Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net
1680-7367
1680-7375
8
1
2008
10.5194/acpd-8-3761-2008
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/3761/2008/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/3761/2008/acpd-8-3761-2008.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/3761/2008/acpd-8-3761-2008.pdf
3761
3805
2008-02-25
Estimation of the vertical profile of sulfur dioxide injection into the atmosphere by a volcanic eruption using satellite column measurements and inverse transport modeling
S. Eckhardt
A. J. Prata
P. Seibert
K. Stebel
A. Stohl
ast@nilu.no
Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway
Inst. of Meteorology, Univ. of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
An analytical inversion method has been developed to estimate the vertical profile of SO<sub>2</sub> emissions from volcanic eruptions.
The method uses satellite-observed total SO<sub>2</sub> columns and an atmospheric transport model (FLEXPART)
to exploit the fact that winds change with altitude – thus, the position and
shape of the volcanic plume bear information on its emission altitude.
The method finds the vertical emission distribution which minimizes the total
difference between simulated and observed SO<sub>2</sub> columns while also considering a priori information.
We have tested the method with the eruption of Jebel at Tair on 30 September 2007
for which a comprehensive observational data set from various satellite instruments
(AIRS, OMI, SEVIRI, CALIPSO) is available.
Using satellite data from the first 24 h after the eruption for the inversion,
we found an emission maximum near 16 km above sea level (asl), and secondary maxima near 5, 9, 12 and 14 km a.s.l.
60% of the emission occurred above the tropopause.
The emission profile obtained in the inversion was then used to simulate the transport
of the plume over the following week.
The modeled plume agrees very well with SO<sub>2</sub> total columns observed by OMI, and its
altitude and width agree mostly within 1–2 km with CALIPSO observations of stratospheric
aerosol produced from the SO<sub>2</sub>.
The inversion result is robust against various changes in both the a priori and the
observations.
Even when using only SEVIRI data from the first 15 h after the eruption, the emission
profile was reasonably well estimated.
The method is computationally very fast.
It is therefore suitable for implementation within an operational environment, such as the
Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers, to predict the threat posed by volcanic ash for air traffic.
It could also be helpful for assessing the sulfur input into the stratosphere, be it in the
context of volcanic processes or also for proposed geo-engineering techniques to counteract global warming.
Bey, I., Jacob, D. J., Yantosca, R. M., Logan, J. A., Field, B. D., et al.: Global modeling of tropospheric chemistry with assimilated meteorology: Model description and evaluation, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 23073–23096, doi:10.1029/2001JD000807, 2001.
BGVN: Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 32(10), October, 2007, Dept. of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution. (Available at http://www.volcano.si.edu/gvp/reports/bulletin/), 2007.
Carey, S. and Bursik, M.: Volcanic Plumes, In Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, Academic Press, San Diego, 527–544, 2000.
Carn, S. A., Krotkov, N. A., Yang, K., Hoff, R. M., Prata, A. J., Krueger, A. J., Loughlin, S. C., and Levelt, P. F.: Extended observations of volcanic SO<sub>2</sub> and sulfate aerosol in the stratosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Disc., 7, 2857–2871, 2007.
Carn, S. A., Krueger, A. J., Krotkov, N. A., Yang, K., and Levelt, P. F.: Sulfur dioxide emissions from Peruvian copper smelters detected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L09801, doi:10.1029/2006GL029020, 2007.
Chahine, M. T., Pagano, T. S.,Aumann, H. H., Atlas, R., Barnet, C., et al.: AIRS: Improving weather forecasting and providing new data on greenhouse gases, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 87, 911–926, doi:10.1175/BAMS-87-7-911, 2006.
Clerbaux, C., Turquety, S., Hadji-Lazaro, J., George, M., Boynard, A, Pommier, M, Coheur, P.-F., Hurtmans, D., Wespes, C., Razavi, A., and Herbin, H.: Monitoring of volcanic \soo ~using thermal infrared IASI/METOP sounders (TES, IASI), paper presented at the Support to Aviation Control Service meeting, Toulouse, 26–27~November 2007.
