Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol models response to different sulfur injection amount and altitude distribution during volcanic eruption

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Quaglia ◽  
Christoph Brühl ◽  
Sandip Dhomse ◽  
Henning Franke ◽  
Anton Laakso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Climate Modelling ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Volcanic Aerosol ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Altitude Distribution ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Intercomparison Project

<p>Large magnitude tropical volcanic eruptions emit sulphur dioxide and other gases directly into the stratosphere, creating a long-lived volcanic aerosol cloud which scatter incoming solar radiation, absorbs outgoing terrestrial radiation, and can strongly affect the composition of the stratosphere.</p><p>Such major volcanic enhancements of the stratospheric aerosol layer have strong “direct effects” on climate via these influences on radiative transfer, primarily surface cooling via the reduced insolation, but also have a range of indirect effects, due to the volcanic aerosol cloud’s effects on stratospheric circulation, dynamics and chemistry.</p><p>In this study, we investigate the 3 largest volcanic enhancements to the stratospheric aerosol layer in the last 100 years (Mt Agung 1963; Mt El Chichón 1982; Mt Pinatubo 1991), comparing co-ordinated simulations within the so-called HErSEA experiments (Historical Eruptions SO2 Emission Assessment) several national climate modelling centres carried out for the model intercomparison project ISA-MIP.</p><p>The HErSEA experiment saw participating models performing interactive stratospheric aerosol simulations of each of the volcanic aerosol clouds with common upper-, mid- and lower-estimate amounts and injection heights of sulfur dioxide, in order to better understand known differences among modelling studies for which initial emission gives best agreement with observations. </p><p>First, we compare results of several models HErSEA simulations with a range of observations, with the aim to find where there is agreement between the models and where there are differences, at the different initial sulfur injection amount and altitude distribution.</p><p>In this way, we could understand the differences and limitations in the mechanisms that controls the dynamical, microphysical and chemical processes of stratospheric aerosol layer.</p>

scholarly journals The Model Intercomparison Project on the climatic response to Volcanic forcing (VolMIP): Experimental design and forcing input data

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Zanchettin ◽  
Myriam Khodri ◽  
Claudia Timmreck ◽  
Matthew Toohey ◽  
Anja Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Climatic Response ◽  
Volcanic Forcing ◽  
Intercomparison Project

Abstract. The enhancement of the stratospheric aerosol layer by volcanic eruptions induces a complex set of responses causing global and regional climate effects on a broad range of timescales. Uncertainties exist regarding the climatic response to strong volcanic forcing identified in coupled climate simulations that contributed to the fifth phase of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). In order to better understand the sources of these model diversities, the model intercomparison project on the climate response to volcanic forcing (VolMIP) has defined a coordinated set of idealized volcanic perturbation experiments to be carried out in alignment with the CMIP6 protocol. VolMIP provides a common stratospheric aerosol dataset for each experiment to eliminate differences in the applied volcanic forcing, and defines a set of initial conditions to determine how internal climate variability contributes to determining the response. VolMIP will assess to what extent volcanically-forced responses of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system are robustly simulated by state-of-the-art coupled climate models and identify the causes that limit robust simulated behavior, especially differences in the treatment of physical processes. This paper illustrates the design of the idealized volcanic perturbation experiments in the VolMIP protocol and describes the common aerosol forcing input datasets to be used.

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2581-2608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Timmreck ◽  
Graham W. Mann ◽  
Valentina Aquila ◽  
Rene Hommel ◽  
Lindsay A. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Aerosol Model ◽  
Model Experiments ◽  
Aerosol Forcing ◽  
Intercomparison Project

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 SO2 Emission Assessment (HErSEA) experiment will focus on the uncertainty in the initial emission of recent large-magnitude volcanic eruptions, while the Pinatubo Emulation in Multiple models (PoEMS) experiment will provide a comprehensive uncertainty analysis of the radiative forcing from the 1991 Mt Pinatubo eruption.

