Articles | Volume 25, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2047-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2047-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Impact of SO2 injection profiles on simulated volcanic forcing for the 2009 Sarychev eruptions – investigating the importance of using high-vertical-resolution methods when compiling SO2 data
Emma Axebrink
Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund 22100, Sweden
Moa K. Sporre
Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund 22100, Sweden
Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund 22100, Sweden
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Carl Svenhag, Pontus Roldin, Tinja Olenius, Robin Wollesen de Jonge, Sara M. Blichner, Daniel Yazgi, and Moa K. Sporre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11483–11504, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11483-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11483-2025, 2025
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This study is an investigation of the model representation of how particles are formed and grow in the atmosphere. Using modelled and observed data from two boreal forest stations in 2018, we identify key factors for new particle formation to improve particle climate predictions in the global EC-Earth3 model. Comparisons with the detailed ADCHEM model show that adding ammonia improves particle growth predictions, though EC-Earth3 still greatly underestimates the number of particles during warmer months.
Bengt G. Martinsson, Johan Friberg, and Moa K. Sporre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 10677–10690, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10677-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10677-2025, 2025
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Highly variable stratospheric aerosol bears great importance for Earth's climate. The 1-year average aerosol load from the 2022 volcanic eruption in Hunga Tonga is the highest since the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption. The usual volcanic aerosol precursor gas (SO2) mass was not sufficient to explain the aerosol load. Intense volcanism–sea interaction amplified the eruption, and sea salt emission forms a plausible explanation for the high aerosol loading.
Carl Svenhag, Moa K. Sporre, Tinja Olenius, Daniel Yazgi, Sara M. Blichner, Lars P. Nieradzik, and Pontus Roldin
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4923–4942, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4923-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4923-2024, 2024
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Our research shows the importance of modeling new particle formation (NPF) and growth of particles in the atmosphere on a global scale, as they influence the outcomes of clouds and our climate. With the global model EC-Earth3 we show that using a new method for NPF modeling, which includes new detailed processes with NH3 and H2SO4, significantly impacts the number of particles in the air and clouds and changes the radiation balance of the same magnitude as anthropogenic greenhouse emissions.
Johan Friberg, Bengt G. Martinsson, and Moa K. Sporre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12557–12570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12557-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12557-2023, 2023
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We study the short- and long-term stratospheric impact of smoke from the massive Australian wildfires in Dec 2019–Jan 2020 using four satellite sensors. Smoke entered the stratosphere rapidly via transport by firestorms, as well as weeks after the fires. The smoke particle properties evolved over time together with rapidly decreasing stratospheric aerosol load, suggesting photolytic loss of organics in the smoke particles. The depletion rate was estimated to a half-life (e folding) of 10 (14) d.
Bengt G. Martinsson, Johan Friberg, Oscar S. Sandvik, and Moa K. Sporre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3967–3984, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3967-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3967-2022, 2022
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Large amounts of wildfire smoke reached the stratosphere in 2017. The literature on stratospheric aerosol is mainly based on horizontally viewing sensors that saturate in dense smoke. Using also a vertically viewing sensor with orders of magnitude shorter path in the smoke, we show that the horizontally viewing sensors miss a dramatic exponential decline of the aerosol load with a half-life of 10 d, where 80 %–90 % of smoke is lost. We attribute the decline to photolytic loss of organic aerosol.
Sara Marie Blichner, Moa Kristina Sporre, and Terje Koren Berntsen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17243–17265, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17243-2021, 2021
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In this study we quantify how a new way of modeling the formation of new particles in the atmosphere affects the estimated cooling from aerosol–cloud interactions since pre-industrial times. Our improved scheme merges two common approaches to aerosol modeling: a sectional scheme for treating early growth and the pre-existing modal scheme in NorESM. We find that the cooling from aerosol–cloud interactions since pre-industrial times is reduced by 10 % when the new scheme is used.
Oscar S. Sandvik, Johan Friberg, Moa K. Sporre, and Bengt G. Martinsson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7153–7165, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7153-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7153-2021, 2021
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A method to form SO2 profiles in the stratosphere with high vertical resolution following volcanic eruptions is introduced. The method combines space-based high-resolution vertical aerosol profiles and SO2 measurements the first 2 weeks after an eruption with air mass trajectory analyses. The SO2 is located at higher altitude than in most previous studies. The detailed resolution of the SO2 profile is unprecedented compared to other methods.
Sara M. Blichner, Moa K. Sporre, Risto Makkonen, and Terje K. Berntsen
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3335–3359, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3335-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3335-2021, 2021
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Aerosol–cloud interactions are the largest contributor to climate forcing uncertainty. In this study we combine two common approaches to aerosol representation in global models: a sectional scheme, which is closer to first principals, for the smallest particles forming in the atmosphere and a log-modal scheme, which is faster, for the larger particles. With this approach, we improve the aerosol representation compared to observations, while only increasing the computational cost by 15 %.
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Short summary
We investigate the importance of using high-vertical-resolution (HR) SO2 data when simulating volcanic eruptions' impact on the stratospheric aerosol load and climate, using WACCM, and compare simulations with aerosol observations from CALIOP. Simulations with HR SO2 data match the observations well, whereas simulations with the model's default low-resolution (LR) data underestimate the aerosol load by ~ 50 %. The resulting climate cooling is twice as high for the HR than the LR SO2 data.
We investigate the importance of using high-vertical-resolution (HR) SO2 data when simulating...
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