Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)

Abstract The Hunga volcano violently erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer since Pinatubo 1991, despite the initially estimated modest injection of SO2. This study presents novel SO2 and sulfate aerosol (SA) co‐retrievals from the Infrared...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pasquale Sellitto, Richard Siddans, Redha Belhadji, Elisa Carboni, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, Clair Duchamp, Brian Kerridge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-10-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105565
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850077766573096960
author Pasquale Sellitto
Richard Siddans
Redha Belhadji
Elisa Carboni
Bernard Legras
Aurélien Podglajen
Clair Duchamp
Brian Kerridge
author_facet Pasquale Sellitto
Richard Siddans
Redha Belhadji
Elisa Carboni
Bernard Legras
Aurélien Podglajen
Clair Duchamp
Brian Kerridge
author_sort Pasquale Sellitto
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The Hunga volcano violently erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer since Pinatubo 1991, despite the initially estimated modest injection of SO2. This study presents novel SO2 and sulfate aerosol (SA) co‐retrievals from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer, and uses them to quantify the initial progression of the Hunga plume. These observations are consistent with rapid conversion of SO2 (e‐folding time: 17.1 ± 4.3 days) to SA, with an injected burden of >1.0 Tg SO2. This points at larger SO2 injections than previously thought. A long‐lasting SA plume was observed, with two separate build‐up phases, and with a meridional dispersion of marked anomalies from the tropics to the higher southern hemispheric latitudes. A limited (∼20%) SA removal was observed after 1‐year dispersion. The total injected SA mass burden was estimated at 1.6 ± 0.5 Tg in the total atmospheric column, with a build‐up e‐folding time of about 2 months.
format Article
id doaj-art-3071ddcedcab4df89d211d5207d4e70c
institution DOAJ
issn 0094-8276
1944-8007
language English
publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-3071ddcedcab4df89d211d5207d4e70c2025-08-20T02:45:43ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-10-015119n/an/a10.1029/2023GL105565Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)Pasquale Sellitto0Richard Siddans1Redha Belhadji2Elisa Carboni3Bernard Legras4Aurélien Podglajen5Clair Duchamp6Brian Kerridge7Univ Paris Est Creteil and Université Paris Cité CNRS LISA Créteil FranceNational Centre for Earth Observation STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Chilton UKUniv Paris Est Creteil and Université Paris Cité CNRS LISA Créteil FranceNational Centre for Earth Observation STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Chilton UKLaboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD‐IPSL) CNRS Sorbonne Université ENS‐PSL École Polytechnique Paris FranceLaboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD‐IPSL) CNRS Sorbonne Université ENS‐PSL École Polytechnique Paris FranceLaboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD‐IPSL) CNRS Sorbonne Université ENS‐PSL École Polytechnique Paris FranceNational Centre for Earth Observation STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Chilton UKAbstract The Hunga volcano violently erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer since Pinatubo 1991, despite the initially estimated modest injection of SO2. This study presents novel SO2 and sulfate aerosol (SA) co‐retrievals from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer, and uses them to quantify the initial progression of the Hunga plume. These observations are consistent with rapid conversion of SO2 (e‐folding time: 17.1 ± 4.3 days) to SA, with an injected burden of >1.0 Tg SO2. This points at larger SO2 injections than previously thought. A long‐lasting SA plume was observed, with two separate build‐up phases, and with a meridional dispersion of marked anomalies from the tropics to the higher southern hemispheric latitudes. A limited (∼20%) SA removal was observed after 1‐year dispersion. The total injected SA mass burden was estimated at 1.6 ± 0.5 Tg in the total atmospheric column, with a build‐up e‐folding time of about 2 months.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105565volcanic plumessulfur cyclesatellite observationsvolcanic aerosols
spellingShingle Pasquale Sellitto
Richard Siddans
Redha Belhadji
Elisa Carboni
Bernard Legras
Aurélien Podglajen
Clair Duchamp
Brian Kerridge
Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
Geophysical Research Letters
volcanic plumes
sulfur cycle
satellite observations
volcanic aerosols
title Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
title_full Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
title_fullStr Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
title_full_unstemmed Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
title_short Observing the SO2 and Sulfate Aerosol Plumes From the 2022 Hunga Eruption With the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)
title_sort observing the so2 and sulfate aerosol plumes from the 2022 hunga eruption with the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer iasi
topic volcanic plumes
sulfur cycle
satellite observations
volcanic aerosols
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105565
work_keys_str_mv AT pasqualesellitto observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT richardsiddans observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT redhabelhadji observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT elisacarboni observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT bernardlegras observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT aurelienpodglajen observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT clairduchamp observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi
AT briankerridge observingtheso2andsulfateaerosolplumesfromthe2022hungaeruptionwiththeinfraredatmosphericsoundinginterferometeriasi