Model comparison of volcanic aerosol forcing and climate impact of tropical and extratropical eruptions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihong Zhuo ◽  
Herman Fuglestvedt ◽  
Matthew Toohey ◽  
Michael J. Mills ◽  
Kirstin Krüger
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Volcanic Aerosol ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Aerosol Forcing ◽  
Central American Volcanic Arc

<p>Major volcanic eruptions increase sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere. This causes a large-scale dimming effect with significant surface cooling and stratosphere warming. However, the climate impact differs for tropical and extratropical eruptions, and depends on the eruption season and height, and volcanic volatiles injections. In order to study different volcanic aerosol forcing and their climate impact, we perform simulations based on the fully coupled Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2) with the version 6 of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM6) with prognostic stratospheric aerosol and chemistry. In this study, explosive eruptions at 14.6 N and 63.6 N in January and July injecting 17 MT and 200 MT SO<sub>2</sub> at 24 km with and without halogens are simulated, in line with Central American Volcanic Arc and Icelandic volcanic eruptions. Simulated changes in the stratospheric sulfate and halogen burdens, and related impacts on aerosol optical depth, radiation, ozone and surface climate are analyzed. These simulated volcanic eruption cases will be compared with simulations based on the aerosol-climate model MAECHAM5-HAM.</p>

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

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Timmreck ◽  
Graham W. Mann ◽  
Valentina Aquila ◽  
Rene Hommel ◽  
Lindsay A. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Aerosol Model ◽  
Model Experiments ◽  
Aerosol Forcing ◽  
Intercomparison Project

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 sulphur 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 4 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 sulphur emissions and transport processes over the period 1998–2012 and their role in the warming hiatus. Two further experiments will investigate the stratospheric sulphate aerosol evolution after major volcanic eruptions. The Historical Eruptions SO2 Emission Assessment (HErSEA) experiment will focus on the uncertainty in the initial emission of recent large-magnitude volcanic eruptions, while the Pinatubo Emulation in Multiple models (PoEMS) experiment will provide a comprehensive uncertainty analysis of the radiative forcing from the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

scholarly journals The Model Intercomparison Project on the climatic response to Volcanic forcing (VolMIP): experimental design and forcing input data for CMIP6

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 2701-2719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Zanchettin ◽  
Myriam Khodri ◽  
Claudia Timmreck ◽  
Matthew Toohey ◽  
Anja Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Input Data ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Climatic Response ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Volcanic Forcing ◽  
Intercomparison Project

Abstract. The enhancement of the stratospheric aerosol layer by volcanic eruptions induces a complex set of responses causing global and regional climate effects on a broad range of timescales. Uncertainties exist regarding the climatic response to strong volcanic forcing identified in coupled climate simulations that contributed to the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). In order to better understand the sources of these model diversities, the Model Intercomparison Project on the climatic response to Volcanic forcing (VolMIP) has defined a coordinated set of idealized volcanic perturbation experiments to be carried out in alignment with the CMIP6 protocol. VolMIP provides a common stratospheric aerosol data set for each experiment to minimize differences in the applied volcanic forcing. It defines a set of initial conditions to assess how internal climate variability contributes to determining the response. VolMIP will assess to what extent volcanically forced responses of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system are robustly simulated by state-of-the-art coupled climate models and identify the causes that limit robust simulated behavior, especially differences in the treatment of physical processes. This paper illustrates the design of the idealized volcanic perturbation experiments in the VolMIP protocol and describes the common aerosol forcing input data sets to be used.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of the radiative forcing by stratospheric sulfur geoengineering to the amount and strategy of the SO<sub>2</sub>injection studied with the LMDZ-S3A model

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2769-2786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Kleinschmitt ◽  
Olivier Boucher ◽  
Ulrich Platt
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Detailed Model ◽  
Mass Unit ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Injection Rates

