Identification

Title

Modeled and observed volcanic aerosol control on stratospheric NOy and Cly

Abstract

Decreases in stratospheric NOx associated with enhanced aerosol have been observed after large volcanic eruptions, for example, after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. While the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption was the last large explosive eruption, recent studies have shed light on the impacts of moderate-sized eruptions since the year 2000 on the global stratospheric aerosol budget. We use an ensemble of simulations from a coupled climate-chemistry model to quantify and analyze changes in NO and NO2 (NOx), N2O5, HNO3, ClO, and ClONO2 during periods of increased stratospheric volcanic aerosol concentrations since 2000. By using an ensemble approach, we are able to distinguish forced responses from internal variability. We also compare the model ensemble results to satellite measurements of these changes in atmospheric composition, including measurements from the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on the Odin satellite and the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder. We find decreases in stratospheric NOx concentrations up to 20 hPa, consistent with increases in stratospheric HNO3 concentrations. The HNO3 perturbations also extend higher, up to 5 hPa, associated with periods of increased volcanic aerosol concentrations in both model simulations and observations, though correlations with volcanic aerosol are considerably higher in the model simulations. The model simulates increases in ClO at altitudes and magnitudes similar to the NOx reductions, but this response is below the detectable limit in the available observations (100 pptv). We also demonstrate the value of accounting for transport-related anomalies of atmospheric trace gases by regression onto N2O anomalies.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7c53pz7

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2019-09-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact