Volcanic impact on cirrus clouds

Author(s):  
Moa Sporre ◽  
Johan Friberg ◽  
Odran Sourdeval ◽  
Oscar Sandvik ◽  
Bengt Martinsson

<p>Cirrus clouds have a net warming effect on climate due to their high altitude and low optical thickness. Small changes in their properties may however shift this to a stronger warming or a cooling. Aerosol particles can strongly affect cirrus cloud properties since they can act as ice nuclei (IN) for the ice crystals. How downwelling sulfate aerosols from the stratosphere affect cirrus clouds is highly unknown but important both in terms of volcanic impact on climate and possible geoengineering through sulfate injections in the stratosphere. In this study we investigate how the microphysical properties of cirrus clouds change with aerosol loading in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS). The study is focused on the midlatitudes where the descending air motion in the stratosphere result in aerosol downwelling from the stratosphere to the troposphere. The study is conducted during 11 years (2006 - 2016) when the stratosphere had varying levels of aerosol load due to volcanic eruptions. </p><p>The cirrus clouds are studied using the satellite dataset DARDAR (raDAR/liDAR) which combines data from the CloudSat radar and CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) lidar. Also the aerosol loading in the LMS is retrieved using a satellite dataset, from CALIPSO (Friberg2018). The first results show that the ice water content of the cirrus clouds decrease when the aerosol loading in the LMS increase. This change occur mainly during spring and autumn for homogeneously frozen cirrus clouds. The results regarding the effective radius of the ice crystals are more uncertain but the effective radius also seem to decrease with increased aerosol loading in the LMS. However, this is mainly seen in the northern hemisphere which has experienced the largest changes in aerosol load due to volcanic eruptions during this period. Also data of ice crystal number concentration are being processed and will be studied to better understand the impact on the cirrus clouds from the downwelling stratospheric aerosol.</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>Friberg, J., Martinsson, B. G., Andersson, S. M., and Sandvik, O. S.: Volcanic impact on the climate - The stratospheric aerosol load in the period 2006-2015, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18, 11 149–11 169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11149-2018, 2018.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 11149-11169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Friberg ◽  
Bengt G. Martinsson ◽  
Sandra M. Andersson ◽  
Oscar S. Sandvik

Abstract. We present a study on the stratospheric aerosol load during 2006–2015, discuss the influence from volcanism and other sources, and reconstruct an aerosol optical depth (AOD) data set in a resolution of 1∘ latitudinally and 8 days timewise. The purpose is to include the “entire” stratosphere, from the tropopause to the almost particle-free altitudes of the midstratosphere. A dynamic tropopause of 1.5 PVU was used, since it enclosed almost all of the volcanic signals in the CALIOP data set. The data were successfully cleaned from polar stratospheric clouds using a temperature threshold of 195 K. Furthermore, a method was developed to correct data when the CALIOP laser beam was strongly attenuated by volcanic aerosol, preventing a negative bias in the AOD data set. Tropospheric influence, likely from upwelling dust, was found in the extratropical transition layer in spring. Eruptions of both extratropical and tropical volcanoes that injected aerosol into the stratosphere impacted the stratospheric aerosol load for up to a year if their clouds reached lower than 20 km altitude. Deeper-reaching tropical injections rose in the tropical pipe and impacted it for several years. Our AODs mostly compare well to other long-term studies of the stratospheric AOD. Over the years 2006–2015, volcanic eruptions increased the stratospheric AOD on average by ∼40 %. In absolute numbers the stratospheric AOD and radiative forcing amounted to 0.008 and −0.2 W m−2, respectively.



2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 6173-6191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayanta Kar ◽  
Kam-Pui Lee ◽  
Mark A. Vaughan ◽  
Jason L. Tackett ◽  
Charles R. Trepte ◽  
...  

Abstract. In August 2018, the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) project released a new level 3 stratospheric aerosol profile data product derived from nearly 12 years of measurements acquired by the spaceborne Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). This monthly averaged, gridded level 3 product is based on version 4 of the CALIOP level 1B and level 2 data products, which feature significantly improved calibration that now makes it possible to reliably retrieve profiles of stratospheric aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficients at 532 nm. This paper describes the science algorithm and data handling techniques that were developed to generate the CALIPSO version 1.00 level 3 stratospheric aerosol profile product. Further, we show that the extinction profiles (retrieved using a constant lidar ratio of 50 sr) capture the major stratospheric perturbations in both hemispheres over the last decade resulting from volcanic eruptions, extreme smoke events, and signatures of stratospheric dynamics. Initial assessment of the product by intercomparison with the stratospheric aerosol retrievals from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) on the International Space Station (ISS) indicates good agreement in the tropical stratospheric aerosol layer (30∘ N–30∘ S), where the average difference between zonal mean extinction profiles is typically less than 25 % between 20 and 30 km (CALIPSO biased high). However, differences can exceed 100 % in the very low aerosol loading regimes found above 25 km at higher latitudes. Similarly, there are large differences (≥100 %) within 2 to 3 km above the tropopause that might be due to cloud contamination issues.



