Early Evolution of the Hunga-Tonga Stratospheric Aerosol Plume observed by Lidar at La Réunion (21°S, 55°E) | CU Experts

The highly-explosive eruption of the Hunga-Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano; (HTHH), that occurred on 15 Jan. in the South Pacific, was associated; with a powerful blast that injected gases, steam and aerosols to; unprecedentedly high altitudes. Here we present unique observations of; the young volcanic aerosol plumes by ground-based lidars at La Reunion; island (21°S, 55°E), located directly downwind of the eruption. Two; lidars, operating at 355 nm and 532 nm, sampled the overflying plume; every nights from 19 Jan. until 28 Jan. We assess both the vertical; structure and the optical properties. A wide plume altitude range from; 36 km down to 18 km has been highlighted along time, with heterogeneous; aerosol optical depth that reached 0.84 at 532 nm and Angström exponents; from-0.8 to 1.2. Such temporal evolution is related to both the; injection heights of the volcanic material and the stratospheric dynamic; and chemistry.

VIVO