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Report on Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989) — April 1989


Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989)

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 14, no. 4 (April 1989)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989) No new stratospheric aerosols

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1989. Report on Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 14:4. Smithsonian Institution.



Atmospheric Effects (1980-1989)

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Recent eruptions have apparently contributed little new aerosol material to the stratosphere. Aerosol concentrations over Obninsk and Teplocluchenka, USSR increased slightly during fall and winter 1988 from spring and summer values (figure 66). Poor weather limited observations from Mauna Loa, Hawaii; the one successful April 1989 observation registered the lowest integrated aerosol backscattering measured since before the 1982 eruption of El Chichón.

Figure with caption Figure 66. Lidar data from various locations, showing altitudes of aerosol layers during October 1988-April 1989. Note that some layers have multiple peaks. Backscattering ratios from Obninsk and Teplocluchenka are for the Nd-YAG wavelength of 0.53 µm; all others are for the ruby wavelength of 0.69 µm. Integrated values show total backscatter, expressed in steradians-1, integrated over 500-m intervals from 15-30 km at Obninsk and Teplocluchenka, and 300-m intervals from 16-33 km at Mauna Loa.

Information Contacts: Sergei Khmelevtsov, Yu. Kaufman, and B. Chen, Institute of Experimental Meteorology, Lenin St. 82, Obninsk, Kaluga Reg., USSR; Thomas DeFoor, Mauna Loa Observatory, P. O. Box 275, Hilo, HI 96720 USA.