Articles | Volume 19, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6379-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6379-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
The enhanced capabilities of mid-infrared limb emission sounding to observe stratospheric aerosol injection geoengineering
Pasquale Sellitto
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Univ. Paris-Est Créteil and Université de Paris Cité, CNRS, Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Créteil, France
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, Catania, Italy
Mona Kosary
Univ. Paris-Est Créteil and Université de Paris Cité, CNRS, Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Créteil, France
Michael Höpfner
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMKASF), Karlsruhe, Germany
Bernd Funke
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Granada, Spain
Alex Hoffmann
European Space Agency, EOP Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department, European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA/ESTEC), Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Jörn Ungermann
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK-7), Jülich, Germany
Quentin Errera
Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Brussels, Belgium
Simone Tilmes
Atmospheric Chemistry, Observations, and Modeling Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMKASF), Karlsruhe, Germany
Related authors
Mona Kosary, Pasquale Sellitto, Michael Höpfner, Bernd Funke, Alex Hoffmann, Jörn Ungermann, Quentin Errera, Simone Tilmes, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4654, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated whether future satellites could track changes in the ozone layer if reflective particles were deliberately added high in the atmosphere to cool the planet. Using climate model simulations, we created virtual satellite measurements and compared them with the original data. The method captured the key changes, especially stronger ozone loss and delayed recovery over Antarctica, while showing low artificial distortion. This suggests such satellites could provide important oversight.
Corinna Kloss, Gwenaël Berthet, Pasquale Sellitto, Irene Bartolome Garcia, Emmanuel Briaud, Rubel Chandra Das, Stéphane Chevrier, Nicolas Dumelié, Lilian Joly, Thomas Lecas, Pauline Marbach, Felix Ploeger, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Jean-Paul Vernier, Frank G. Wienhold, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8981–8997, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8981-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8981-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
In October 2022, we detected volcanic particles in the stratosphere over France, linked to the January 2022 Hunga eruption in the South Pacific. Found between 17 and 23 km altitude, they were traced back to the tropics using trajectory simulations and satellite data. Their optical properties matched those in the Southern Hemisphere. The particles spread across the Northern Hemisphere, reflecting sunlight and slightly cooling the surface – a small but non-negligible effect.
Pasquale Sellitto, Maxim Eremenko, Paola Formenti, Perla Alalam, Michael Höpfner, and Claudia Di Biagio
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2751–2762, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2751-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2751-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) mission will bring the first satellite instrument capable of observing the Earth's far infrared (FIR) spectra with a high spectral resolution. FORUM will crucially contribute to water vapour, clouds and surface observations. We found that FORUM will provide also a significant sensitivity to dust aerosol, especially in cases of large burdens of mid-to-long-range transported plumes of dust in the free and upper troposphere.
Clair Duchamp, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, Pasquale Sellitto, Adam E. Bourassa, Alexei Rozanov, Ghassan Taha, and Daniel J. Zawada
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1675–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed the stratospheric aerosol plume from the 2022 Hunga eruption using satellite lidar data. We implemented a method to retrieve some aerosol properties, as standard products failed in this case. We found very high optical depth values in the days following the eruption, which decreased rapidly but remained elevated for months. Our results are broadly validated, though some satellite products underestimate the values due, in part, to the unusual aerosol size distribution in the plume.
Claudia Di Biagio, Elisa Bru, Avila Orta, Servanne Chevaillier, Clarissa Baldo, Antonin Bergé, Mathieu Cazaunau, Sandra Lafon, Sophie Nowak, Edouard Pangui, Meinrat O. Andreae, Pavla Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Kebonyethata Dintwe, Konrad Kandler, James S. King, Amelie Chaput, Gregory S. Okin, Stuart Piketh, Thuraya Saeed, David Seibert, Zongbo Shi, Earle Williams, Pasquale Sellitto, and Paola Formenti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 1079–1091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1079-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1079-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Spectroscopy measurements show that the absorbance of dust in the far-infrared up to 25 µm is comparable in intensity to that in the mid-infrared (3–15 µm) suggesting possible relevance for its direct radiative effect. Absorption signatures differ between Icelandic and low/mid-latitude dust due to differences in mineralogical composition. Spectral differences could be used to characterise the mineralogy and trace the origin of airborne dust based on infrared remote sensing observations.
Redha Belhadji, Pasquale Sellitto, Maxim Eremenko, Silvia Bucci, Tran M. Nguyet, Martin Schwell, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 7465–7476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7465-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7465-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2019–2020 Australian wildfires triggered massive Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds, injecting smoke aerosols into the stratosphere and forming a self-sustaining vortex that reached 35 km altitude. This vortex created a transient ozone mini-hole. Using satellite and ground-based observations, we tracked a 30–40 % initial ozone depletion, which decayed to ~7 % within a month. These findings highlight the impact of extreme wildfires on stratospheric dynamics and ozone composition.
Pasquale Sellitto, Audrey Gaudel, and Bastien Sauvage
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 13299–13309, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13299-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13299-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone is a potent greenhouse gas: its anthropogenic levels rise contributes to climate change. We evaluate tropospheric ozone trends and climate impacts with aircraft data and a radiative model, comparing a baseline period (1994–2004) to different recent time periods (2011–2016 to 2020-2023). Tropospheric ozone levels increasing trends progressively stopped and even decreased in the upper troposphere. Correspondingly, the decadal ozone radiative forcing is progressively decreasing.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, and Clair Duchamp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6353–6364, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest stratospheric aerosol perturbation of the last 30 years. Stratospheric volcanic aerosols usually produce a transient climate cooling; these impacts depend on volcanic aerosol composition/size, due to size-dependent interactions with solar/terrestrial radiation. We demonstrate that the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai stratospheric aerosols have a larger cooling potential per unit mass than the past climate-relevant El Chichón (1984) and Pinatubo (1991) eruptions.
Michaël Sicard, Alexandre Baron, Marion Ranaivombola, Dominique Gantois, Tristan Millet, Pasquale Sellitto, Nelson Bègue, Hassan Bencherif, Guillaume Payen, Nicolas Marquestaut, and Valentin Duflot
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 367–381, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-367-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-367-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study quantifies the radiative impact over Réunion Island (21° S, 55° E) of the aerosols and water vapor injected into the stratosphere by the Hunga volcano in the South Pacific. The overall aerosol and water vapor impact on the Earth’s radiation budget for the whole period is negative (cooling, -0.82 ± 0.35 W m-2) and dominated by the aerosols. At the Earth’s surface, aerosols are the main drivers and produce a negative (cooling, -1.04 ± 0.36 W m-2) radiative impact.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Juan Cuesta, Aurélien Podglajen, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15523–15535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season 2019–2020. These fires injected a smoke plume in the stratosphere, which dispersed over the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar and terrestrial radiation. A number of detached smoke bubbles were also observed emanating from this plume and ascending quickly to over 35 km altitude. Here we study how absorption of radiation generated ascending motion of both the the hemispheric plume and the vortices.
Bernard Legras, Clair Duchamp, Pasquale Sellitto, Aurélien Podglajen, Elisa Carboni, Richard Siddans, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The long-duration atmospheric impact of the Tonga eruption in January 2022 is a plume of water and sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere that persisted for more than 6 months. We study this evolution using several satellite instruments and analyse the unusual behaviour of this plume as sulfates and water first moved down rapidly and then separated into two layers. We also report the self-organization in compact and long-lived patches.
Mathieu Lachatre, Sylvain Mailler, Laurent Menut, Arineh Cholakian, Pasquale Sellitto, Guillaume Siour, Henda Guermazi, Giuseppe Salerno, and Salvatore Giammanco
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13861–13879, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13861-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we have evaluated the predominance of various pathways of volcanic SO2 conversion to sulfates in the upper troposphere. We show that the main conversion pathway was gaseous oxidation by OH, although the liquid pathways were expected to be predominant. These results are interesting with respect to a better understanding of sulfate formation in the middle and upper troposphere and are an important component to help evaluate particulate matter radiative forcing.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Corinna Kloss, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9299–9311, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
As a consequence of extreme heat and drought, record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season in 2019–2020. Fires injected a smoke plume very high up to the stratosphere, which dispersed quite quickly to the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar radiation, reflecting and absorbing part of it – thus producing impacts on the climate system. Here we estimate this impact on radiation and we study how it depends on the properties and ageing of the plume.
Stefanie Falk, Hans-Werner Jacobi, Hugo El-Mansi, Patrick Ginot, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5627, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5627, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric bromine deposition may provide a seasonal bromide reservoir for Arctic bromine explosion events. Combining chemistry-climate model simulations, snow observations from Ny-Ålesund, and the developed snow model, we show that deposited atmospheric bromine can accumulate in snow at levels sufficient to sustain observed bromine monoxide vertical column density. The agreement between modeled and observation highlights the roles of bromine speciation, snowpack processes, and sampling biases.
Bernd Funke, Michael Höpfner, Stefan Bender, Quentin Errera, Udo Grabowski, Alex Hoffmann, Han-Li Liu, Nick M. Pedatella, Piera Raspollini, Jörn Ungermann, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3881, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3881, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce two performance modeling tools, the Linear Performance Estimator (LPE) and the Fast L2 Simulator (FL2S), developed for CAIRT, a proposed ESA Earth Explorer mission. CAIRT aims to observe the middle atmosphere using an Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer. LPE quantifies spatial resolution and tomographic retrieval uncertainties, while FL2S generates synthetic data products that mimic the retrieval chain. Together, they demonstrate CAIRT's ability to meet scientific requirements.
Daniele Visioni, Alan Robock, Alistair Duffey, Matthew Henry, Haruki Hirasawa, Walker Raymond Lee, Cindy Wang, Kelsey Roberts, Shingo Watanabe, Michelle Simões Reboita, Masahiro Sugiyama, Ben Kravitz, Jim Haywood, Simone Tilmes, Frédéric K. Bonou, Jack Chen, Timofei Sukhodolov, Sandro Vattioni, Andrin Jörimann, Diego Villanueva, Ryan Vella, Paul Farron, Ewa Bednarz, Ulrike Niemeier, Colleen Golja, and Juan A. Añel
Geosci. Model Dev., 19, 8469–8499, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-8469-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-8469-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project is a coordinated international model intercomparison effort aiming to provide robust experimental protocols for simulations of various Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) methods. In this manuscript, we describe a list of novel experiments decided by the community, to be run by climate models to better understand sources of uncertainty in SRM. We also show and discuss some preliminary results from a few climate models.
Mona Kosary, Pasquale Sellitto, Michael Höpfner, Bernd Funke, Alex Hoffmann, Jörn Ungermann, Quentin Errera, Simone Tilmes, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4654, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated whether future satellites could track changes in the ozone layer if reflective particles were deliberately added high in the atmosphere to cool the planet. Using climate model simulations, we created virtual satellite measurements and compared them with the original data. The method captured the key changes, especially stronger ozone loss and delayed recovery over Antarctica, while showing low artificial distortion. This suggests such satellites could provide important oversight.
