and thermodynamical measurements show manifestations of vigorous vertical motions and provide evidence for ongoing mixing of tropospheric and stratospheric air around the tropopause. We use an ensemble of airborne and satellite measurements inside and downwind of convective overshoots together with trajectory modeling to characterize the impact of overshooting convection on the thermodynamical structure and chemical composition of the Asian tropopause layer. The effect of cross-tropopause convective transport on the Asian lower stratospheric water vapour is discussed.

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