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Using CATS near‐real‐time lidar observations to monitor and constrain volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) forecasts
Author(s) -
Hughes E. J.,
Yorks J.,
Krotkov N. A.,
Silva A. M.,
McGill M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl070119
Subject(s) - volcano , lidar , environmental science , meteorology , total ozone mapping spectrometer , aerosol , trajectory , satellite , ozone monitoring instrument , geology , atmospheric sciences , remote sensing , troposphere , stratosphere , geography , ozone layer , seismology , physics , astronomy
An eruption of Italian volcano Mount Etna on 3 December 2015 produced fast‐moving sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and sulfate aerosol clouds that traveled across Asia and the Pacific Ocean, reaching North America in just 5 days. The Ozone Profiler and Mapping Suite's Nadir Mapping UV spectrometer aboard the U.S. National Polar‐orbiting Partnership satellite observed the horizontal transport of the SO 2 cloud. Vertical profiles of the colocated volcanic sulfate aerosols were observed between 11.5 and 13.5 km by the new Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) space‐based lidar aboard the International Space Station. Backward trajectory analysis estimates the SO 2 cloud altitude at 7–12 km. Eulerian model simulations of the SO 2 cloud constrained by CATS measurements produced more accurate dispersion patterns compared to those initialized with the back trajectory height estimate. The near‐real‐time data processing capabilities of CATS are unique, and this work demonstrates the use of these observations to monitor and model volcanic clouds.