Walker Raymond Lee, Simone Tilmes, and Ewa M. Bednarz
Earth Syst. Dynam., 17, 1117–1134, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-1117-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-1117-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We present climate model simulation of stratospheric aerosol injection, a proposed method of climate intervention where reflective particles are placed in the stratosphere to cool the planet. We design our simulated interventions to maintain certain surface temperature patterns, and show that the same temperatures can be maintained in different ways because of how the ocean transports heat. This has implications for how climate intervention model experiments are designed in the future.
Wolfgang Woiwode, Bärbel Vogel, Valentin Lauther, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jeremy Harrison, Sören Johansson, Jörn Ungermann, Peter Braesicke, Markus Dick, Andreas Engel, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Thomas Gulde, Michael Höpfner, Markus Jesswein, Jan Kaumanns, Timo Keber, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Tom Neubert, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Felix Plöger, Peter Preusse, Markus Retzlaff, Sebastian Rhode, Heinz Rongen, Georg Schardt, Tanja Schuck, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Johannes Strobel, Franziska Trinkl, Ronja Van Luijt, Stefan Versick, C. Michael Volk, Gerald Wetzel, Peter Hoor, and Martin Riese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3271, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3271, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Filaments of CH2Cl2-rich air are revealed by airborne infrared limb-imaging observations in late summer 2023 above the North Pacific, Canada and Alaska and traced back to the Asian Summer Monsoon region. Involving new spectroscopic data, high CH2Cl2 levels were retrieved in the troposphere and moderate enhancements also in air masses with characteristics of the lowermost stratosphere. Mesoscale filaments are shown to transport substantial amounts of CH2Cl2 across the North Pacific.
Ewa M. Bednarz, Valentina Aquila, Amy H. Butler, Peter Colarco, Eric Fleming, Freja F. Østerstrøm, David Plummer, Ilaria Quaglia, William Randel, Michelle L. Santee, Takashi Sekiya, Simone Tilmes, Xinyue Wang, Shingo Watanabe, Wandi Yu, Jun Zhang, Yunqian Zhu, and Zhihong Zhuo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 11355–11370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11355-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11355-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The 2022 Hunga eruption injected unprecedented quantities of water vapor into the stratosphere, alongside modest amounts of aerosol precursors. We assess its impacts on stratospheric ozone layer using a multi-model ensemble of chemistry-climate simulations. The results confirm the eruption's role in modulating SH (Southern Hemisphere) mid and high latitudes ozone abundances in the short term, and discuss the different chemical and dynamical processes driving those changes as well as the role of natural variability.
Andrin Jörimann, Timofei Sukhodolov, Simone Tilmes, David Plummer, Shingo Watanabe, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Gabriel Chiodo, Daniele Visioni, Sandro Vattioni, Eugene Rozanov, Ewa Monika Bednarz, Béatrice Josse, Yousuke Yamashita, and Thomas Peter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 11207–11234, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11207-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11207-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We study a future scenario where artificial stratospheric aerosol injections counter medium climate change, to understand possible negative side effects like ozone depletion. The injected aerosol layer is implemented uniformly in five climate models, which eliminates some uncertainty from model-specific aerosol evolution. The models agree well on where and how key thermodynamical (heating, circulation) and chemical processes change, however, the strength of the changes varies considerably.
Katharina Perny, Timofei Sukhodolov, Ales Kuchar, Pavle Arsenovic, Bernadette Rosati, Christoph Brühl, Sandip S. Dhomse, Andrin Jörimann, Anton Laakso, Graham Mann, Ulrike Niemeier, Giovanni Pitari, Ilaria Quaglia, Takashi Sekiya, Kengo Sudo, Claudia Timmreck, Simone Tilmes, Daniele Visioni, and Harald E. Rieder
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 10997–11025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10997-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10997-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Major volcanic eruptions, such as the one of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, can inject large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. The resulting aerosol cloud affects stratospheric temperature and thereby middle atmospheric dynamics and chemistry. Here we investigate similarities and differences across an ensemble of climate models in reproducing the stratospheric temperature signal following the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
Jan Kaumanns, Florian Voet, Felix Ploeger, Peter Preuße, Jörn Ungermann, and Michaela Imelda Hegglin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4183, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4183, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Age-of-Air (AoA) denotes the time an air parcel has spent inside the stratosphere and is an important diagnostic quantity for the Brewer Dobson Circulation (BDC). We present a novel approach using neural networks to accurately and robustly derive AoA from inert chemical species with considerable measurement noise even far beyond the training domain. We also present an alternative view of AoA by using autoencoders to derive a model-independent proxy quantity for it and validate its robustness.
Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Stefan Bender, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, and Manuel López-Puertas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4116, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4116, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We present the global distributions of the trace gases HNO3, ClONO2, HNO4, N2O5, and NOy, the total reactive nitrogen (constructed from [HNO3] + [ClONO2] + [HNO4] + 2x[N2O5] + [NO] + [NO2]), all derived from the latest spectral version, V8.03, of MIPAS/Envisat spectra. The data set covers the period of July 2002 to April 2012, with global day and night coverage from 6 to 60 km altitude. An additional data product, made for immediate comparison to atmospheric model simulations, is also presented.
Temitope S. Egbebiyi, Temitope S. Fafure, Daniele Visioni, Romaric C. Odoulami, Babatunde J. Abiodun, Simone Tilmes, Chris Lennard, and Mark G. New
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3436, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3436, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Exceeding the global warming thresholds of 1.5 & 2.0 °C before potential mitigation efforts and Carbon dioxide removal are possible future trajectories. While Climate Intervention could reduce peak warming in future, however, their impact in Africa is unknown. We show this intervention may reduce temperature extremes while its impact on precipitation varies across Africa. The result has implications for agricultural planning and water resource management during potential overshoot periods.
Jan Kaumanns, Jörn Ungermann, Bärbel Vogel, Sören Johansson, Erik Kretschmer, Felix Plöger, Peter Preuße, Wolfgang Woiwode, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 9083–9111, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-9083-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-9083-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
During the PHILEAS aircraft campaign a self-matching experiment was conducted to study the mixing of Asian Summer monsoon air into the upper troposphere – lower stratosphere. We present the first 3-D tomographic observations of this mixing for multiple trace gas species. We use advanced clustering to identify the types of air and their transport pathways, particularly into the stratosphere. Simulations of surface-origin tracers link several of these air types to different source regions.
Corinna Kloss, Gwenaël Berthet, Pasquale Sellitto, Irene Bartolome Garcia, Emmanuel Briaud, Rubel Chandra Das, Stéphane Chevrier, Nicolas Dumelié, Lilian Joly, Thomas Lecas, Pauline Marbach, Felix Ploeger, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Jean-Paul Vernier, Frank G. Wienhold, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8981–8997, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8981-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8981-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
In October 2022, we detected volcanic particles in the stratosphere over France, linked to the January 2022 Hunga eruption in the South Pacific. Found between 17 and 23 km altitude, they were traced back to the tropics using trajectory simulations and satellite data. Their optical properties matched those in the Southern Hemisphere. The particles spread across the Northern Hemisphere, reflecting sunlight and slightly cooling the surface – a small but non-negligible effect.
Daniele Minganti, Simon Chabrillat, Sean Davis, Quentin Errera, Marc Op de beeck, Eric Ray, Sarah Vervalcke, Krzysztof Wargan, and Catherine Wespes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3449, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3449, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
In early 2019, an unusual increase of nitrous oxide concentrations occurred in the northern lower stratosphere (around 20 km). We show that unprecedented circulation pattern rapidly moved nitrous oxide from the tropical region to the northern mid-latitudes. This work reveals how stratospheric mid-latitudes can respond to special wind conditions in the Tropics and subtropics. Such extreme event helps improving our understanding of future changes of stratospheric transport in a warming climate.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, and Jörn Ungermann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8145–8158, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8145-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8145-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Mountain waves are excited when wind flows over elevated terrain. These waves travel through the atmosphere and alter the winds locally when they break, thereby impacting global-scale dynamic phenomena. Understanding mountain waves and their interactions, they need to be identified in measurement data or model simulations. This study provides a method for disentangling the mountain waves from atmospheric fluctuations of other origin in three-dimensional temperature data.
Jianzhong Ma, Bin Chen, Qianshan He, Xiaolu Yan, Gaili Wang, Siyang Cheng, Benedikt Steil, Christoph Brühl, Holger Tost, Michael Höpfner, Andrea Pozzer, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8125–8144, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8125-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8125-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We use a global atmospheric chemistry and climate model to study the efficiency and effectiveness of the deep convective transport of CO, NH3 and SO2 from the planetary boundary layer into the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone. We find that in contrast to CO and NH3, the SO2 enhancements within the anticyclone are very weak. The wet scavenging over South Asia is more effective for SO2 than NH3 at reducing their amounts reaching the Tibetan Plateau and the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone.
Caroline Jonas, Corinne Vigouroux, Bavo Langerock, Robin Björklund, Anne Boynard, Thomas Carlund, Martine De Mazière, Peter Effertz, Quentin Errera, Matthias M. Frey, José Granville, James W. Hannigan, Arno Keppens, Nis Jepsen, Rigel Kivi, Norrie Lyall, Mathias Palm, Maxime Prignon, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Kimberly Strong, Tove Svendby, David Tarasick, Laura Thölix, Roeland Van Malderen, Yana Virolainen, Sibylle von Löwis, and Xiaoyi Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8089–8124, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8089-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8089-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We study the evolution of ozone in the Arctic over the 2000–2024 period in the stratosphere (about 10 to 50 km) to assess the expected recovery of the ozone layer following the diminution of ozone-depleting substances. We merge ground-based data sets within spatially coherent regions to reduce uncertainties and we obtain positive trends for the total column everywhere in the Arctic and for the middle and upper stratosphere over Canada, but no significant trends in the lower stratosphere.
Ilaria Quaglia, Daniele Visioni, Ewa M. Bednarz, Yunqian Zhu, Georgiy Stenchikov, Valentina Aquila, Cheng-Cheng Liu, Graham W. Mann, Yifeng Peng, Takashi Sekiya, Simone Tilmes, Xinyue Wang, Shingo Watanabe, Pengfei Yu, Jun Zhang, Wandi Yu, and Zhihong Zhuo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 7677–7704, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7677-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7677-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
On January 15, 2022, the Hunga volcano eruption released unprecedented amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere alongside a modest amount of SO2. In this work we analyse results from multiple Earth system models. The models agree that the eruption led to small negative radiative forcing from sulfate aerosols and that the contribution from water vapor was minimal. Therefore, the Hunga eruption cannot explain the exceptional surface warming observed in 2023.