Crutzen, P.: Albedo enhancement by stratospheric sulphur injections: A contribution to resolve a policy dilemma?, Climatic Change, 77, 3–4, 211–220, doi:10.1007/s10584-006-9101-y, 2006.
Damoah, R., Spichtinger, N., Forster, C., James, P., Mattis, I., Wandinger, U., Beirle, S., and Stohl, A.: Around the world in 17 days – hemispheric-scale transport of forest fire smoke from Russia in May 2003, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 1311–1321, 2004.
ECMWF (edited by: White, P. W.): IFS Documentation, ECMWF, Reading, UK, availible at: http://www.ecmwf.int, 2002.
Eckhardt, S., Breivik, K., Manø, S., and Stohl, A.: Record high peaks in PCB concentrations in the Arctic atmosphere due to long-range transport of biomass burning emissions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 4527–4536, 2007.
Emanuel, K. A. and Živkovi\'c-Rothman, M.: Development and evaluation of a convection scheme for use in climate models, J. Atmos. Sci., 56, 1766–1782, 1999. %
%Fan, S.-M., Sarmiento, J. L., Gloor, M., and Pacala, W.: %On the use of regularization techniques in the inverse modeling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, %J. Geophys. Res., 104, 21503–21512, 1999.
Forster, C., Stohl, A., and Seibert, P.: Parameterization of convective transport in a Lagran-gian particle dispersion model and its evaluation, J. Appl. Met. Clim., 46, 403–422, 2007.
Gerstell, M. F., Crisp, J., and Crisp, D.: Radiative forcing of the stratosphere by \soo ~gas, silicate ash, and H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> aerosols shortly after the 1982 eruptions of El Chichon, J. Climate, 8, 1060–1070, 1995.
Graf, H.-F., Li, Q., and Giorgetta, M. A: Volcanic effects on climate: revisiting the mechanisms, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 4503–4511, 2007.
Halmer, M. M. and Schmincke, H.-U.: The impact of moderate-scale explosive eruptions on stratospheric gas injections, Bull. Volcanol., 65, 433–440, 2003.
Heffter, J. L.: Volcanic ash model verification using a Klyuchevskoi eruption, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23, 1489–1492, 1996.
Hostetler, C. A., Liu, Z., Reagan, J., Vaughan, M., Osborn, M., Hunt, W. H., Powell, K. A., and Trepte, C.: CALIOP Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document, Calibration and Level 1 Data Products, PC-SCI-201, NASA Langley Res. Cent., Hampton, Va., 2006 (available at: http://www-calipso.larc.nasa.gov/resources/project_documentation.php.
Krotkov, N. A., Carn, S. A., Krueger, A. J., Bhartia, P. K., and Yang, K.: Band Residual Difference algorithm for retrieval of SO2 from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, AURA Special Issue, 44, 1259–1266, doi:10,1109/TGRS.2005.861932, 2006.
Mankin, W. G., Coffey, M. T., and Goldman, A.: Airborne observations of SO<sub>2</sub>, HCl, and O<sub>3</sub>, in the stratospheric plume of the Pinatubo volcano in July 1991, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 179–182, 1992.
McCormick, M. P., Thomason, L. W., and Trepte, C. R.: Atmospheric effects of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, Nature, 373, 399–404, 1995.
McGill, M. J., Vaughan, M. A., Trepte, C. R., Hart, W. D., Hlavka, D. L., Winker, D. M., and Kuehn, R.: Airborne validation of spatial properties measured by the CALIPSO lidar, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D20201, doi:10.1029/2007JD008768, 2007.
Menke, W.: Geophysical Data Analysis: Discrete Inverse Theory. 260 pp., Academic Press, Orlando, 1984.
Oberhuber, J. M., Herzog, M., Graf, H.-F., and Schwanke, K.: Volcanic plume simulation on large scales, J. Volcan. Geoth. Res., 87, 29–53, 1998.
Prata, A. J. and Bernardo, C.: Retrieval of volcanic SO2 column abundance from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder data, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D20204, doi:10.1029/2006JD007955, 2007.
Prata, A. J., Carn, S. A., Stohl, A., and Kerkmann, J.: Long range transport and fate of a stratospheric volcanic cloud from Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 5093–5103, 2007.
