Stratospheric sulfur simulated by the chemistry climate model EMAC and measured by MIPAS

 

The figure shows time series of modelled (top) and measured (bottom) SO2 at 17 km altitude of the period 2002--2011. The displayed data are weekly zonal averages in 2.8-degree latitude bins (top) and 5-day averages in 10-degree latitude bins (bottom).

The simulations were performed with the chemistry climate model ECHAM-MESSy (EMAC), and the measurements were obtained by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on the ENVISAT satellite. In good agreement the modelled and measured SO2 distributions exhibit sudden increases in volume mixing ratio (values larger than 0.2 ppbv), which can clearly be associated to volcanic eruptions. For example, the strong increases in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 reflect the eruptions of Kasatochi (52.2N, 175.5W, 7 Aug 2008), Sarychev (48.1N, 153.2E, 12 Jun 2009), Merapi (7.5S, 110.4E, 26 Oct 2010) and Nabro (13.4N, 41.7E, 12 Jun 2011).

For further details see: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/2014JD022430/full