Monika E. Szelag, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Edward Malina, Pekka T. Verronen, Michelle L. Santee, Manuel López-Puertas, Bernd Funke, Gabriele Stiller, Alexandra Laeng, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, Mark E. Hervig, and Benjamin T. Marshall
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 7503–7522, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7503-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7503-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new global dataset of ozone profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, created by combining several satellite measurements covering more than three decades. Our results show that ozone is recovering in the stratosphere but decreasing in the mesosphere, with the strongest declines near the mesopause. This dataset provides a valuable resource for investigating long-term changes, improving model performance, and addressing an observational gap in the upper atmosphere.
Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2561, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2561, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Between 1937 and 1940, the Soviet ice breaker G. Sedov completed its unwilful drift across the Arctic ocean, following the transpolar drift of Nansen’s Fram expedition 44 years before. A new analysis of these historical expeditions reveals that the transpolar sea ice drift speed has already increased during the early 20th century Arctic warming period. The findings of a strong control of Arctic temperatures on sea ice drift may also help us to better understand today’s Arctic climate change.
Pasquale Sellitto, Maxim Eremenko, Paola Formenti, Perla Alalam, Michael Höpfner, and Claudia Di Biagio
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2751–2762, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2751-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2751-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) mission will bring the first satellite instrument capable of observing the Earth's far infrared (FIR) spectra with a high spectral resolution. FORUM will crucially contribute to water vapour, clouds and surface observations. We found that FORUM will provide also a significant sensitivity to dust aerosol, especially in cases of large burdens of mid-to-long-range transported plumes of dust in the free and upper troposphere.
Isobel M. Parry, Paul D. L. Ritchie, Olivier Boucher, Peter M. Cox, James M. Haywood, Ulrike Niemeier, Roland Séférian, Simone Tilmes, and Daniele Visioni
Earth Syst. Dynam., 17, 387–414, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-387-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-387-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Contrary to some expectations, results from the latest Earth System Models suggest that Solar Radiation Geoengineering could protect the Amazon rainforest from climate-driven dieback. Under Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, carbon storage in Amazonia was projected to increase by a mean of 10.8 % relative to a high CO2 emissions scenario, and even by 8.6% compared to a more conventional medium CO2 emissions scenario.
Quentin Errera, Marc Op de beeck, Stefan Bender, Johannes Flemming, Bernd Funke, Alex Hoffmann, Michael Höpfner, Nathaniel Livesey, Gabriele Poli, Didier Pieroux, Piera Raspollini, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2601–2620, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2601-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2601-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The Changing Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer (CAIRT) is a satellite mission concept developed to observe, among other, the gradient of ozone and water vapour in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere where these species have their largest radiative impact. By simulating CAIRT observations and measuring their constrain on an atmospheric model using data assimilation, this study shows that CAIRT specifications are adequate to fulfil this objective.
Yunqian Zhu, Cheng-Cheng Liu, Charles Bardeen, Lu Wang, Simone Tilmes, Ilaria Quaglia, Christopher M. Maloney, Francis Vitt, and Owen Brian Toon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.177135577.71771059/v1, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.177135577.71771059/v1, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA) is a sectional microphysical model widely used to study the formation of aerosols and clouds. This paper presents an update to the CARMA model algorithms since Toon et al. 1988, with a focus on the newly developed CARMA Cloud model.
Clair Duchamp, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, Pasquale Sellitto, Adam E. Bourassa, Alexei Rozanov, Ghassan Taha, and Daniel J. Zawada
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1675–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed the stratospheric aerosol plume from the 2022 Hunga eruption using satellite lidar data. We implemented a method to retrieve some aerosol properties, as standard products failed in this case. We found very high optical depth values in the days following the eruption, which decreased rapidly but remained elevated for months. Our results are broadly validated, though some satellite products underestimate the values due, in part, to the unusual aerosol size distribution in the plume.
Simone Tilmes, Daniele Visioni, Ilaria Quaglia, Yunqian Zhu, Charles G. Bardeen, Francis Vitt, and Pengfei Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 2649–2666, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-2649-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-2649-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
This study compares two sets of stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) experiments using the same modeling framework, differing only in their aerosol microphysical schemes. Results show that these two schemes can yield substantially different aerosol burdens, radiative changes, and impacts when simulating the same injection scenarios. These findings suggest that more sophisticated aerosol models may be necessary to accurately assess the efficacy, side effects, and climate impacts of SAI.
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Gabriele P. Stiller, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Manuel López-Puertas, Oliver Kirner, and Michelle L. Santee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 629–657, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-629-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-629-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
We present a global climatology of Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) version 8 chlorine monoxide (ClO), retrieved from spaceborne observations between 2002 and 2012. Due to an improved retrieval setup, the high bias and poor vertical resolution of upper stratospheric ClO, which had affected the previous V5 data set, has been removed. Comparisons with ClO observations of the Microwave Limb Sounder generally show good agreement. Differences can be explained by simulations with an atmospheric chemistry model.
Claudia Di Biagio, Elisa Bru, Avila Orta, Servanne Chevaillier, Clarissa Baldo, Antonin Bergé, Mathieu Cazaunau, Sandra Lafon, Sophie Nowak, Edouard Pangui, Meinrat O. Andreae, Pavla Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Kebonyethata Dintwe, Konrad Kandler, James S. King, Amelie Chaput, Gregory S. Okin, Stuart Piketh, Thuraya Saeed, David Seibert, Zongbo Shi, Earle Williams, Pasquale Sellitto, and Paola Formenti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 1079–1091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1079-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1079-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Spectroscopy measurements show that the absorbance of dust in the far-infrared up to 25 µm is comparable in intensity to that in the mid-infrared (3–15 µm) suggesting possible relevance for its direct radiative effect. Absorption signatures differ between Icelandic and low/mid-latitude dust due to differences in mineralogical composition. Spectral differences could be used to characterise the mineralogy and trace the origin of airborne dust based on infrared remote sensing observations.
William J. Collins, John S. Daniel, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Martin Cussac, Makoto Deushi, Gregory Faluvegi, Paul Griffiths, Øivind Hodnebrog, Larry W. Horowitz, James Keeble, Douglas Kinnison, Vaishali Naik, Fiona M. O'Connor, Drew Shindell, Simone Tilmes, Kostas Tsigaridis, Zihao Wang, and James Weber
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6033, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6033, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone depleting substances (ODSs) are also greenhouse gases that cause global warming. However, their destruction of ozone contributes a global cooling. We have used results from climate models that include atmospheric chemistry and found that the cooling effect of the ozone depletion diagnosed in the models was larger than that calculated using a standard method. We find that some ODSs have a net cooling effect whereas for others the warming effect is significantly reduced.
Sarah Vervalcke, Quentin Errera, Roland Eichinger, Thomas Reddmann, Simon Chabrillat, Marc Op de beeck, Gabriele Stiller, and Emmanuel Mahieu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 391–409, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-391-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-391-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents three simulations of atmospheric chemistry with the Belgian Assimilation System for Chemical Observations chemistry transport model, driven by different meteorological data sets. Newly implemented SF6 chemistry enables stratospheric transport studies. Results agree with satellite observations. The derived lifetimes of six trace gases agree with the literature, but SF6 shows larger sensitivity to the choice of meteorology. The lifetime of SF6 ranges from 1900 to 2600 years.
Pengfei Yu, Yifeng Peng, Karen H. Rosenlof, Ru-Shan Gao, Robert W. Portmann, Martin Ross, Eric Ray, Jianchun Bian, Simone Tilmes, and Owen B. Toon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 18449–18460, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-18449-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-18449-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Injecting sulfur dioxide at 50 km – near the stratopause – offers a far safer and more effective climate intervention than conventional 25 km injection. Rapid downward–poleward transport distributes aerosols across 20–30 km, halving tropical stratospheric warming, reducing ozone recovery delays from decades to about 5 years, and enhancing global and polar cooling by over 20 %, while better preserving Arctic sea ice.
Redha Belhadji, Pasquale Sellitto, Maxim Eremenko, Silvia Bucci, Tran M. Nguyet, Martin Schwell, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 7465–7476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7465-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7465-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2019–2020 Australian wildfires triggered massive Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds, injecting smoke aerosols into the stratosphere and forming a self-sustaining vortex that reached 35 km altitude. This vortex created a transient ozone mini-hole. Using satellite and ground-based observations, we tracked a 30–40 % initial ozone depletion, which decayed to ~7 % within a month. These findings highlight the impact of extreme wildfires on stratospheric dynamics and ozone composition.
Simon Chabrillat, Samuel Rémy, Quentin Errera, Vincent Huijnen, Christine Bingen, Jonas Debosscher, François Hendrick, Swen Metzger, Adrien Mora, Daniele Minganti, Marc Op de beek, Léa Reisenfeld, Jason E. Williams, Henk Eskes, and Johannes Flemming
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 8973–9014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8973-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8973-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We document the forecasts of the composition of the stratosphere by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. The model's predictions are compared with satellite measurements over a recent period, during polar ozone depletion events, and after the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption. The system performs well for sulfate aerosols, ozone and several other key gases but not as well for several nitrogen-containing gases. Chemical processes in aerosols and polar clouds should be improved.
Stefanie Falk, Luca Reißig, Bianca Zilker, Andreas Richter, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15653–15682, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15653-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15653-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone depletion events (ODEs) and bromine explosions in the Arctic were studied for 2019/20. Our model underestimated boundary layer height and showed warm biases, affecting ODE simulation. Updates improved coastal ozone agreement but failed to capture strong ODEs. Bromine monoxide (BrO) was overestimated at the surface yet underestimated in columns. Long-term data show declining strong ODEs since 2008, suggesting additional climate-driven factors beyond sea ice age.
Jörn Ungermann and Robert Reichert
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 8613–8626, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8613-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8613-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the software package JuWavelet, which implements the continuous wavelet transform, which is a popular tool in the geosciences to analyse wave-like phenomena. The code implements the transform in 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D for both analysis and synthesis, which closes a gap in available open-source software. The mathematics behind the transformation are given, and several examples showcase the capabilities of the software.
Miriam Sinnhuber, Christina Arras, Stefan Bender, Bernd Funke, Hanli Liu, Daniel R. Marsh, Thomas Reddmann, Eugene Rozanov, Timofei Sukhodolov, Monika E. Szelag, and Jan Maik Wissing
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 14719–14734, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14719-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14719-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Nitric oxide in the upper atmosphere varies with solar activity. Observations show that this starts a chain of processes affecting the ozone layer and climate system. This is often underestimated in models. We compare five models which show large differences in simulated NO. Analysis of these discrepancies identify two processes which interact with each other: the balance between atomic and molecular oxygen in the thermosphere, and a poleward - downward transport in the winter thermosphere.