2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5205-5225 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Trickl ◽  
H. Giehl ◽  
H. Jäger ◽  
H. Vogelmann

Abstract. Lidar measurements at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) have almost continually delivered backscatter coefficients of stratospheric aerosol since 1976. The time series is dominated by signals from the particles injected into or formed in the stratosphere due to major volcanic eruptions, in particular those of El Chichon (Mexico, 1982) and Mt Pinatubo (Philippines, 1991). Here, we focus more on the long-lasting background period since the late 1990s and 2006, in view of processes maintaining a residual lower-stratospheric aerosol layer in absence of major eruptions, as well as the period of moderate volcanic impact afterwards. During the long background period the stratospheric backscatter coefficients reached a level even below that observed in the late 1970s. This suggests that the predicted potential influence of the strongly growing air traffic on the stratospheric aerosol loading is very low. Some correlation may be found with single strong forest-fire events, but the average influence of biomass burning seems to be quite limited. No positive trend in background aerosol can be resolved over a period as long as that observed by lidar at Mauna Loa. We conclude that the increase of our integrated backscatter coefficients starting in 2008 is mostly due to volcanic eruptions with explosivity index 4, penetrating strongly into the stratosphere. Most of them occurred in the mid-latitudes. A key observation for judging the role of eruptions just reaching the tropopause region was that of the plume from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull above Garmisch-Partenkirchen (April 2010) due to the proximity of that source. The top altitude of the ash above the volcano was reported just as 9.3 km, but the lidar measurements revealed enhanced stratospheric aerosol up to 14.3 km. Our analysis suggests for two or three of the four measurement days the presence of a stratospheric contribution from Iceland related to quasi-horizontal transport, differing from the strong descent of the layers entering Central Europe at low altitudes. The backscatter coefficients within the first 2 km above the tropopause exceed the stratospheric background by a factor of four to five. In addition, Asian and Saharan dust layers were identified in the free troposphere, Asian dust most likely even in the stratosphere.



2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 12925-12943 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Veglio ◽  
T. Maestri

Abstract. A nearly global statistical analysis of vertical backscatter and extinction profiles of cirrus clouds collected by the CALIOP lidar, on-board of the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation, is presented. Statistics on frequency of occurrence and distribution of bulk properties of cirrus clouds in general and, for the first time, of horizontally homogeneous (on a 5-km field of view) cirrus clouds only are provided. Annual and seasonal backscatter profiles (BSP) are computed for the horizontally homogeneous cirri. Differences found in the day/night cases and for midlatitudes and tropics are studied in terms of the mean physical parameters of the clouds from which they are derived. The relationship between cloud physical parameters (optical depth, geometrical thickness and temperature) and the shape of the BSP is investigated. It is found that cloud geometrical thickness is the main parameter affecting the shape of the mean CALIOP BSP. Specifically, cirrus clouds with small geometrical thicknesses show a maximum in mean BSP curve located near cloud top. As the cloud geometrical thickness increases the BSP maximum shifts towards cloud base. Cloud optical depth and temperature have smaller effects on the shape of the CALIOP BSPs. In general a slight increase in the BSP maximum is observed as cloud temperature and optical depth increase. In order to fit mean BSPs, as functions of geometrical thickness and position within the cloud layer, polynomial functions are provided. The impact on satellite radiative transfer simulations in the infrared spectrum when using either a constant ice-content (IWC) along the cloud vertical dimension or an IWC profile derived from the BSP fitting functions is evaluated. It is, in fact, demonstrated that, under realistic hypotheses, the mean BSP is linearly proportional to the IWC profile.



2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 23135-23193 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Trickl ◽  
H. Giehl ◽  
H. Jäger ◽  
H. Vogelmann

