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Observations of the decay of the El Chichon stratospheric aerosol cloud in Antarctica
Author(s) -
Hofmann D. J.,
Rosen J. M.,
Harder J. W.,
Rolf S. R.
Publication year - 1987
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 - 10.1029/gl014i006p00614
Subject(s) - stratosphere , aerosol , atmospheric sciences , ozone depletion , vulcanian eruption , climatology , environmental science , volcano , sulfate aerosol , ozone , polar , geology , meteorology , physics , astronomy , seismology
Balloonborne measurements of stratospheric aerosol in the late October ‐ early November period in 1983, 1984 and 1985 indicate that the sulfuric acid aerosol which formed in the stratosphere following the eruption of El Chichón in 1982, and which was subsequently transported to the polar regions, decayed over Antarctica with an exponential decay time of about one year, in reasonable agreement with extensive measurements at Laramie during this period. These results suggest that the increased aerosol burden over Antarctica, which occurred as a result of the El Chichón eruption, cannot be directly involved in the precipitous decline of stratospheric ozone in Antarctica since 1982, although indirect effects cannot be ruled out.