Gerald Wetzel, Anne Kleinert, Sören Johansson, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Michael Höpfner, Jörn Ungermann, Tom Neubert, Valéry Catoire, Cyril Crevoisier, Andreas Engel, Thomas Gulde, Patrick Jacquet, Oliver Kirner, Erik Kretschmer, Thomas Kulessa, Johannes C. Laube, Guido Maucher, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Peter Preusse, Markus Retzlaff, Georg Schardt, Johan Schillings, Herbert Schneider, Axel Schönfeld, Tanja Schuck, Wolfgang Woiwode, Martin Riese, and Peter Braesicke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 5873–5894, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5873-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5873-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present vertical trace gas profiles from the first balloon flight of the newly developed GLORIA-B limb-imaging Fourier-Transform spectrometer. Longer-lived gases are compared to external measurements to assess the quality of the GLORIA-B observations. Diurnal changes of photochemically active species are compared to model simulations. GLORIA-B demonstrates the capability of balloon-borne limb imaging to provide high-resolution vertical profiles of trace gases up to the middle stratosphere.
Maryam Ramezani Ziarani, Miriam Sinnhuber, Thomas Reddmann, Bernd Funke, Stefan Bender, and Michael Prather
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 7891–7905, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-7891-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-7891-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study aims to present a new method for incorporating top-down solar forcing into stratospheric ozone relying on linearized ozone scheme. The addition of geomagnetic forcing led to significant ozone losses in the polar upper stratosphere of both hemispheres due to the catalytic cycles involving NOy. In addition to the particle precipitation effect, accounting for solar UV variability in the ICON-ART model leads to the changes in ozone in the tropical stratosphere.
Pasquale Sellitto, Audrey Gaudel, and Bastien Sauvage
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 13299–13309, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13299-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13299-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone is a potent greenhouse gas: its anthropogenic levels rise contributes to climate change. We evaluate tropospheric ozone trends and climate impacts with aircraft data and a radiative model, comparing a baseline period (1994–2004) to different recent time periods (2011–2016 to 2020-2023). Tropospheric ozone levels increasing trends progressively stopped and even decreased in the upper troposphere. Correspondingly, the decadal ozone radiative forcing is progressively decreasing.
Zhihong Zhuo, Xinyue Wang, Yunqian Zhu, Wandi Yu, Ewa M. Bednarz, Eric Fleming, Peter R. Colarco, Shingo Watanabe, David Plummer, Georgiy Stenchikov, William Randel, Adam Bourassa, Valentina Aquila, Takashi Sekiya, Mark R. Schoeberl, Simone Tilmes, Jun Zhang, Paul J. Kushner, and Francesco S. R. Pausata
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 13161–13176, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13161-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13161-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2022 Hunga eruption caused unprecedented stratospheric water injection, triggering unique atmospheric impacts. This study combines observations and model simulations, projecting a stratospheric water vapor anomaly lasting 4–7 years, with significant temperature variations and ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere lasting 7–10 years. These findings offer critical insights into the role of stratospheric water vapor in shaping climate and atmospheric chemistry.
Cecilia Tirelli, Simone Ceccherini, Samuele Del Bianco, Bernd Funke, Michael Höpfner, Ugo Cortesi, and Piera Raspollini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 5619–5636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5619-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5619-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Complete Data Fusion is an a posteriori method used to combine remote sensing products from independent observations of the same or proximate air masses. In this study, we extend the algorithm’s applicability to two-dimensional products, testing it with simulated ozone datasets from nadir and limb measurements. Our results show that the exploitation of the tomographic capabilities of future atmospheric sensors maximizes the information extracted from complementary datasets.
Yunqian Zhu, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Valentina Aquila, Elizabeth Asher, Ewa M. Bednarz, Slimane Bekki, Christoph Brühl, Amy H. Butler, Parker Case, Simon Chabrillat, Gabriel Chiodo, Margot Clyne, Peter R. Colarco, Sandip Dhomse, Lola Falletti, Eric Fleming, Ben Johnson, Andrin Jörimann, Mahesh Kovilakam, Gerbrand Koren, Ales Kuchar, Nicolas Lebas, Qing Liang, Cheng-Cheng Liu, Graham Mann, Michael Manyin, Marion Marchand, Olaf Morgenstern, Paul Newman, Luke D. Oman, Freja F. Østerstrøm, Yifeng Peng, David Plummer, Ilaria Quaglia, William Randel, Samuel Rémy, Takashi Sekiya, Stephen Steenrod, Timofei Sukhodolov, Simone Tilmes, Kostas Tsigaridis, Rei Ueyama, Daniele Visioni, Xinyue Wang, Shingo Watanabe, Yousuke Yamashita, Pengfei Yu, Wandi Yu, Jun Zhang, and Zhihong Zhuo
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 5487–5512, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-5487-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-5487-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To understand the climate impact of the 2022 Hunga volcanic eruption, we developed a climate model–observation comparison project. The paper describes the protocols and models that participate in the experiments. We designed several experiments to achieve our goals of this activity: (1) to evaluate the climate model performance and (2) to understand the Earth system responses to this eruption.
Rodrigo J. Seguel, Charlie Opazo, Yann Cohen, Owen R. Cooper, Laura Gallardo, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, Susanne Rohs, and Andreas Marsing
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8553–8573, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8553-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8553-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We explored ozone differences between the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemispheres in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere. We found lower ozone (with stratospheric origin) in the Southern Hemisphere, especially during years of severe ozone depletion. Sudden stratospheric warming events increased the ozone in each hemisphere, highlighting the relationship between stratospheric processes and ozone in the upper troposphere, where ozone is an important greenhouse gas.
Matthias Kohl, Christoph Brühl, Jennifer Schallock, Holger Tost, Patrick Jöckel, Adrian Jost, Steffen Beirle, Michael Höpfner, and Andrea Pozzer
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3985–4007, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3985-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3985-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
SO2 from explosive volcanic eruptions reaching the stratosphere can oxidize and form sulfur aerosols, potentially persisting for several years. We developed a new submodel, Explosive Volcanic ERuptions (EVER), that seamlessly includes stratospheric volcanic SO2 emissions in global numerical simulations based on a novel standard historical model setup, successfully evaluated with satellite observations. Sensitivity studies on the Nabro eruption in 2011 evaluate different emission methods.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, and Clair Duchamp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6353–6364, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest stratospheric aerosol perturbation of the last 30 years. Stratospheric volcanic aerosols usually produce a transient climate cooling; these impacts depend on volcanic aerosol composition/size, due to size-dependent interactions with solar/terrestrial radiation. We demonstrate that the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai stratospheric aerosols have a larger cooling potential per unit mass than the past climate-relevant El Chichón (1984) and Pinatubo (1991) eruptions.
Simone Tilmes, Ewa M. Bednarz, Andrin Jörimann, Daniele Visioni, Douglas E. Kinnison, Gabriel Chiodo, and David Plummer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6001–6023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6001-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6001-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we describe the details of a new multi-model intercomparison experiment to assess the effects of Stratospheric Aerosol Intervention (SAI) on stratospheric chemistry and dynamics and, therefore, ozone. Second, we discuss the advantages and differences of the more constrained experiment compared to fully interactive model experiments. This way, we advance the process-level understanding of the drivers of SAI-induced atmospheric responses.
Genevieve Rose Lorenzo, Luke D. Ziemba, Avelino F. Arellano, Mary C. Barth, Ewan C. Crosbie, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Richard Ferrare, Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Michael A. Shook, Simone Tilmes, Jian Wang, Qian Xiao, Jun Zhang, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5469–5495, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5469-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5469-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Novel aerosol hygroscopicity analyses of CAMP2Ex (Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment) field campaign data show low aerosol hygroscopicity values in Southeast Asia. Organic carbon from smoke decreases hygroscopicity to levels more like those in continental than in polluted marine regions. Hygroscopicity changes at cloud level demonstrate how surface particles impact clouds in the region, affecting model representation of aerosol and cloud interactions in similar polluted marine regions with high organic carbon emissions.
Florian Voet, Felix Ploeger, Johannes Laube, Peter Preusse, Paul Konopka, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jörn Ungermann, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Michael Höpfner, Bernd Funke, Gerald Wetzel, Sören Johansson, Gabriele Stiller, Eric Ray, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3541–3565, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3541-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3541-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study refines estimates of the stratospheric “age of air”, a measure of how long air circulates in the stratosphere. By analyzing correlations between trace gases measurable by satellites, the research introduces a method that reduces uncertainties and detects small-scale atmospheric features. This improved understanding of stratospheric circulation is crucial for better climate models and predictions, enhancing our ability to assess the impacts of climate change on the atmosphere.
Danny M. Leung, Jasper F. Kok, Longlei Li, David M. Lawrence, Natalie M. Mahowald, Simone Tilmes, and Erik Kluzek
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2311–2331, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2311-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2311-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study derives a gridded dust emission dataset for 1841–2000 by employing a combination of observed dust from core records and reanalyzed global dust cycle constraints. We evaluate the ability of global models to replicate the observed historical dust variability by using the emission dataset to force a historical simulation in an Earth system model. We show that prescribing our emissions forces the model to better match observations than other mechanistic models.
Prashant Chavan, Suvarna Fadnavis, Anton Laakso, Jean-Paul Vernier, Simone Tilmes, and Rolf Müller
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3825, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3825, 2025
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Our simulations with volcanoes, when compared without volcanoes, show that volcanic aerosol precursors enter the tropical stratosphere, propagating upward and enhancing sulphate aerosol and heating. This stratospheric heating caused by the volcanoes reduces the amplitude of the QBO and disrupts its phases. Since QBO also modulates tropical convection and weather, we suggest including volcanic emissions and the QBO in the weather prediction model for a better forecast.
Norbert Glatthor, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Sylvia Kellmann, and Andrea Linden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1175–1208, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present global upper-tropospheric distributions of the pollutants HCN, CO, C2H2, C2H6, PAN, and HCOOH, observed between 2002 and 2012 by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on the Environmental Satellite (Envisat). By comparing the spatial distributions of their volume mixing ratios and by global correlation and regression analyses, we draw conclusions on their sources, such as biomass burning, anthropogenic sources, and biogenic release.
Michaël Sicard, Alexandre Baron, Marion Ranaivombola, Dominique Gantois, Tristan Millet, Pasquale Sellitto, Nelson Bègue, Hassan Bencherif, Guillaume Payen, Nicolas Marquestaut, and Valentin Duflot
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 367–381, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-367-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-367-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study quantifies the radiative impact over Réunion Island (21° S, 55° E) of the aerosols and water vapor injected into the stratosphere by the Hunga volcano in the South Pacific. The overall aerosol and water vapor impact on the Earth’s radiation budget for the whole period is negative (cooling, -0.82 ± 0.35 W m-2) and dominated by the aerosols. At the Earth’s surface, aerosols are the main drivers and produce a negative (cooling, -1.04 ± 0.36 W m-2) radiative impact.
Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
Polarforschung, 92, 33–45, https://doi.org/10.5194/polf-92-33-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/polf-92-33-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge of past climate change is essential to test our understanding of the rapidly changing Arctic. One of the longest Arctic temperature time series comes from observations in Svalbard that extend back more than 125 years but have a gap during World War II between 1941 and 1945. Observations from German military weather stations on Svalbard have now been retrieved from weather maps preserved at the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), which will help close much of the existing data gap.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Inna Polichtchouk, Kaoru Sato, Shingo Watanabe, Manfred Ern, Karlheinz Nogai, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5785–5819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the capabilities of a proposed satellite mission, CAIRT, for observing gravity waves throughout the middle atmosphere and present the necessary methodology for in-depth wave analysis. Our findings suggest that such a satellite mission is highly capable of resolving individual wave parameters and could give new insights into the role of gravity waves in general atmospheric circulation and atmospheric processes.
Karolin Voss, Philip Holzbeck, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Ralph Kleinschek, Gerald Wetzel, Blanca Fuentes Andrade, Michael Höpfner, Jörn Ungermann, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and André Butz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4507–4528, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4507-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4507-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A novel balloon-borne instrument for direct sun and solar occultation measurements of several UV–Vis absorbing gases (e.g. O3, NO2, BrO, IO, and HONO) is described. Its major design features and performance during two stratospheric deployments are discussed. From the measured overhead BrO concentration and a suitable photochemical correction, total stratospheric bromine is inferred to (17.5 ± 2.2) ppt in air masses which entered the stratosphere around early 2017 ± 1 year.
Sören Johansson, Michael Höpfner, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Thomas Gulde, Vincent Huijnen, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Tom Neubert, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Peter Preusse, Martin Riese, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Jörn Ungermann, Gerald Wetzel, and Wolfgang Woiwode
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8125–8138, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present airborne infrared limb sounding GLORIA measurements of ammonia (NH3) in the upper troposphere of air masses within the Asian monsoon and of those connected with biomass burning. Comparing CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) model data, we find that the model reproduces the measured enhanced NH3 within the Asian monsoon well but not that within biomass burning plumes, where no enhanced NH3 is measured in the upper troposphere but considerable amounts are simulated by CAMS.
Manuel López-Puertas, Federico Fabiano, Victor Fomichev, Bernd Funke, and Daniel R. Marsh
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4401–4432, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The radiative infrared cooling of CO2 in the middle atmosphere is crucial for computing its thermal structure. It requires one however to include non-local thermodynamic equilibrium processes which are computationally very expensive, which cannot be afforded by climate models. In this work, we present an updated, efficient, accurate and very fast (~50 µs) parameterization of that cooling able to cope with CO2 abundances from half the pre-industrial values to 10 times the current abundance.
Christina V. Brodowsky, Timofei Sukhodolov, Gabriel Chiodo, Valentina Aquila, Slimane Bekki, Sandip S. Dhomse, Michael Höpfner, Anton Laakso, Graham W. Mann, Ulrike Niemeier, Giovanni Pitari, Ilaria Quaglia, Eugene Rozanov, Anja Schmidt, Takashi Sekiya, Simone Tilmes, Claudia Timmreck, Sandro Vattioni, Daniele Visioni, Pengfei Yu, Yunqian Zhu, and Thomas Peter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5513–5548, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5513-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5513-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The aerosol layer is an essential part of the climate system. We characterize the sulfur budget in a volcanically quiescent (background) setting, with a special focus on the sulfate aerosol layer using, for the first time, a multi-model approach. The aim is to identify weak points in the representation of the atmospheric sulfur budget in an intercomparison of nine state-of-the-art coupled global circulation models.
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Udo Grabowski, Michael Höpfner, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2849–2871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present global atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) distributions retrieved from measurements of the MIPAS instrument on board the Environmental Satellite (Envisat) during 2002 to 2012. Monitoring of these gases is of scientific interest because both of them are strong greenhouse gases. We analyze the latest, improved version of calibrated MIPAS measurements. Further, we apply a new retrieval scheme leading to an improved CH4 and N2O data product .
Anton Laakso, Daniele Visioni, Ulrike Niemeier, Simone Tilmes, and Harri Kokkola
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 405–427, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-405-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-405-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study is the second in a two-part series in which we explore the dependency of the impacts of stratospheric sulfur injections on both the model employed and the strategy of injection utilized. The study uncovers uncertainties associated with these techniques to cool climate, highlighting how the simulated climate impacts are dependent on both the selected model and the magnitude of the injections. We also show that estimating precipitation impacts of aerosol injection is a complex task.
Daniele Visioni, Alan Robock, Jim Haywood, Matthew Henry, Simone Tilmes, Douglas G. MacMartin, Ben Kravitz, Sarah J. Doherty, John Moore, Chris Lennard, Shingo Watanabe, Helene Muri, Ulrike Niemeier, Olivier Boucher, Abu Syed, Temitope S. Egbebiyi, Roland Séférian, and Ilaria Quaglia
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2583–2596, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2583-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes a new experimental protocol for the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP). In it, we describe the details of a new simulation of sunlight reflection using the stratospheric aerosols that climate models are supposed to run, and we explain the reasons behind each choice we made when defining the protocol.
Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, and Manuel López-Puertas
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1759–1789, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1759-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
CFC-11, CFC-12, and HCFC-22 contribute to the depletion of ozone and are potent greenhouse gases. They have been banned by the Montreal protocol. With MIPAS on Envisat the atmospheric composition could be observed between 2002 and 2012. We present here the retrieval of their atmospheric distributions for the final data version 8. We characterise the derived data by their error budget and their spatial resolution. An additional representation for direct comparison to models is also provided.
Danny M. Leung, Jasper F. Kok, Longlei Li, Natalie M. Mahowald, David M. Lawrence, Simone Tilmes, Erik Kluzek, Martina Klose, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2287–2318, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2287-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2287-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses a premier Earth system model to evaluate a new desert dust emission scheme proposed in our companion paper. We show that our scheme accounts for more dust emission physics, hence matching better against observations than other existing dust emission schemes do. Our scheme's dust emissions also couple tightly with meteorology, hence likely improving the modeled dust sensitivity to climate change. We believe this work is vital for improving dust representation in climate models.
Bernd Funke, Thierry Dudok de Wit, Ilaria Ermolli, Margit Haberreiter, Doug Kinnison, Daniel Marsh, Hilde Nesse, Annika Seppälä, Miriam Sinnhuber, and Ilya Usoskin
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1217–1227, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1217-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1217-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We outline a road map for the preparation of a solar forcing dataset for the upcoming Phase 7 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP7), considering the latest scientific advances made in the reconstruction of solar forcing and in the understanding of climate response while also addressing the issues that were raised during CMIP6.
Abolfazl Rezaei, Khalil Karami, Simone Tilmes, and John C. Moore
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 91–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-91-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-91-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Water storage (WS) plays a profound role in the lives of people in the Middle East and North Africa as well as Mediterranean climate "hot spots". WS change by greenhouse gas (GHG) warming is simulated with and without stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI). WS significantly increases in the Arabian Peninsula and decreases around the Mediterranean under GHG. While SAI partially ameliorates GHG impacts, projected WS increases in dry regions and decreases in wet areas relative to present climate.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Juan Cuesta, Aurélien Podglajen, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15523–15535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season 2019–2020. These fires injected a smoke plume in the stratosphere, which dispersed over the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar and terrestrial radiation. A number of detached smoke bubbles were also observed emanating from this plume and ascending quickly to over 35 km altitude. Here we study how absorption of radiation generated ascending motion of both the the hemispheric plume and the vortices.
Konstantin Ntokas, Jörn Ungermann, Martin Kaufmann, Tom Neubert, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5681–5696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5681-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5681-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A nanosatellite was developed to obtain 1-D vertical temperature profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, which can be used to derive wave parameters needed for atmospheric models. A new processing method is shown, which allows one to extract two 1-D temperature profiles. The location of the two profiles is analyzed, as it is needed for deriving wave parameters. We show that this method is feasible, which however will increase the requirements of an accurate calibration and processing.
Manuel López-Puertas, Maya García-Comas, Bernd Funke, Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5609–5645, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5609-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes a new version (V8) of ozone data from MIPAS middle-atmosphere spectra. The dataset comprises high-quality ozone profiles from 20 to 100 km, with pole-to-pole latitude coverage for the day- and nighttime, spanning 2005 until 2012. An exhaustive treatment of errors has been performed. Compared to other satellite instruments, MIPAS ozone shows a positive bias of 5 %–8 % below 70 km. In the upper mesosphere, this new version agrees much better than previous ones (within 10 %).
Maya García-Comas, Bernd Funke, Manuel López-Puertas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Andrea Linden, Belén Martínez-Mondéjar, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5357–5386, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5357-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We have released version 8 of MIPAS IMK–IAA temperatures and pointing information retrieved from MIPAS Middle and Upper Atmosphere mode version 8.03 calibrated spectra, covering 20–115 km altitude. We considered non-local thermodynamic equilibrium emission explicitly for each limb scan, essential to retrieve accurate temperatures above the mid-mesosphere. Comparisons of this temperature dataset with SABER measurements show excellent agreement, improving those of previous MIPAS versions.
Simone Tilmes, Michael J. Mills, Yunqian Zhu, Charles G. Bardeen, Francis Vitt, Pengfei Yu, David Fillmore, Xiaohong Liu, Brian Toon, and Terry Deshler
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 6087–6125, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-6087-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-6087-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We implemented an alternative aerosol scheme in the high- and low-top model versions of the Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) with a more detailed description of tropospheric and stratospheric aerosol size distributions than the existing aerosol model. This development enables the comparison of different aerosol schemes with different complexity in the same model framework. It identifies improvements compared to a range of observations in both the troposphere and stratosphere.
Wenfu Tang, Louisa K. Emmons, Helen M. Worden, Rajesh Kumar, Cenlin He, Benjamin Gaubert, Zhonghua Zheng, Simone Tilmes, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Sara-Eva Martinez-Alonso, Claire Granier, Antonin Soulie, Kathryn McKain, Bruce C. Daube, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea Thompson, and Pieternel Levelt
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 6001–6028, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-6001-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-6001-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The new MUSICAv0 model enables the study of atmospheric chemistry across all relevant scales. We develop a MUSICAv0 grid for Africa. We evaluate MUSICAv0 with observations and compare it with a previously used model – WRF-Chem. Overall, the performance of MUSICAv0 is comparable to WRF-Chem. Based on model–satellite discrepancies, we find that future field campaigns in an eastern African region (30°E–45°E, 5°S–5°N) could substantially improve the predictive skill of air quality models.
Yunqian Zhu, Robert W. Portmann, Douglas Kinnison, Owen Brian Toon, Luis Millán, Jun Zhang, Holger Vömel, Simone Tilmes, Charles G. Bardeen, Xinyue Wang, Stephanie Evan, William J. Randel, and Karen H. Rosenlof
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13355–13367, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13355-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13355-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The 2022 Hunga Tonga eruption injected a large amount of water into the stratosphere. Ozone depletion was observed inside the volcanic plume. Chlorine and water vapor injected by this eruption exceeded the normal range, which made the ozone chemistry during this event occur at a higher temperature than polar ozone depletion. Unlike polar ozone chemistry where chlorine nitrate is more important, hypochlorous acid plays a large role in the in-plume chlorine balance and heterogeneous processes.