Abstract. The enhancement of the stratospheric sulfate aerosol layer has been proposed as a method of geoengineering to abate global warming. Previous modelling studies found that stratospheric aerosol geoengineering (SAG) could effectively compensate for the warming by greenhouse gases on the global scale, but also that the achievable cooling effect per sulfur mass unit, i.e. the forcing efficiency, decreases with increasing injection rate. In this study we use the atmospheric general circulation model LMDZ with the sectional aerosol module S3A to determine how the forcing efficiency depends on the injected amount of SO2, the injection height, and the spatio-temporal pattern of injection. We find that the forcing efficiency may decrease more drastically for larger SO2 injections than previously estimated. As a result, the net instantaneous radiative forcing does not exceed the limit of –2 W m−2 for continuous equatorial SO2 injections and it decreases (in absolute value) for injection rates larger than 20 Tg S yr−1. In contrast to other studies, the net radiative forcing in our experiments is fairly constant with injection height (in a range 17 to 23 km) for a given amount of SO2 injected. Also, spreading the SO2 injections between 30∘ S and 30∘ N or injecting only seasonally from varying latitudes does not result in a significantly larger (i.e. more negative) radiative forcing. Other key characteristics of our simulations include a consequent stratospheric heating, caused by the absorption of solar and infrared radiation by the aerosol, and changes in stratospheric dynamics, with a collapse of the quasi-biennial oscillation at larger injection rates, which has impacts on the resulting spatial aerosol distribution, size, and optical properties. But it has to be noted that the complexity and uncertainty of stratospheric processes cause considerable disagreement among different modelling studies of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering. This may be addressed through detailed model intercomparison activities, as observations to constrain the simulations of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering are not available and analogues (such as volcanic eruptions) are imperfect.

Recovered measurements of the 1960s stratospheric aerosol layer for new constraints for volcanic forcing in the years after 1963 Agung

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Mann ◽  
Juan Carlos Antuna Marrero ◽  
Amanda Maycock ◽  
Christine McKenna ◽  
Sarah Shallcross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aerosol Particle ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Volcanic Plume ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Volcanic Aerosol ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Aerosol Model ◽  
Volcanic Forcing ◽  
The 1960S

&lt;p&gt;The WCRP-SPARC initiative on stratospheric sulphur (SSiRC) has begun a new activity to recover past observational datasets of the stratospheric aerosol layer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The data rescue activity aims to provide additional constraints for volcanic impacts on climate and is organised into three time-periods:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;The quiescent period prior to the major eruption 1963 Agung eruption,&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The period of strong volcanic activity during 1963-1969,&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The Jul-Dec 1991 period after Pinatubo when the SAGE-II signal was saturated.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;p&gt;A new page within the SSiRC website gives further information on the datasets within this activity ( http://www.sparc-ssirc.org &amp;#160;--&gt; Activities --&gt; Data Rescue).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this presentation, we explain the 1963-1969 component of the data rescue, and compare the CMIP5 and CMIP6 volcanic aerosol datasets during this period, post-Agung interactive stratospheric aerosol model simulations and a preliminary analysis of 15-year global-mean surface temperature trends from CMIP6 historical integrations for 1950-1980.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 1960s was a strongly volcanically active decade, with the major 1963 Agung eruption and tropical stratosphere-injecting eruptions in 1965 (Taal), 1966 (Awu) and 1968 (Fernandina) generating a prolonged period of strong natural surface cooling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Less than a year after the Agung eruption, the first in-situ measurements of a major volcanic aerosol cloud were made with dust-sondes from Minneapolis measuring aerosol particle concentrations with 10 soundings between 1963 and 1965 (6 in 1963-4).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Global surveys with the U-2 aircraft were equipped with impactors to measure stratospheric aerosol particle size distribution and composition, for example detecting the presence of volcanic ash within the Agung volcanic plume.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Early ground-based active remote sensing measurements (lidar, searchlight) also measured the vertical profile of the Agung-enhanced stratospheric aerosol layer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The main purpose of the SSiRC data rescue is to provide constraints for interactive stratospheric aerosol models, aligning with the ISA-MIP activity, which could potentially lead to new volcanic forcing datasets for climate models, ultimately thereby aiming to improve attribution of anthropogenic change and future projections.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Model physics and chemistry causing intermodel disagreement within the VolMIP-Tambora Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol ensemble

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margot Clyne ◽  
Jean-Francois Lamarque ◽  
Michael J. Mills ◽  
Myriam Khodri ◽  
William Ball ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Climate Modeling ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Effective Radius ◽  
Volcanic Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
Sulfate Formation ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Global Mean

