Regional transportation and influence of atmospheric aerosols triggered by Tonga volcanic eruption

Zhengpeng Li; Jianrong Bi; Zhiyuan Hu; Junyang Ma; Bowen Li

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121429

Regional transportation and influence of atmospheric aerosols triggered by Tonga volcanic eruption

Environ Pollut. 2023 May 15:325:121429. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121429. Epub 2023 Mar 9.

Authors

Zhengpeng Li¹, Jianrong Bi², Zhiyuan Hu³, Junyang Ma¹, Bowen Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China; Gansu Provincial Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Semi-arid Climate and Environment, 730000, Lanzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China; Gansu Provincial Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Semi-arid Climate and Environment, 730000, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: bijr@lzu.edu.cn.
³ School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System Ministry of Education, And Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, 519082, Zhuhai, China.

PMID: 36906060
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121429

Abstract

A cataclysmic submarine volcano at Hunga Tonga-HungaHa'apai (HTHH) near Tonga, erupted violently on 15 January 2022, which injected a plume of ash cloud soaring into the upper atmosphere. In this study, we examined the regional transportation and potential influence of atmospheric aerosols triggered by HTHH volcano, based on active and passive satellite products, ground-based observations, multi-source reanalysis datasets and atmospheric radiative transfer model. The results indicated that about 0.7 Tg (1 Tg = 10⁹ kg) sulfur dioxide (SO₂) gas were emitted into stratosphere from the HTHH volcano, and were lifted to an altitude of 30 km. The regional averaged SO₂ columnar content over the western Tonga increased by 10-36 Dobson Units (DU), and the mean aerosol optical thickness (AOT) retrieved from satellite products increased to 0.25-0.34. The stratospheric AOT values caused by HTHH emissions increased to 0.03, 0.20, and 0.23 on 16, 17, and 19 January, respectively, accounting for 1.5%, 21.9%, and 31.1% of total AOT. Ground-based observations also showed an AOT increase of 0.25-0.43, with the maximum daily average of 0.46-0.71 appeared on 17 January. The volcanic aerosols were remarkably dominated by fine-mode particles and posed strong light-scattering and hygroscopic abilities. Consequently, the mean downward surface net shortwave radiative flux was reduced by 2.45-11.9 Wm^-2 on different regional scales, and the surface temperature decreased by 0.16-0.42 K. The maximum aerosol extinction coefficient was 0.51 km^-1 appeared at 27 km, which resulted in an instantaneous shortwave heating rate of 1.80 Khour^-1. These volcanic materials stayed stable in the stratosphere and completed one circle around the earth within 15 days. This would exert a profound influence on the energy budget, water vapor and ozone exchange in the stratosphere, which deserves to be further studied.

Keywords: Tonga volcanic eruption,; aerosol optical thickness, shortwave heating rate; volcanic aerosol.

MeSH terms

Aerosols
Atmosphere* / analysis
Sulfur Dioxide
Tonga
Volcanic Eruptions*

Substances

Sulfur Dioxide
Aerosols