Monali Borthakur, Miriam Sinnhuber, Alexandra Laeng, Thomas Reddmann, Peter Braesicke, Gabriele Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Ilya Usoskin, Jan Maik Wissing, and Olesya Yakovchuk
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12985–13013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12985-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12985-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Reduced ozone levels resulting from ozone depletion mean more exposure to UV radiation, which has various effects on human health. We analysed solar events to see what influence it has on the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere and how this atmospheric chemistry change can affect the ozone. To do this, we used an atmospheric model considering only chemistry and compared it with satellite data. The focus was mainly on the contribution of chlorine, and we found about 10 %–20 % ozone loss due to that.
Seyed Vahid Mousavi, Khalil Karami, Simone Tilmes, Helene Muri, Lili Xia, and Abolfazl Rezaei
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10677–10695, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10677-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10677-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding atmospheric dust changes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region under future climate scenarios is essential. By injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere, stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) geoengineering reflects some of the incoming sunlight back to space. This study shows that the MENA region would experience lower dust concentration under both SAI and RCP8.5 scenarios compared to the current climate (CTL) by the end of the century.
Manfred Ern, Mohamadou A. Diallo, Dina Khordakova, Isabell Krisch, Peter Preusse, Oliver Reitebuch, Jörn Ungermann, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9549–9583, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9549-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9549-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of the stratospheric tropical winds is an important mode of climate variability but is not well reproduced in free-running climate models. We use the novel global wind observations by the Aeolus satellite and radiosondes to show that the QBO is captured well in three modern reanalyses (ERA-5, JRA-55, and MERRA-2). Good agreement is also found also between Aeolus and reanalyses for large-scale tropical wave modes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, Manfred Ern, Jörn Ungermann, Lukas Krasauskas, Julio Bacmeister, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7901–7934, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7901-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7901-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Gravity waves (GWs) transport energy vertically and horizontally within the atmosphere and thereby affect wind speeds far from their sources. Here, we present a model that identifies orographic GW sources and predicts the pathways of the excited GWs through the atmosphere for a better understanding of horizontal GW propagation. We use this model to explain physical patterns in satellite observations (e.g., low GW activity above the Himalaya) and predict seasonal patterns of GW propagation.
Duseong S. Jo, Simone Tilmes, Louisa K. Emmons, Siyuan Wang, and Francis Vitt
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 3893–3906, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3893-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3893-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A new simple secondary organic aerosol (SOA) scheme has been developed for the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) based on the complex SOA scheme in CAM with detailed chemistry (CAM-chem). The CAM with the new SOA scheme shows better agreements with CAM-chem in terms of aerosol concentrations and radiative fluxes, which ensures more consistent results between different compsets in the Community Earth System Model. The new SOA scheme also has technical advantages for future developments.
Eric Sauvageat, Klemens Hocke, Eliane Maillard Barras, Shengyi Hou, Quentin Errera, Alexander Haefele, and Axel Murk
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7321–7345, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7321-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7321-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In Switzerland, two microwave radiometers can measure continuous ozone profiles in the middle atmosphere. From these instruments, we can study the diurnal variation of ozone, which is difficult to observe otherwise. It is valuable to validate the model simulations of diurnal variations in this region. We present results obtained during the last decade and compare them against various models. For the first time, we also show that the winter diurnal variations have some short-term fluctuations.
Abolfazl Rezaei, Khalil Karami, Simone Tilmes, and John C. Moore
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5835–5850, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5835-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5835-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Teleconnection patterns are important characteristics of the climate system; well-known examples include the El Niño and La Niña events driven from the tropical Pacific. We examined how spatiotemporal patterns that arise in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans behave under stratospheric aerosol geoengineering and greenhouse gas (GHG)-induced warming. In general, geoengineering reverses trends; however, the changes in decadal oscillation for the AMO, NAO, and PDO imposed by GHG are not suppressed.
Wenfu Tang, Simone Tilmes, David M. Lawrence, Fang Li, Cenlin He, Louisa K. Emmons, Rebecca R. Buchholz, and Lili Xia
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5467–5486, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5467-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5467-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Globally, total wildfire burned area is projected to increase over the 21st century under scenarios without geoengineering and decrease under the two geoengineering scenarios. Geoengineering reduces fire by decreasing surface temperature and wind speed and increasing relative humidity and soil water. However, geoengineering also yields reductions in precipitation, which offset some of the fire reduction.
Daniele Visioni, Ben Kravitz, Alan Robock, Simone Tilmes, Jim Haywood, Olivier Boucher, Mark Lawrence, Peter Irvine, Ulrike Niemeier, Lili Xia, Gabriel Chiodo, Chris Lennard, Shingo Watanabe, John C. Moore, and Helene Muri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5149–5176, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5149-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5149-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Geoengineering indicates methods aiming to reduce the temperature of the planet by means of reflecting back a part of the incoming radiation before it reaches the surface or allowing more of the planetary radiation to escape into space. It aims to produce modelling experiments that are easy to reproduce and compare with different climate models, in order to understand the potential impacts of these techniques. Here we assess its past successes and failures and talk about its future.
Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2167–2196, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2167-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2167-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
New global nitric oxide (NO) volume-mixing-ratio and lower-thermospheric temperature data products, retrieved from Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) spectra with the IMK-IAA MIPAS data processor, have been released. The dataset covers the entire Envisat mission lifetime and includes retrieval results from all MIPAS observation modes. The data are based on ESA version 8 calibration and were processed using an improved retrieval approach.
Khalil Karami, Rolando Garcia, Christoph Jacobi, Jadwiga H. Richter, and Simone Tilmes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3799–3818, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3799-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3799-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Alongside mitigation and adaptation efforts, stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI) is increasingly considered a third pillar to combat dangerous climate change. We investigate the teleconnection between the quasi-biennial oscillation in the equatorial stratosphere and the Arctic stratospheric polar vortex under a warmer climate and an SAI scenario. We show that the Holton–Tan relationship weakens under both scenarios and discuss the physical mechanisms responsible for such changes.
Michael Kiefer, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Michael Höpfner, Sylvia Kellmann, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1443–1460, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1443-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1443-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A new ozone data set, derived from radiation measurements of the space-borne instrument MIPAS, is presented. It consists of more than 2 million single ozone profiles from 2002–2012, covering virtually all latitudes and altitudes between 5 and 70 km. Progress in data calibration and processing methods allowed for significant improvement of the data quality, compared to previous data versions. Hence, the data set will help to better understand e.g. the time evolution of ozone in the stratosphere.
Yangxin Chen, Duoying Ji, Qian Zhang, John C. Moore, Olivier Boucher, Andy Jones, Thibaut Lurton, Michael J. Mills, Ulrike Niemeier, Roland Séférian, and Simone Tilmes
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 55–79, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-55-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-55-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Solar geoengineering has been proposed as a way of counteracting the warming effects of increasing greenhouse gases by reflecting solar radiation. This work shows that solar geoengineering can slow down the northern-high-latitude permafrost degradation but cannot preserve the permafrost ecosystem as that under a climate of the same warming level without solar geoengineering.
Jennifer Schallock, Christoph Brühl, Christine Bingen, Michael Höpfner, Landon Rieger, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1169–1207, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1169-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1169-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We characterized the influence of volcanic aerosols for the period 1990–2019 and established a volcanic SO2 emission inventory that includes more than 500 eruptions. From limb-based satellite observations of SO2 and extinction, we derive 3D plumes of SO2 perturbations and injected mass by a novel method. We calculate instantaneous radiative forcing with a comprehensive chemisty climate model. Our results show that smaller eruptions can also contribute to the stratospheric aerosol forcing.
Reimar Bauer, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jörn Ungermann, May Bär, Markus Geldenhuys, and Lars Hoffmann
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 8983–8997, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8983-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8983-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Mission Support System (MSS) is an open source software package that has been used for planning flight tracks of scientific aircraft in multiple measurement campaigns during the last decade. Here, we describe the MSS software and its use during the SouthTRAC measurement campaign in 2019. As an example for how the MSS software is used in conjunction with many datasets, we describe the planning of a single flight probing orographic gravity waves propagating up into the lower mesosphere.
Qiuyu Chen, Konstantin Ntokas, Björn Linder, Lukas Krasauskas, Manfred Ern, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Erich Becker, Martin Kaufmann, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 7071–7103, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7071-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7071-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Observations of phase speed and direction spectra as well as zonal mean net gravity wave momentum flux are required to understand how gravity waves reach the mesosphere–lower thermosphere and how they there interact with background flow. To this end we propose flying two CubeSats, each deploying a spatial heterodyne spectrometer for limb observation of the airglow. End-to-end simulations demonstrate that individual gravity waves are retrieved faithfully for the expected instrument performance.
Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Bernd Funke, Michael Kiefer, Anne Kleinert, Gabriele P. Stiller, Andrea Linden, and Sylvia Kellmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6991–7018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6991-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6991-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Errors of profiles of temperature and mixing ratios retrieved from spectra recorded with the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding are estimated. All known and quantified sources of uncertainty are considered. Some ongoing uncertaities contribute to both the random and to the systematic errors. In some cases, one source of uncertainty propagates onto the error budget via multiple pathways. Problems arise when the correlations of errors to be propagated are unknown.
Bernard Legras, Clair Duchamp, Pasquale Sellitto, Aurélien Podglajen, Elisa Carboni, Richard Siddans, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The long-duration atmospheric impact of the Tonga eruption in January 2022 is a plume of water and sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere that persisted for more than 6 months. We study this evolution using several satellite instruments and analyse the unusual behaviour of this plume as sulfates and water first moved down rapidly and then separated into two layers. We also report the self-organization in compact and long-lived patches.
Gerald Wetzel, Michael Höpfner, Hermann Oelhaf, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Anne Kleinert, Guido Maucher, Miriam Sinnhuber, Janna Abalichin, Angelika Dehn, and Piera Raspollini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6669–6704, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6669-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6669-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite measurements of stratospheric trace gases are essential for monitoring distributions and trends of these species on a global scale. Here, we compare the final MIPAS ESA Level 2 version 8 data (temperature and trace gases) with measurements obtained with the balloon version of MIPAS in terms of data agreement of both sensors, including combined errors. For most gases, we find a 5 % to 20 % agreement of the retrieved vertical profiles of both MIPAS instruments in the lower stratosphere.
Mathieu Lachatre, Sylvain Mailler, Laurent Menut, Arineh Cholakian, Pasquale Sellitto, Guillaume Siour, Henda Guermazi, Giuseppe Salerno, and Salvatore Giammanco
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13861–13879, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13861-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we have evaluated the predominance of various pathways of volcanic SO2 conversion to sulfates in the upper troposphere. We show that the main conversion pathway was gaseous oxidation by OH, although the liquid pathways were expected to be predominant. These results are interesting with respect to a better understanding of sulfate formation in the middle and upper troposphere and are an important component to help evaluate particulate matter radiative forcing.