Prata, A. J. and Kerkmann, J.: Simultaneous retrieval of volcanic ash and SO2 using MSG-SEVIRI measurements, Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L05813, doi:10.1029/2006GL028691, 2007.
Prata, A. J.,Rose, W. I., Self, S., and O'Brien, D. M.: Global, long-term sulphur dioxide measurements from TOVS data: A new tool for studying explosive volcanism and climate, Volcanism and the Earth's Atmosphere, Geophys. Monograph 139, AGU, 75–92, 2003.
Robock, A. and Oppenheimer, C. : Volcanism and the Earth's Atmosphere, Geophys. Monograph Series, 139, 364 pages, ISBN 0-87590-998-1, 2004.
Seibert, P.: Inverse modelling of sulfur emissions in Europe based on trajectories, In: Inverse Methods in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, edited by: Kasibhatla, P., Heimann, M., Rayner, P., Mahowald, N., Prinn, R. G., and Hartley, D. E., 147–154, Geophysical Monograph 114, American Geophysical Union, ISBN 0-87590-097-6, 2000.
Seibert, P.: Inverse modelling with a Lagrangian particle dispersion model: application to point releases over limited time intervals, In: Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XIV, edited by: Schiermeier, F.A. and Gryning, S.-E., 381–389, Kluwer Academic Publ., 2001.
Stohl, A., Hittenberger, M., and Wotawa, G.: Validation of the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART against large scale tracer experiment data, Atmos. Environ., 32, 4245–4264, 1998.
Stohl, A. and Thomson, D. J.: A density correction for Lagrangian particle dispersion models, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 90, 155–167, 1999.
Stohl, A., Forster, C. Eckhardt, S., Spichtinger, N., Huntrieser, H., Heland, J., Schlager, H., Wilhelm, S., Arnold, F., and Cooper, O.: A backward modeling study of intercontinental pollution transport using aircraft measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4370, doi:10.1029/2002JD002862, 2003.
Stohl, A., Forster, C., Frank, A., Seibert, P., and Wotawa, G.: Technical note: The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART version 6.2., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 2461–2474, 2005.
Stunder, B. J. B., Heffter, J. L., and Draxler, R. R.: Airborne volcanic ash forecast area reliability, Wea. Forecasting, 22, 1132–1139, 2007.
Textor, C., Graf, H. F., Herzog, M., and Oberhuber, J. M.: Injection of gases into the stratosphere by explosive volcanic eruptions, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4606, doi:10.1029/2002JD002987, 2003.
Vaughan, M., Winker, D., and Powell, K.: CALIOP AlgorithmTheoretical Basis Document, part 2, Feature detection and layer properties algorithms, PC-SCI-202.01, NASA Langley Res. Cent., Hampton, Va., 2005 (available at http://www-calipso.larc.nasa.gov/resources/project_documentation.php.
Wang, X., Boselli, A., D’Avino, L., Pisani, G., Spinelli, N., et al.: Volcanic dust characterization by EARLINET during Etna’s eruptions in 2001–2002, Atmos. Environ., 42, 839–905, 2008.
Wesely, M. L. and Hicks, B. B.: Some factors that affect the deposition rates of sulfur dioxide and similar gases on vegetation, J. Air Poll. Contr. Assoc., 27, 1110–1116, 1977.
Wesely, M. L.: Parameterization of surface resistances to gaseous dry deposition in regional-scale numerical models, Atmos. Environ., 23, 1293–1304, 1989.
Winker, D. M, Pelon, J., and McCormick, M. P.: The CALIPSO mission: Spaceborne lidar for observation of aerosols and clouds, Proc. SPIE Int. Soc. Opt. Eng., 4893, 1–11, doi:10.1117/12.466539, 2003.
Winker D. M., Hunt, W. H., and McGill, M. J: Initial performance assessment of CALIOP, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L19803, doi:10.1029/2007GL030135, 2007.
Yang, K., Krotkov, N. A., Krueger, A. J., Carn, S. A., Bhartia, P. K., and Levelt, P. F.: Retrieval of large volcanic SO<sub>2</sub> columns from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument: Comparison and limitations, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D24S43, doi: 10.1029/2007JD008825, 2007.