Abstract. The powerful backscatter lidar at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) has almost continually delivered backscatter coefficients of the stratospheric aerosol since 1976. The time series is dominated by signals from the particles injected into or formed in the stratosphere due to major volcanic eruptions, in particular those of El Chichon (Mexico, 1982) and Mt. Pinatubo (Philippines, 1991). The volcanic aerosol disappears within about five years, the removal from the stratosphere being modulated by the phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation. Here, we focus more on the long-lasting background period since the late 1990s and 2006, in view of processes maintaining a residual lower-stratospheric aerosol layer in absence of major eruptions, as well as the period of moderate volcanic impact afterwards. During the long background period the stratospheric backscatter coefficients reached a level even below that observed in the late 1970s. This suggests that the predicted potential influence of the strongly growing air traffic on the stratospheric aerosol loading is very low. Some correlation may be found with single strong forest-fire events, but the average influence of biomass burning seems to be quite limited. No positive trend in background aerosol can be resolved over a period as long as that observed by lidar at Mauna Loa or Boulder. This suggests being careful with invoking Asian air pollution as the main source as found in the literature. Rather an impact of previously missed volcanic eruptions on the stratospheric aerosol must be taken into consideration. A key observation in this regard was that of the plume from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull above Garmisch-Partenkirchen (April 2010) due to the proximity of that source. The top altitude of the ash next to the source was reported just as roughly 9.3 km, but the lidar measurements revealed enhanced stratospheric aerosol up to 14.5 km. Our analysis suggests for two, perhaps three, of the four measurement days the presence of a stratospheric contribution from Iceland related to quasi-horizontal transport, contrasting the strongly descending lower layers entering Central Europe. The backscatter coefficients within the first 2 km above the tropopause exceed the stratospheric background by a factor of three to four. In addition, Asian and Saharan dust layers were identified in the free troposphere, Asian dust most likely even in the stratosphere. The number of minor mid-latitude eruptions has gradually increased during the past ten years. We conclude that, although their stratospheric contribution could not be clearly identified above our site they can sum up for forming some minor background. Clear stratospheric signatures were only seen in the case of eruptions reaching higher altitudes.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Toohey ◽  
Yue Jia ◽  
Susann Tegetmeier

<p>The cumulative radiative impact of major volcanic eruptions depends strongly on the length of time volcanic sulfate aerosol remains in the stratosphere. Observations of aerosol from recent eruptions have been used to suggest that residence time depends on the latitude of the volcanic eruption, with tropical eruptions producing aerosol loading that persists longer than that from extratropical eruptions. However, the limited number of eruptions observed make it difficult to disentangle the roles of latitude and injection height in controlling aerosol lifetime. Here we use satellite observations and model experiments to explore the relationship between eruption latitude, injection height and resulting residence time of stratospheric aerosol. We find that contrary to earlier interpretations of observations, the residence time of aerosol from major tropical eruptions like Pinatubo (1991) is on the order of 24 months. Model results suggest that the residence time is greatly sensitive to the height of the sulfur injection, especially within the lowest few kilometers of the stratosphere. As injection heights and latitudes are unknown for the majority of eruptions over the common era, we estimate the impact of this uncertainty on volcanic aerosol forcing reconstructions. </p>



2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 6821-6839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Chouza ◽  
Thierry Leblanc ◽  
John Barnes ◽  
Mark Brewer ◽  
Patrick Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract. As part of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), ground-based measurements obtained from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) stratospheric ozone lidar and the NOAA stratospheric aerosol lidar at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, over the past 2 decades were used to investigate the impact of volcanic eruptions and pyrocumulonimbus (PyroCb) smoke plumes on the stratospheric aerosol load above Hawaii since 1999. Measurements at 355 and 532 nm conducted by these two lidars revealed a color ratio of 0.5 for background aerosols and small volcanic plumes and 0.8 for a PyroCb plume recorded on September 2017. Measurements of the Nabro plume by the JPL lidar in 2011–2012 showed a lidar ratio of (64±12.7) sr at 355 nm around the center of the plume. The new Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (GloSSAC), Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) Level 3 and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station (SAGE III-ISS) stratospheric aerosol datasets were compared to the ground-based lidar datasets. The intercomparison revealed a generally good agreement, with vertical profiles of extinction coefficient within 50 % discrepancy between 17 and 23 km above sea level (a.s.l.) and 25 % above 23 km a.s.l. The stratospheric aerosol depth derived from all of these datasets shows good agreement, with the largest discrepancy (20 %) being observed between the new CALIOP Level 3 and the other datasets. All datasets consistently reveal a relatively quiescent period between 1999 and 2006, followed by an active period of multiple eruptions (e.g., Nabro) until early 2012. Another quiescent period, with slightly higher aerosol background, lasted until mid-2017, when a combination of extensive wildfires and multiple volcanic eruptions caused a significant increase in stratospheric aerosol loading. This loading maximized at the very end of the time period considered (fall 2019) as a result of the Raikoke eruption, the plume of which ascended to 26 km altitude in less than 3 months.



2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibaut Lurton ◽  
Fabrice Jégou ◽  
Gwenaël Berthet ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Renard ◽  
Lieven Clarisse ◽  
...  