Klaus-Peter Heue, Diego Loyola, Fabian Romahn, Walter Zimmer, Simon Chabrillat, Quentin Errera, Jerry Ziemke, and Natalya Kramarova
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5563–5579, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5563-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5563-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To retrieve tropospheric ozone column information, we subtract stratospheric column data of BASCOE from TROPOMI/S5P total ozone columns.
The new S5P-BASCOE data agree well with existing tropospheric data like OMPS-MERRA-2. The data are also compared to ozone soundings.
The tropospheric ozone columns show the expected temporal and spatial patterns. We will also apply the algorithm to future UV nadir missions like Sentinel 4 or 5 or to recent and ongoing missions like GOME_2 or OMI.
Mari R. Tye, Katherine Dagon, Maria J. Molina, Jadwiga H. Richter, Daniele Visioni, Ben Kravitz, and Simone Tilmes
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 1233–1257, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1233-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1233-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We examined the potential effect of stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) on extreme temperature and precipitation. SAI may cause daytime temperatures to cool but nighttime to warm. Daytime cooling may occur in all seasons across the globe, with the largest decreases in summer. In contrast, nighttime warming may be greatest at high latitudes in winter. SAI may reduce the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall. The combined changes may exacerbate drying over parts of the global south.
Vincent Huijnen, Philippe Le Sager, Marcus O. Köhler, Glenn Carver, Samuel Rémy, Johannes Flemming, Simon Chabrillat, Quentin Errera, and Twan van Noije
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 6221–6241, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6221-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6221-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We report on the first implementation of atmospheric chemistry and aerosol as part of the OpenIFS model, based on the CAMS global model. We give an overview of the model and evaluate two reference model configurations, with and without the stratospheric chemistry extension, against a variety of observational datasets. This OpenIFS version with atmospheric composition components is open to the scientific user community under a standard OpenIFS license.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Corinna Kloss, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9299–9311, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
As a consequence of extreme heat and drought, record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season in 2019–2020. Fires injected a smoke plume very high up to the stratosphere, which dispersed quite quickly to the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar radiation, reflecting and absorbing part of it – thus producing impacts on the climate system. Here we estimate this impact on radiation and we study how it depends on the properties and ageing of the plume.
Irina Mironova, Miriam Sinnhuber, Galina Bazilevskaya, Mark Clilverd, Bernd Funke, Vladimir Makhmutov, Eugene Rozanov, Michelle L. Santee, Timofei Sukhodolov, and Thomas Ulich
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6703–6716, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6703-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6703-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
From balloon measurements, we detected unprecedented, extremely powerful, electron precipitation over the middle latitudes. The robustness of this event is confirmed by satellite observations of electron fluxes and chemical composition, as well as by ground-based observations of the radio signal propagation. The applied chemistry–climate model shows the almost complete destruction of ozone in the mesosphere over the region where high-energy electrons were observed.
Jörn Ungermann, Anne Kleinert, Guido Maucher, Irene Bartolomé, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Sören Johansson, Lukas Krasauskas, and Tom Neubert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2503–2530, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2503-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2503-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
GLORIA is a 2-D infrared imaging spectrometer operated on two high-flying research aircraft. This paper details our instrument calibration and characterization efforts, which in particular leverage in-flight data almost exclusively and often exploit the novel 2-D nature of the measurements. We show that the instrument surpasses the original instrument specifications and conclude by analyzing how the derived errors affect temperature and ozone retrievals, two of our main derived quantities.
Alexandra Laeng, Thomas von Clarmann, Quentin Errera, Udo Grabowski, and Shawn Honomichl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2407–2416, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2407-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2407-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In validation exercises, a universal excuse used to explain the residual discrepancy between the data is the natural atmospheric variability due to imperfect co-locations. This work is the first attempt to quantify this atmospheric variability for a large sample of atmospheric constituents and to provide the user with a tool to substract the natural atmospheric variability portion from the residual variability.
Simone Tilmes, Daniele Visioni, Andy Jones, James Haywood, Roland Séférian, Pierre Nabat, Olivier Boucher, Ewa Monica Bednarz, and Ulrike Niemeier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4557–4579, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4557-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4557-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses the impacts of climate interventions, using stratospheric sulfate aerosol and solar dimming on stratospheric ozone, based on three Earth system models with interactive stratospheric chemistry. The climate interventions have been applied to a high emission (baseline) scenario in order to reach global surface temperatures of a medium emission scenario. We find significant increases and decreases in total column ozone, depending on regions and seasons.
Sören Johansson, Gerald Wetzel, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Michael Höpfner, Anne Kleinert, Tom Neubert, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Jörn Ungermann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3675–3691, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3675-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3675-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present GLORIA airborne cross sections of PAN, C2H6, HCOOH, CH3OH, and C2H4 in the South Atlantic UTLS in September/October 2019. Filamentary structures and a large plume were observed. Backward trajectories indicate that measured pollutants come from South America and central Africa. Comparisons to CAMS show structural agreement of the measured distributions. PAN absolute VMRs agree with the GLORIA measurements, C2H6 and HCOOH are simulated too low, and CH3OH and C2H4 are too high.
Helmut Ziereis, Peter Hoor, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Andreas Zahn, Greta Stratmann, Paul Stock, Michael Lichtenstern, Jens Krause, Vera Bense, Armin Afchine, Christian Rolf, Wolfgang Woiwode, Marleen Braun, Jörn Ungermann, Andreas Marsing, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Engel, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Hermann Oelhaf
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3631–3654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3631-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3631-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Airborne observations were conducted in the lowermost Arctic stratosphere during the winter of 2015/2016. The observed distribution of reactive nitrogen shows clear indications of nitrification in mid-winter and denitrification in late winter. This was caused by the formation of polar stratospheric cloud particles, which were observed during several flights. The sedimentation and evaporation of these particles and the descent of air masses cause a redistribution of reactive nitrogen.
Andy Jones, Jim M. Haywood, Adam A. Scaife, Olivier Boucher, Matthew Henry, Ben Kravitz, Thibaut Lurton, Pierre Nabat, Ulrike Niemeier, Roland Séférian, Simone Tilmes, and Daniele Visioni
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2999–3016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2999-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2999-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Simulations by six Earth-system models of geoengineering by introducing sulfuric acid aerosols into the tropical stratosphere are compared. A robust impact on the northern wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation is found, exacerbating precipitation reduction over parts of southern Europe. In contrast, the models show no consistency with regard to impacts on the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, although results do indicate a risk that the oscillation could become locked into a permanent westerly phase.
Florian Haenel, Wolfgang Woiwode, Jennifer Buchmüller, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Michael Höpfner, Sören Johansson, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Oliver Kirner, Anne Kleinert, Hermann Oelhaf, Johannes Orphal, Roland Ruhnke, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Jörn Ungermann, Michael Weimer, and Peter Braesicke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2843–2870, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2843-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2843-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We compare remote sensing observations of H2O, O3, HNO3 and clouds in the upper troposphere–lowermost stratosphere during an Arctic winter long-range research flight with simulations by two different state-of-the-art model systems. We find good agreement for dynamical structures, trace gas distributions and clouds. We investigate model biases and sensitivities, with the goal of aiding model development and improving our understanding of processes in the upper troposphere–lowermost stratosphere.
Matthias Schneider, Benjamin Ertl, Christopher J. Diekmann, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Andreas Weber, Frank Hase, Michael Höpfner, Omaira E. García, Eliezer Sepúlveda, and Douglas Kinnison
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 709–742, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-709-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-709-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present atmospheric H2O, HDO / H2O ratio, N2O, CH4, and HNO3 data generated by the MUSICA IASI processor using thermal nadir spectra measured by the IASI satellite instrument. The data have global daily coverage and are available for the period between October 2014 and June 2021. Multiple possibilities of data reuse are offered by providing each individual data product together with information about retrieval settings and the products' uncertainty and vertical representativeness.
Daniele Visioni, Simone Tilmes, Charles Bardeen, Michael Mills, Douglas G. MacMartin, Ben Kravitz, and Jadwiga H. Richter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1739–1756, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1739-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1739-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosols are simulated in a simplified way in climate models: in the model analyzed here, they are represented in every grid as described by three simple logarithmic distributions, mixing all different species together. The size can evolve when new particles are formed, particles merge together to create a larger one or particles are deposited to the surface. This approximation normally works fairly well. Here we show however that when large amounts of sulfate are simulated, there are problems.
Nicholas A. Davis, Patrick Callaghan, Isla R. Simpson, and Simone Tilmes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 197–214, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-197-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-197-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Specified dynamics schemes attempt to constrain the atmospheric circulation in a climate model to isolate the role of transport in chemical variability, evaluate model physics, and interpret field campaign observations. We show that the specified dynamics scheme in CESM2 erroneously suppresses convection and induces circulation errors that project onto errors in tracers, even using the most optimal settings. Development of a more sophisticated scheme is necessary for future progress.
Anton Laakso, Ulrike Niemeier, Daniele Visioni, Simone Tilmes, and Harri Kokkola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 93–118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-93-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-93-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The use of different spatio-temporal sulfur injection strategies with different magnitudes to create an artificial reflective aerosol layer to cool the climate is studied using sectional and modal aerosol schemes in a climate model. There are significant differences in the results depending on the aerosol microphysical module used. Different spatio-temporal injection strategies have a significant impact on the magnitude and zonal distribution of radiative forcing and atmospheric dynamics.
Michael Höpfner, Oliver Kirner, Gerald Wetzel, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Florian Haenel, Sören Johansson, Johannes Orphal, Roland Ruhnke, Gabriele Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18433–18464, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18433-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18433-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
BrONO2 is an important reservoir gas for inorganic stratospheric bromine linked to the chemical cycles of stratospheric ozone depletion. Presently infrared limb sounding is the only way to measure BrONO2 in the atmosphere. We provide global distributions of BrONO2 derived from MIPAS observations 2002–2012. Comparisons with EMAC atmospheric modelling show an overall agreement and enable us to derive an independent estimate of stratospheric bromine of 21.2±1.4pptv based on the BrONO2 measurements.
Cited articles
Académie des Sciences: Géo-ingénierie climatique : appel à la prudence et à un encadrement rigoureux, https://www.academie-sciences.fr/rapport-geo-ingenierie-clima
tique-appel-la-prudence-et-un-encadrement-rigoureux (last access: 8 October 2026), 2025.
Aubry, T. J., Engwell, S., Bonadonna, C., Carazzo, G., Scollo, S., Van Eaton, A. R., Taylor, I. A., Jessop, D., Eychenne, J., Gouhier, M., Mastin, L. G., Wallace, K. L., Biass, S., Bursik, M., Grainger, R. G., Jellinek, A. M., and Schmidt, A.: The Independent Volcanic Eruption Source Parameter Archive (IVESPA, version 1.0): A new observational database to support explosive eruptive column model validation and development, J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res., 417, 107295, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2021.107295, 2021.
