This looping video shows an umbrella cloud produced by the underwater eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano on Jan. 15, 2022. The GOES-17 satellite recorded the series of images that also show crescent-shaped shock waves and lightning strikes. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens using GOES imagery thanks to NOAA and NESDIS
The unmatched quantity of water vapor hurled into the environment, as found by NASAs Microwave Limb Sounder, might end up warming Earths surface area briefly.
The underwater eruption in the South Pacific Ocean also blasted a huge plume of water vapor into Earths stratosphere. The sheer volume of water vapor could be enough to momentarily affect Earths worldwide typical temperature.
” Weve never ever seen anything like it,” stated Luis Millán, a climatic researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. He led a current examination analyzing the quantity of water vapor that the Tonga volcano injected into the stratosphere, the layer of the environment between about 8 and 33 miles (12 and 53 kilometers) above Earths surface.
” Weve never ever seen anything like it.”– Luis Millán
This satellite image shows an undamaged Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai in April 2015, years before an explosive underwater volcanic eruption obliterated many of the Polynesian island in January 2022. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey
Released in Geophysical Research Letters, the research study by Millán and his coworkers approximates that the Tonga eruption sent out an extraordinary 146 teragrams (1 teragram equals a trillion grams) of water vapor into Earths stratosphere. Thats an amount equal to 10% of the water already present in that atmospheric layer. Thats almost four times the quantity of water vapor that researchers approximate the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines lofted into the stratosphere.
The underwater eruption in the South Pacific Ocean likewise blasted an enormous plume of water vapor into Earths stratosphere. Released in Geophysical Research Letters, the research study by Millán and his coworkers approximates that the Tonga eruption sent an incredible 146 teragrams (1 teragram equates to a trillion grams) of water vapor into Earths stratosphere. Thats nearly 4 times the quantity of water vapor that scientists approximate the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines lofted into the stratosphere.
In the 18 years that NASA has actually been taking measurements, only 2 other eruptions– the 2008 Kasatochi occasion in Alaska and the 2015 Calbuco eruption in Chile– sent out appreciable amounts of water vapor to such high altitudes. In contrast, the Tonga volcano didnt inject big amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere, and the substantial amounts of water vapor from the eruption might have a small, short-term warming result, considering that water vapor traps heat.
Millán analyzed data from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument on NASAs Aura satellite, which measures atmospheric gases, including water vapor and ozone. After the Tonga volcano erupted, the MLS team started seeing water vapor readings that were off the charts. “We had to thoroughly inspect all the measurements in the plume to ensure they were credible,” stated Millán.
A Lasting Impression
In the 18 years that NASA has actually been taking measurements, just two other eruptions– the 2008 Kasatochi event in Alaska and the 2015 Calbuco eruption in Chile– sent out considerable quantities of water vapor to such high elevations. Those were simple blips compared to the Tonga event, and the water vapor from both previous eruptions dissipated quickly.
An image from January 16, 2022, reveals the ash plume from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcanic eruption that occurred the day before. An astronaut took a picture of the plume from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
This additional water vapor could affect atmospheric chemistry, increasing certain chemical responses that could temporarily worsen the depletion of the ozone layer. It might likewise influence surface area temperature levels. Huge volcanic eruptions like Krakatoa and Mount Pinatubo normally cool Earths surface by ejecting gases, dust, and ash that show sunshine back into space. On the other hand, the Tonga volcano didnt inject big amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere, and the big amounts of water vapor from the eruption may have a small, short-term warming impact, since water vapor traps heat. When the extra water vapor cycles out of the stratosphere and would not be sufficient to visibly exacerbate environment change impacts, the impact would dissipate.
The sheer amount of water injected into the stratosphere was likely just possible because the underwater volcanos caldera– a basin-shaped depression usually formed after magma emerges or drains from a shallow chamber underneath the volcano– was at simply the right depth in the ocean: about 490 feet (150 meters) down. Any shallower, and there would not have sufficed seawater superheated by the emerging lava to account for the stratospheric water vapor worths Millán and his associates saw. Any much deeper, and the immense pressures in the oceans depths could have muted the eruption.
The MLS instrument was well situated to identify this water vapor plume since it observes natural microwave signals given off from Earths atmosphere. Determining these signals makes it possible for MLS to “see” through challenges like ash clouds that can blind other instruments measuring water vapor in the stratosphere. “MLS was the only instrument with thick sufficient coverage to record the water vapor plume as it took place, and the just one that wasnt impacted by the ash that the volcano launched,” said Millán.
Reference: “The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai Hydration of the Stratosphere” by L. Millán, M. L. Santee, A. Lambert, N. J. Livesey, F. Werner, M. J. Schwartz, H. C. Pumphrey, G. L. Manney, Y. Wang, H. Su, L. Wu, W. G. Read and L. Froidevaux, 1 July 2022, Geophysical Research Letters.DOI: 10.1029/ 2022GL099381.
The MLS instrument was created and constructed by JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center handles the Aura objective.