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Solar radiation anomalies caused by the El Chichon volcanic cloud: Measurements and model comparisons
Author(s) -
Rao C. R. Nagaraja,
Takashima T.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49711247411
Subject(s) - volcano , atmospheric sciences , radiation , atmosphere (unit) , radiative transfer , sky , stratosphere , environmental science , meteorology , atmospheric radiative transfer codes , geology , physics , optics , seismology
The eruption of the volcano El Chichon (17.33°N 93.20°W) in southern Mexico over the period 28 March to 4 April 1982 introduced massive amounts of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere. The resulting sulphuric acid particulate cloud has affected appreciably the received solar radiation at the surface; measurements made at several locations in the continental United States and Hawaii have indicated that the directly transmitted solar radiation was depleted by up to 25%; diffuse sky radiation was enhanced by factors of up to 3; and global radiation was lowered by up to 5%. These reported anomalies are compared with the results of radiative transfer computations in a realistic model of a cloud‐free, vertically inhomogeneous, plane‐parallel turbid atmosphere. The model yields the observed trends in the direct, diffusely transmitted and global solar radiation under normal and anomalous conditions.