Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3525
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3525
03 Dec 2024
 | 03 Dec 2024

Quantifying the decay rate of volcanic sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere

Paul A. Nicknish, Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, and Simon A. Carn

Abstract. The injection of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere and its subsequent oxidation to form sulfate aerosols after large volcanic eruptions can have profound effects on Earth’s climate. The lifetime of volcanic SO2 in the stratosphere is thought to be determined by its gas-phase oxidation by the hydroxyl radical (OH); once oxidized, it goes on to form sulfate aerosols. However, it has also been suggested that heterogeneous oxidation on ash could also be important or even dominant, which would imply faster formation of aerosols at least in ash-rich plumes. Additionally, recent work uses an assumed exponential fit to determine the total SO2 mass loading following large eruptions; the quality of this fit translates directly to the accuracy of the mass loading estimate. It is therefore of interest to examine how accurately the SO2 lifetime can be determined from observations, and compare observations to models. Here we evaluate the SO2 lifetime and its uncertainties following several significant eruptions using three different sets of satellite observations and compare these to the CESM-WACCM6 model. We show that defining an accurate baseline against which a volcanic injection can be quantified limits accuracy in the estimated lifetime for some satellite data sets. We find that uncertainties in lifetimes across different altitudes and eruptions make it difficult to attribute variations in lifetime to specific SO2 removal processes for the events examined.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

29 Sep 2025
Quantifying the decay timescale of volcanic sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere
Paul A. Nicknish, Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, and Simon A. Carn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11535–11555, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11535-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11535-2025, 2025
Short summary
Paul A. Nicknish, Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, and Simon A. Carn

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • EC1: 'Preliminary Editor Comment on egusphere-2024-3525', Matthew Toohey, 13 Dec 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on EC1', Paul Nicknish, 29 Dec 2024
      • AC5: 'Reply on AC1', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
      • AC6: 'Reply on AC1', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-3525', Anonymous Referee #1, 03 Jan 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Paul Nicknish, 07 Feb 2025
      • AC4: 'Reply on AC2', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
      • AC7: 'Reply on AC2', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-3525', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 Jan 2025
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Paul Nicknish, 07 Feb 2025
      • AC8: 'Reply on AC3', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • EC1: 'Preliminary Editor Comment on egusphere-2024-3525', Matthew Toohey, 13 Dec 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on EC1', Paul Nicknish, 29 Dec 2024
      • AC5: 'Reply on AC1', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
      • AC6: 'Reply on AC1', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-3525', Anonymous Referee #1, 03 Jan 2025
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Paul Nicknish, 07 Feb 2025
      • AC4: 'Reply on AC2', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
      • AC7: 'Reply on AC2', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-3525', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 Jan 2025
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Paul Nicknish, 07 Feb 2025
      • AC8: 'Reply on AC3', Paul Nicknish, 09 Apr 2025

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Paul Nicknish on behalf of the Authors (07 Feb 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (19 Feb 2025) by Matthew Toohey
AR by Paul Nicknish on behalf of the Authors (09 Apr 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (23 Apr 2025) by Matthew Toohey
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (01 May 2025)
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (06 May 2025)
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (07 May 2025) by Matthew Toohey
AR by Paul Nicknish on behalf of the Authors (13 Jun 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (29 Jun 2025) by Matthew Toohey
AR by Paul Nicknish on behalf of the Authors (30 Jun 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (08 Jul 2025) by Matthew Toohey
AR by Paul Nicknish on behalf of the Authors (10 Jul 2025)  Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

29 Sep 2025
Quantifying the decay timescale of volcanic sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere
Paul A. Nicknish, Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, and Simon A. Carn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11535–11555, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11535-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11535-2025, 2025
Short summary
Paul A. Nicknish, Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, and Simon A. Carn
Paul A. Nicknish, Kane Stone, Susan Solomon, and Simon A. Carn

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Short summary
Large volcanic eruptions can inject teragrams of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere, influencing stratospheric chemistry and Earth's climate. This work calculates lifetime of volcanic, gas-phase SO2 in the stratosphere using data from three satellite products. SO2 lifetimes vary significantly between the different products, and this uncertainty limits our ability to attribute an observed SO2 lifetime following an eruption to a specific chemical process.
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