Abstract. As part of the Model Intercomparison Project on the climatic response to Volcanic forcing (VolMIP), several climate modeling centers performed a coordinated pre-study experiment with interactive stratospheric aerosol models simulating the volcanic aerosol cloud from an eruption resembling the 1815 Mt Tambora eruption (VolMIP-Tambora ISA ensemble). The pre-study provided the ancillary ability to assess intermodel diversity in the radiative forcing for a large stratospheric-injecting equatorial eruption when the volcanic aerosol cloud is simulated interactively. An initial analysis of the VolMIP-Tambora ISA ensemble showed large disparities between models in the stratospheric global mean aerosol optical depth (AOD). In this study, we now show that stratospheric global mean AOD differences among the participating models are primarily due to differences in aerosol size, which we track here by effective radius. We identify specific physical and chemical processes that are missing in some models and/or parameterized differently between models, which are together causing the differences in effective radius. In particular, our analysis indicates that interactively tracking hydroxyl radical (OH) chemistry following a large volcanic injection of sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important factor in allowing for the timescale for sulfate formation to be properly simulated. In addition, depending on the timescale of sulfate formation, there can be a large difference in effective radius and subsequently AOD that results from whether the SO2 is injected in a single model gridcell near the location of the volcanic eruption, or whether it is injected as a longitudinally averaged band around the Earth.

Detection of an enhanced stratospheric aerosol layer above Europe one year after the eruption of the volcano Raikoke

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Tomsche ◽  
Andreas Marsing ◽  
Tina Jurkat-Witschas ◽  
Johannes Lucke ◽  
Katharina Kaiser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Sulfate Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Volcanic Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Aerosol Mass

&lt;p&gt;Extreme volcanic eruptions inject significant amounts of sulfur-containing species into the lower stratosphere and sustain the stratospheric aerosol layer which tends to cool the atmosphere and surface temperatures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;During the BLUESKY campaign in May/June 2020, the aerosol composition and its precursor gas SO2 were measured with a time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer onboard the research aircraft HALO and with a atmospheric chemical ionization mass spectrometer onboard the DLR Falcon. While SO2 was slightly above background levels in the lower stratosphere above Europe, the aerosol mass spectrometer detected an extended aerosol layer. This sulfate aerosol layer was observed on most of the HALO flights and the sulfate mixing ratio increased significantly between 10 and 14 km altitude. Back trajectory calculations show no recent transport of polluted boundary layer air or ground-based emissions into the lower stratosphere. Therefore, we suggest that the stratospheric sulfate aerosol layer might be attributed to the aged stratospheric plume of the volcano Raikoke in Japan. In June 2019, Raikoke injected huge amounts of SO2 into the lower stratosphere, which were converted to sulfate and contributed to the stratospheric aerosol layer. This decaying volcanic aerosol layer was observed with the aerosol mass spectrometer over Europe a year after the eruption. The long-term volcanic remnants enhance the total stratospheric aerosol surface area, facilitate heterogeneous reactions on these particles and provide additional cloud condensation nuclei in the UTLS. They further offset some of the reduced sulfur burden from aviation that was observed during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. &lt;br&gt;The sensitive and highly time resolved airborne measurements of composition and size of stratospheric aerosol from an explosive volcanic eruption help to better constrain sulfur chemistry in the lower stratosphere, validate satellite observations near their detection threshold and can be used to evaluate dispersion and chemistry-climate models on long-term effects of volcanic aerosol.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

Monitoring the Variability of the Stratospheric Aerosol Layer over Tomsk in 2016–2018 Based on Lidar Data

2021 ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
V. N. Marichev ◽  
◽  
D. A. Bochkovskiia ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Temperature Inversion ◽  
Cold Season ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The results of observations of the features of intraannual variability for the vertical structure of background aerosol in the stratosphere over Western Siberia in 2016–2018 are presented and analyzed. Experimental data were obtained at the lidar complex of Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) with a receiving mirror diameter of 1 m. The objective of the study is to investigate the dynamics of background stratospheric aerosol, since during this period there were no volcanic eruptions leading to the transport of eruptive aerosol into the stratosphere. The results of the study confirm a stable intraannual cycle of maximum aerosol filling of the stratosphere in winter, a decrease in spring to the minimum, practical absence in summer, and an increase in autumn. At the same time, the variability of stratification and aerosol filling is observed for different years. It was found that aerosol is concentrated in the layer up to 30 km all year round, except for the winter period. It is shown that the vertical aerosol stratification is largely determined by the thermal regime of the tropo- sphere–stratosphere boundary layer. The absence of a pronounced temperature inversion at the tropopause contributes to an increase in the stratosphere–troposphere exchange and, as a result, to the aerosol transport to the stratosphere. This situation is typical of the cold season. For the first time, data on the quantitative content of stratospheric aerosol (its mass concentration) were obtained from single- frequency lidar data.

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