- 1CNRS-Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, LMD, Palaiseau, France (aurelien.podglajen@lmd.ipsl.fr)
- 2LISA-IPSL, Paris, France
- 3Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, United States of America
Following the eruptions of Raikoke in 2019 and Hunga in 2022, it was recently discovered that stratospheric volcanic plumes may feature specific mesoscale dynamics. First, they undergo important vertical motions, a descent for the Hunga plume [e.g., 1,2], a self-lofting for the Raikoke plume [e.g., 3]. Second, they tend to self-organize into mesoscale anticyclonic circulations. This behavior dramatically affects the dispersion of the plumes and their climate impacts. While it is clear that they arise due to significant diabatic heating anomalies, a quantitative estimate of the radiative heating rates and their link with the vertical motions of the plumes is currently lacking .
In this study, we use offline radiative transfer calculations with a broad-band radiative transfer model to quantify the anomalous stratospheric heating rates resulting from a localized volcano-induced perturbation. The calculations are forced using particle optical properties and water vapor concentrations in the Hunga and Raikoke plumes observed from a suite of space-borne sensors including the spaceborne Lidar CALIOP. We explore the sensitivity of the heating rates to various plume properties, including altitude and composition. Their consequences on mesoscale organization are discussed in light of idealized mesoscale plume simulations [4].
References
[1] Sellitto, P., Podglajen, A., Belhadji, R. et al. The unexpected radiative impact of the Hunga Tonga eruption of 15th January 2022. Commun Earth Environ 3, 288 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00618-z
[2] Legras, B., Duchamp, C., Sellitto, P., Podglajen, A., Carboni, E., Siddans, R., Grooß, J.-U., Khaykin, S., and Ploeger, F.: The evolution and dynamics of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai sulfate aerosol plume in the stratosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022.
[3] Khaykin, S.M., de Laat, A.T.J., Godin-Beekmann, S. et al. Unexpected self-lofting and dynamical confinement of volcanic plumes: the Raikoke 2019 case. Sci Rep 12, 22409 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27021-0
[4] Podglajen, A., Legras, B., Lapeyre, G., Plougonven, R., Zeitlin, V., Brémaud, V., et al. (2024) Dynamics of diabatically forced anticyclonic plumes in the stratosphere. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 150(760), 1538–1565. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4658
How to cite: Podglajen, A., Tran, D. D., Sellitto, P., Duchamp, C., Legras, B., Randel, W., and Starr, J.: Diabatic Heating Rates and Mesoscale Vortices in Stratospheric Volcanic Plumes: Insights from the 2022 Hunga and 2019 Raikoke plumes, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-19899, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-19899, 2025.
