Growth and global persistence of stratospheric sulfate aerosols from the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption

Abstract

Stratospheric sulfate aerosols play a key role on atmospheric chemistry and Earth’s radiation budget, but their size distribution, a critical parameter in climate models, is generally poorly-known. We address such gap for the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HT-HH) volcanic eruption by exhaustively analyzing a set of satellite observations together with photometric ground observations from the worldwide open-access AERONET network. We document a rapid growth of HT-HH sulfate aerosols in the days following eruption, faster than observed for other stratospheric eruptions, likely due to the exceptional hydration of the stratosphere by this phreatomagmatic eruption. An unusual aerosol fine mode (peak radius in 0.3-0.5 microns) is identified at 20 stations of the southern hemisphere until May 2023 (time of writing). Nevertheless, 1.4 years after eruption, HT-HH sulfate aerosols remain smaller than 1991 Pinatubo particles. Smaller aerosols backscatter more efficiently visible light and sediment more slowly than larger particles, implying stronger and longer-lasting negative radiative forcing.