Articles | Volume 25, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3821-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3821-2025
Research article
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02 Apr 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 02 Apr 2025

Stratospheric residence time and the lifetime of volcanic stratospheric aerosols

Matthew Toohey, Yue Jia, Sujan Khanal, and Susann Tegtmeier

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Cited articles

Ambrosetti, W., Barbanti, L., and Sala, N.: Residence time and physical processes in lakes, J. Limnol., 62, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.4081/JLIMNOL.2003.S1.1, 2003. 
Aquila, V., Oman, L. D., Stolarski, R. S., Colarco, P. R., and Newman, P. A.: Dispersion of the volcanic sulfate cloud from a Mount Pinatubo–like eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D06216, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016968, 2012. 
Aubry, T. J., Jellinek, A. M., Degruyter, W., Bonadonna, C., Radić, V., Clyne, M., and Quainoo, A.: Impact of global warming on the rise of volcanic plumes and implications for future volcanic aerosol forcing, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 13326–13351, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025405, 2016. 
Aubry, T. J., Toohey, M., Marshall, L., Schmidt, A., and Jellinek, A. M.: A New Volcanic Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosol Forcing Emulator (EVA_H): Comparison With Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Models, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 125, e2019JD031303, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031303, 2020. 
Baran, A. J. and Foot, J. S.: New application of the operational sounder HIRS in determining a climatology of sulphuric acid aerosol from the Pinatubo eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 25673–25679, https://doi.org/10.1029/94JD02044, 1994. 
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Executive editor
Volcanic aerosol can persist in the stratosphere for many months and have a significant cooling effect on the troposphere. The effects of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 are an important recent example. The time that aerosol remains in the stratosphere is determined by the combined effects of transport and sedimentation. This paper sets out a simple conceptual framework for capturing these effects and combines it with observations and modelling to give robust estimates of key timescales. This framework will be valuable in studies of future eruptions and in studies of artificial stratospheric aerosol injection as a possible approach to solar radiation modification.
Short summary
The climate impact of volcanic eruptions depends in part on how long aerosols spend in the stratosphere. We develop a conceptual model for stratospheric aerosol lifetime in terms of production and decay timescales, as well as a lag between injection and decay. We find residence time depends strongly on injection height in the lower stratosphere. We show that the lifetime of stratospheric aerosol from the 1991 Pinatubo eruption is around 22 months, significantly longer than is commonly reported.
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