Abstract. Volcanic eruptions impact climate through the injection of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is oxidized to form sulfuric acid aerosol particles that can enhance the stratospheric aerosol optical depth (SAOD). Besides large-magnitude eruptions, moderate-magnitude eruptions such as Kasatochi in 2008 and Sarychev Peak in 2009 can have a significant impact on stratospheric aerosol and hence climate. However, uncertainties remain in quantifying the atmospheric and climatic impacts of the 2009 Sarychev Peak eruption due to limitations in previous model representations of volcanic aerosol microphysics and particle size, whilst biases have been identified in satellite estimates of post-eruption SAOD. In addition, the 2009 Sarychev Peak eruption co-injected hydrogen chloride (HCl) alongside SO2, whose potential stratospheric chemistry impacts have not been investigated to date. We present a study of the stratospheric SO2-particle-HCl processing and impacts following Sarychev Peak eruption, using the CESM1(WACCM)-CARMA sectional aerosol microphysics model (with no a priori assumption on particle size). The Sarychev Peak 2009 eruption injected 0.9 Tg of SO2 into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), enhancing the aerosol load in the Northern hemisphere. The post-eruption evolution of the volcanic SO2 in space and time are well reproduced by the model when compared to IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) satellite data. Co-injection of 27 Gg HCl causes a lengthening of the SO2 lifetime and a slight delay in the formation of aerosols, and acts to enhance the destruction of stratospheric ozone and mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx) compared to the simulation with volcanic SO2 only. We therefore highlight the need to account for volcanic halogen chemistry when simulating the impact of eruptions such as Sarychev on stratospheric chemistry. The model-simulated evolution of effective radius (reff), reflects new particle formation followed by particle growth that enhances reff to reach up to 0.2 µm on zonal average. Comparisons of the model-simulated particle number and size-distributions to balloon-borne in-situ stratospheric observations over Kiruna, Sweden, in August and September 2009, and over Laramie, U.S.A., in June and November 2009 show good agreement and quantitatively confirms the post-eruption particle enhancement. We show that the model-simulated SAOD is consistent with that derived from OSIRIS (Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System) when both the saturation bias of OSIRIS and the fact that extinction profiles may terminate well above the tropopause are taken into account. Previous modelling studies (involving assumptions on particle size) that reported agreement to (biased) post-eruption estimates of SAOD derived from OSIRIS likely underestimated the climate impact of the 2009 Sarychev Peak eruption.



2010 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 2334-2347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Cooper ◽  
Timothy J. Garrett

Abstract There is currently significant uncertainty about the extent to which cirrus clouds are composed of “small” ice crystals smaller than about 20-μm effective radius. This is due in part to concerns that in situ measurements from aircraft are plagued by ice particle shattering on instrument inlets, artificially negatively biasing effective radii. Here, space-based measurements are applied to the problem. It is found that a space-based infrared split-window technique is less sensitive but more accurate than a visible-near-infrared technique for confident assessment of whether thin cirrus clouds have small effective radii, independent of a normal range of retrieval assumptions. Because of the sensitivities of the infrared split-window technique, however, this method can only accurately determine the presence of small particles for ice clouds with optical depths between roughly 0.5 and 3.0. Applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, it is found that a very conservative minimum of 15%–20% of such thin cirrus globally are composed of small ice crystals, but that the actual value could be as high as 40%, and even higher for cold clouds or those in the tropics. Retrievals are found to be in good agreement with airborne probe measurements from the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers–Florida-Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) field campaign, implying that, for the cases examined, the impact of inlet shattering on measurements must have been limited.



2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 4827-4841 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Rex ◽  
I. Wohltmann ◽  
T. Ridder ◽  
R. Lehmann ◽  
K. Rosenlof ◽  
...  

Abstract. Most of the short-lived biogenic and anthropogenic chemical species that are emitted into the atmosphere break down efficiently by reaction with OH and do not reach the stratosphere. Here we show the existence of a pronounced minimum in the tropospheric column of ozone over the West Pacific, the main source region for stratospheric air, and suggest a corresponding minimum of the tropospheric column of OH. This has the potential to amplify the impact of surface emissions on the stratospheric composition compared to the impact when assuming globally uniform OH conditions. Specifically, the role of emissions of biogenic halogenated species for the stratospheric halogen budget and the role of increasing emissions of SO2 in Southeast Asia or from minor volcanic eruptions for the increasing stratospheric aerosol loading need to be reassessed in light of these findings. This is also important since climate change will further modify OH abundances and emissions of halogenated species. Our study is based on ozone sonde measurements carried out during the TransBrom cruise with the RV Sonne roughly along 140–150° E in October 2009 and corroborating ozone and OH measurements from satellites, aircraft campaigns and FTIR instruments. Model calculations with the GEOS-Chem Chemistry and Transport Model (CTM) and the ATLAS CTM are used to simulate the tropospheric OH distribution over the West Pacific and the transport pathways to the stratosphere. The potential effect of the OH minimum on species transported into the stratosphere is shown via modeling the transport and chemistry of CH2Br2 and SO2.



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