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Report on Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989) — March 1988


Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989)

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 3 (March 1988)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989) Lidar figures since 1974 summarized; Antarctic data

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1988. Report on Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 13:3. Smithsonian Institution.



Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989)

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Lidar data from Hampton, VA continued to show a gradual decline in stratospheric aerosols, but values had not yet dropped to the level of 1977-79. Similar trends have been measured in Europe, Hawaii, and Japan (for 1982-87). The increased aerosol observed from Mauna Loa, Hawaii on 19 March (figure 55) was concentrated between 20 and 25 km altitude and did not appear to be newly injected material. January-March data from Fukuoka, Japan were similar to values measured in late 1987.

Figure with caption Figure 55. Lidar data from various locations, showing altitudes of aerosol layers during January-March 1988. Note that some layers have multiple peaks. Backscattering ratios from Fukouka, Japan, are for the Nd-YAG wavelength of 1.06 µm; all others are for the ruby wavelength of 0.69 µm. Integrated values show total backscatter, expressed in steradians-1, integrated over 300-m intervals from 16-33 km at Mauna Loa and from the tropopause to 30 km at Hampton, Virginia. Altitudes of maximum backscattering ratios and coefficients are shown for each layer at Mauna Loa.

Stratospheric aerosol measurements using Nd-YAG, frequency-doubled lidar (0.532 µm), were made from Italy's base at Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica (74.6988°S, 164.0856°E) from 28 December, 1987 to 10 February, 1988. Lidar data were compared with the Antarctic molecular atmosphere derived from the base Meteorological Office's daily radiosonde soundings. Good lidar profiles were obtained, most of them during the day, to more than 30 km height (figure 56). Aerosols were detected between about 16 and 25 km, with only gradual variations in the layer structure during the period. Integrated backscattering values (between 10 and 30 km) varied from 0.02-0.03 x 10-3.

Figure with caption Figure 56. Lidar profiles (at 0.532 µm) from Italy's base at Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica (74.6988°S, 164.0856°E), 11 January-10 February, 1988. Courtesy of Leopoldo Stefanutti.

The source of the Antarctic aerosols is uncertain. The last known vigorous explosive activity in the Antarctic region was the late 1984 eruption of Mt. Erebus but no eruption clouds large enough to penetrate the stratosphere were observed. Remnants of large eruptions elsewhere on the globe that continue to be detected at lower latitudes may also persist in the Antarctic stratosphere.

Information Contacts: Leopoldo Stefanutti, Istituto di Ricerca sulle Onde Elettromagnetiche, Via Panciatichi 64, 50127 Firenze, Italy; William Fuller, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23665 USA; Thomas DeFoor, Mauna Loa Observatory, P.O. Box 275, Hilo, HI 96720 USA; Motowo Fujiwara, Physics Department, Fukuoka University, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka 814-01, Japan.