Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1710
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1710
10 Jun 2024
 | 10 Jun 2024
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).

Analysis of the long-range transport of the volcanic plume from the 2021 Tajogaite/Cumbre Vieja eruption to Europe using TROPOMI and ground-based measurements

Pascal Hedelt, Jens Reichardt, Felix Lauermann, Benjamin Weiß, Nicolas Theys, Alberto Redondas, Africa Barreto, Omaira Garcia, and Diego Loyola

Abstract. The eruptions of the Tajogaite volcano on the western flank of the Cumbre Vieja ridge on the island of La Palma between September and December 2021 released large amounts of ash and SO2. Transport and dispersion of the volcanic emissions were monitored by ground-based stations and satellite instruments alike. In particular, the spectrometric fluorescence and Raman lidar RAMSES at the Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory measured the plume of the strongest Tajogaite eruption of 22–23 September 2021 over northeastern Germany four days later. This study provides an analysis of SO2 vertical column density (VCD) and layer height (LH) measurements of the volcanic plume obtained with Sentinel-5 Precursor/TROPOMI, which are compared to the observations at several stations across the Canary Islands. Furthermore, a new modeling approach based on TROPOMI SO2 VCD measurements and the HYSPLIT trajectory and dispersion model was developed which confirmed the link between Tajogaite eruptions and Lindenberg measurements. Modeled mean emission height at the volcanic vent is in excellent agreement with co-located TROPOMI SO2 LH and local lidar ash height measurements. Finally, a comprehensive discussion of the RAMSES measurements is presented. A new retrieval approach has been developed to estimate the microphysical properties of the volcanic aerosol. For the first time, an optical particle model is utilized that assumes an irregular, non-spheroidal shape of the aerosol particles. According to the analysis, the volcanic aerosol consisted solely of fine-mode inorganic, solid and irregularly shaped particles – the presence of large aerosol particles or wildfire aerosols could be excluded. The particles likely had an isometric to slightly plate-like shape with an effective half of particle maximum dimension around 0.1 μm and a refractive index of about 1.51. Moreover, mass column values between 70 and 110 mg m-2, mean mass concentrations of 45–70 μg m-3, and mean mass conversion factors between 0.21 and 0.33 g m-2 at 355 nm were retrieved. Possibly RAMSES observed, at least in part, volcanic secondary sulfate aerosol which was produced by gas-phase homogeneous reactions during the transport of the air masses from La Palma to Lindenberg.

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Pascal Hedelt, Jens Reichardt, Felix Lauermann, Benjamin Weiß, Nicolas Theys, Alberto Redondas, Africa Barreto, Omaira Garcia, and Diego Loyola

Status: open (until 25 Jul 2024)

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Pascal Hedelt, Jens Reichardt, Felix Lauermann, Benjamin Weiß, Nicolas Theys, Alberto Redondas, Africa Barreto, Omaira Garcia, and Diego Loyola
Pascal Hedelt, Jens Reichardt, Felix Lauermann, Benjamin Weiß, Nicolas Theys, Alberto Redondas, Africa Barreto, Omaira Garcia, and Diego Loyola

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Short summary
The 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite on La Palma is investigated using ground-based and satellite measurements. In addition, the atmospheric transport of the volcanic cloud towards Europe isstudied in detail. The amount of SO2 released during the eruption as well as the height of the volcanic plume is in excellent agreement between the different measurements. Furthermore, volcanic aerosol microphysical properties could be retrieved using a new retrieval approach based on Lidar measurements.