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Radiative impact of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai stratospheric volcanic plume: role of aerosols and water vapor in the southern tropical Indian Ocean
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  • Michaël Sicard,
  • Alexandre Albert Baron,
  • Marion Ranaivombola,
  • Dominique Gantois,
  • Tristan Millet,
  • Pasquale Sellitto,
  • Nelson BEGUE,
  • Guillaume Payen,
  • Nicolas Marquestaut,
  • Valentin Duflot
Michaël Sicard
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Alexandre Albert Baron
University of Colorado Boulder
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Marion Ranaivombola
Laboratoire de l'Atmosphere et des Cyclones-Université de la Reunion
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Dominique Gantois
LACy
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Tristan Millet
LACy
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Pasquale Sellitto
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, Université Paris-Est Créteil
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Nelson BEGUE
Laboratoire de l'atmosphere et des Cyclones-Universite de la Reunion
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Guillaume Payen
OSUR
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Nicolas Marquestaut
Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de La Réunion
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Valentin Duflot
LACy UMR8105/OSUR
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Abstract

This study attempts to quantify the radiative impact over Reunion Island (21°S, 55°E) in the southern tropical Indian Ocean of the aerosols and water vapor injected in the stratosphere by the eruption on 15 January 2022 in the South Pacific of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano. Ground-based lidar and satellite passive instruments are used to parametrize a state-of-the-art radiative transfer model for the first thirteen months after the volcano eruption. The descending rate of the aerosol volcanic plume is -0.008 km day-1. At this rate, aerosols are expected to be present in the stratosphere until the first half of 2025. The overall aerosol and water vapor impact on the Earth’s radiation budget for the whole period is positive (warming, +0.06 ± 0.45 W m-2) and dominated by the aerosol impact. However, the decreasing rate with time of the aerosol warming effect is larger than that of the water vapor cooling effect, so that, in the long run, the impact on the Earth’s radiation budget might reduce to quasi-neutral, or even become slightly negative. At the Earth’s surface, aerosols are the main driver and produce a negative (cooling, -0.91 ± 0.61 W m-2) radiative impact with also a decreasing tendency with time. Heating/cooling rate profiles show a clear vertical difference in the stratosphere between the aerosol warming impact (17 to 25 km) and the water vapor cooling one (25 to 40 km).
06 Dec 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
11 Dec 2023Published in ESS Open Archive