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Report on Atmospheric Effects (1995-2001) — July 1995


Atmospheric Effects (1995-2001)

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 20, no. 7 (July 1995)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Atmospheric Effects (1995-2001) Lidar data from Cuba and Germany

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1995. Report on Atmospheric Effects (1995-2001) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 20:7. Smithsonian Institution.



Atmospheric Effects (1995-2001)

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Lidar data from Germany during April-June (table 3) continued to reveal a volcanic aerosol layer centered at 18-20 km altitude. Backscattering ratios again showed a decline from earlier in the year (Bulletin v. 20, no. 2). In Cuba, a volcanic aerosol layer was detected at 20-22 km altitude between 20 May and 28 June. Lidar data (0.53 µm) showed a noticeable decline in both integrated backscattering and backscatter ratios from November-December values (Bulletin v. 20, no. 4).

Table 3. Lidar data from Germany and Cuba, showing altitudes of aerosol layers. Only bases of the layers are shown for Cuba. Backscattering ratios are for the Nd-YAG wavelength of 0.53 µm, with equivalent ruby values (0.69 µm) in parentheses. Integrated values show total backscatter, expressed in steradians^-1, integrated over 300-m intervals from the tropopause to 30 km at Garmisch-Partenkirchen and 16-33 km at Camaguey.

DATE LAYER ALTITUDE (km) (peak) BACKSCATTERING RATIO BACKSCATTERING INTEGRATED
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (47.5°N, 11.0°E)
03 Apr 1995 10-31 (18.9) 1.26 (1.6) --
24 Apr 1995 cirrus-27 (19.0) 1.20 (1.5) --
02 May 1995 10-24 (18.4) 1.17 (1.4) --
07 May 1995 11-27 (19.1) 1.14 (1.3) --
17 May 1995 cirrus-27 (17.6) 1.26 (1.6) --
22 May 1995 10-30 (18.2) 1.18 (1.4) --
28 May 1995 10-27 (19.7) 1.15 (1.4) --
20 Jun 1995 10-29 (19.4) 1.16 (1.4) --
27 Jun 1995 12-27 (18.1) 1.13 (1.3) --
29 Jun 1995 cirrus-26 (18.3) 1.12 (1.3) --
Camaguey, Cuba (21.2°N, 77.5°W)
20 May 1995 16.0 (20.8) 1.17 1.10 x 10-4
27 May 1995 16.0 (21.7) 1.20 1.39 x 10-4
28 Jun 1995 16.6 (21.1) 1.15 0.99 x 10-4

Information Contacts: Horst Jager, Fraunhofer -- Institut fur Atmospharische Umweltforschung, Kreuzeckbahnstrasse 19, D-8100 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; Juan Carlos Antuna, Centro Meteorologico de Camaguey, Apartado 134, Camaguey 70100, Cuba.