Bellamy, R.: Responsible research for space-based climate geoengineering, Environ. Sci. Policy, 172, 104213, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104213, 2025.
Bernath, P. F., McElroy, C. T., Abrams, M. C., Boone, C. D., Butler, M., Camy-Peyret, C., Carleer, M., Clerbaux, C., Coheur, P.-F., Colin, R., DeCola, P., DeMazière, M., Drummond, J. R., Dufour, D., Evans, W. F. J., Fast, H., Fussen, D., Gilbert, K., Jennings, D. E., Llewellyn, E. J., Lowe, R. P., Mahieu, E., McConnell, J. C., McHugh, M., McLeod, S. D., Michaud, R., Midwinter, C., Nassar, R., Nichitiu, F., Nowlan, Rinsland, C. P., Rochon, Y. J., Rowlands, N., Semeniuk, K., Simon, P., Skelton, R., Sloan, J. J., Soucy, M.-A., Strong, K., Tremblay, P., Turnbull, D., Walker, K. A., Walkty, I., Wardle, D. A., Wehrle, V., Zander, R., and Zou, J.: Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE): Mission overview, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L15S01, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL022386, 2005.
Bronsther, J. and Xu, Y.: The social costs of solar radiation management, npj Climate Action, 4, 69, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00273-y, 2025.
Carboni, E., Grainger, R., Walker, J., Dudhia, A., and Siddans, R.: A new scheme for sulphur dioxide retrieval from IASI measurements: application to the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of April and May 2010, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 11417–11434, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11417-2012, 2012.
Carn, S. A., Clarisse, L., and Prata, A. J.: Multi-decadal satellite measurements of global volcanic degassing, J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res., 311, 99–134, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2016.01.002, 2016.
Consortium National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment: National Interdisciplinary Climate Risk Assessment, https://metis.unibw.de/en/nike/ (last access: 8 October 2026), 2025.
Crutzen, P. J.: Albedo Enhancement by Stratospheric Sulfur Injections: A Contribution to Resolve a Policy Dilemma?, Climatic Change 77, 211–220, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9101-y, 2006.
Duchamp, C., Legras, B., Podglajen, A., Sellitto, P., Bourassa, A. E., Rozanov, A., Taha, G., and Zawada, D. J.: Aerosol Composition and Extinction of the 2022 Hunga Plume Using CALIOP, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1675–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, 2026.
European Parliament: Briefing: Options for the responsible governance of research on solar radiation modification, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2026)789310 (last access: 8 October 2026), 2026.
European Space Agency: Report for Mission Selection: Earth Explorer 11 Candidate Mission CAIRT, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, ESA-EOPSM-CAIR-RP-4797, 230 pp., https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15606819, 2025.
Eyring, V., Cionni, I., Lamarque, J. F., Akiyoshi, H., Bodeker, G. E., Charlton-Perez, A. J., Frith, S. M., Gettelman, A., Kinnison, D. E., Nakamura, T., Oman, L. D., Pawson, S., and Yamashita, Y.: Sensitivity of 21st century stratospheric ozone to greenhouse gas scenarios, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL044443, 2010.
Funke, B., Höpfner, M., Bender, S., Errera, Q., Grabowski, U., Hoffmann, A., Liu, H.-L., Pedatella, N. M., Raspollini, P., Ungermann, J., and Sinnhuber, B.-M.: Linear tomographic retrieval characterisation and performance estimation for the ESA Earth Explorer 11 candidate CAIRT (Changing Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography explorer), EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3881, 2026.
Gettelman, A., Mills, M. J., Kinnison, D. E., Garcia, R. R., Smith, A. K., Marsh, D. R., Tilmes, S., Vitt, F., Bardeen, C. G., McInerny, J., Liu, H.-L., Solomon, S. C., Polvani, L. M., Emmons, L. K., Lamarque, J.-F., Richter, J. H., Glanville, A. S., Bacmeister, J. T., Phillips, A. S., Neale, R. B., Simpson, I. R., DuVivier, A. K., Hodzic, A., and Randel, W. J.: The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model Version 6 (WACCM6), J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 12380–12403, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030943, 2019.
Guermazi, H., Sellitto, P., Serbaji, M.M., Legras, B., and Rekhiss, F.: Assessment of the Combined Sensitivity of Nadir TIR Satellite Observations to Volcanic SO2 and Sulphate Aerosols after a Moderate Stratospheric Eruption, Geosciences, 7, 84, https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences7030084, 2017.
Guermazi, H., Sellitto, P., Cuesta, J., Eremenko, M., Lachatre, M., Mailler, S., Carboni, E., Salerno, G., Caltabiano, T., Menut, L., Serbaji, M. M., Rekhiss, F., and Legras, B.: Quantitative Retrieval of Volcanic Sulphate Aerosols from IASI Observations, Remote Sens., 13, 1808, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13091808, 2021.
Günther, A., Höpfner, M., Sinnhuber, B.-M., Griessbach, S., Deshler, T., von Clarmann, T., and Stiller, G.: MIPAS observations of volcanic sulfate aerosol and sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 1217–1239, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1217-2018, 2018.
Haywood, J. M., Jones, A., Clarisse, L., Bourassa, A., Barnes, J., Telford, P., Bellouin, N., Boucher, O., Agnew, P., Clerbaux, C., Coheur, P.-F., Degenstein, D., and Braesicke, P.: Observations of the eruption of the Sarychev volcano and simulations using the HadGEM2 climate model, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D21212, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014447, 2010.
Helwegen, K. G., Wieners, C. E., Frank, J. E., and Dijkstra, H. A.: Complementing CO2 emission reduction by solar radiation management might strongly enhance future welfare, Earth Syst. Dynam., 10, 453–472, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-453-2019, 2019.
Höpfner, M., Boone, C. D., Funke, B., Glatthor, N., Grabowski, U., Günther, A., Kellmann, S., Kiefer, M., Linden, A., Lossow, S., Pumphrey, H. C., Read, W. G., Roiger, A., Stiller, G., Schlager, H., von Clarmann, T., and Wissmüller, K.: Sulfur dioxide (SO2) from MIPAS in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere 2002–2012, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7017–7037, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7017-2015, 2015.
Höpfner, M., Funke, B., Bender, S., Errera, Q., Sinnhuber, B.-M., and Ungermann, J.: D-04-01 CAIRT linear SWB ATBDD14-4-README-3, CAIRT PerRec, Zenodo, https://zenodo.org/records/18496134 (last access: 8 October 2026), 2025.
IPCC: Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty, edited by: Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D., Skea, J., Shukla, P. R., Pirani, A., Moufouma-Okia, W., Péan, C., Pidcock, R., Connors, S., Matthews, J. B. R., Chen, Y., Zhou, X., Gomis, M. I., Lonnoy, E., Maycock, T., Tignor, M., and Waterfield, T., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 3–24, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157940.001, 2018.
IPCC: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S. L., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M. I., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J. B. R., Maycock, T. K., Waterfield, T., Yelekçi, O., Yu, R., and Zhou, B., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896, 2021.
Khaykin, S. M., de Laat, A. T. J., Godin-Beekmann, S., Hauchecorne, A., and Ratynski, M.: Unexpected self-lofting and dynamical confinement of volcanic plumes: the Raikoke 2019 case, Sci. Rep., 12, 22409, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27021-0, 2022.
Khaykin, S., Sicard, M., Leblanc, T., Sakai, T., Balugin, N., Berthet, G., Chevrier, S., Chouza, F., Feofilov, A., Gantois, D., Godin-Beekmann, S., Haddouche, A., Jin, Y., Morino, I., Kadygrov, N., Lecas, T., Liley, B., Querel, R., Taha, G., and Yushkov, V.: Global transport of stratospheric aerosol produced by Ruang eruption from EarthCARE ATLID, limb-viewing satellites and ground-based lidar observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 607–622, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-607-2026, 2026.
Kloss, C., Berthet, G., Sellitto, P., Ploeger, F., Taha, G., Tidiga, M., Eremenko, M., Bossolasco, A., Jégou, F., Renard, J.-B., and Legras, B.: Stratospheric aerosol layer perturbation caused by the 2019 Raikoke and Ulawun eruptions and their radiative forcing, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 535–560, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-535-2021, 2021.
Kosary, M., Sellitto, P., and Höpfner, M.: CAIRT Synthetic SO2 and sulphate aerosol 2034-01:2034-12, Version v1, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17384389, 2025.
Kovilakam, M., Thomason, L., and Knepp, T.: SAGE III/ISS aerosol/cloud categorization and its impact on GloSSAC, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2709–2731, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2709-2023, 2023.
Kravitz, B., Robock, A., Tilmes, S., Boucher, O., English, J. M., Irvine, P. J., Jones, A., Lawrence, M. G., MacCracken, M., Muri, H., Moore, J. C., Niemeier, U., Phipps, S. J., Sillmann, J., Storelvmo, T., Wang, H., and Watanabe, S.: The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (GeoMIP6): simulation design and preliminary results, Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 3379–3392, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3379-2015, 2015.
Kravitz, B., MacMartin, D. G., Tilmes, S., Richter, J. H., Mills, M. J., Cheng, W., Dagon, K., Glanville, A. S., Lamarque, J.-F., Simpson, I. R., Tribbia, J., and Vitt, F.: Comparing surface and stratospheric impacts of geoengineering with different SO2 injection strategies, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 7900–7918, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030329, 2019.
Kremser, S., Thomason, L. W., von Hobe, M., Hermann, M., Deshler, T., Timmreck, C., Toohey, M., Stenke, A., Schwarz, J. P., Weigel, R., Fueglistaler, S., Prata, F. J., Vernier, J.-P., Schlager, H., Barnes, J. E., Antuña-Marrero, J.-C., Fairlie, D., Palm, M., Mahieu, E., Notholt, J., Rex, M., Bingen, C., Vanhellemont, F., Bourassa, A., Plane, J. M. C., Klocke, D., Carn, S. A., Clarisse, L., Trickl, T., Neely, R., James, A. D., Rieger, L., Wilson, J. C., and Meland, B.: Stratospheric aerosol – Observations, processes, and impact on climate, Rev. Geophys., 54, 278–335, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RG000511, 2016.
Lange, A., Niemeier, U., Rozanov, A., and von Savigny, C.: Investigating the ability of satellite occultation instruments to monitor possible geoengineering experiments, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11673–11688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11673-2025, 2025.
Lawrence, M.G., Schäfer, S., Muri, H., Scott, V., Oschlies, A., Vaughan, N. E., Boucher, O., Schmidt, H., Haywood, J., and Scheffran, J.: Evaluating climate geoengineering proposals in the context of the Paris Agreement temperature goals, Nat. Commun., 9, 3734, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05938-3, 2018.
MacMartin, D. G., Ricke, K. L., Keith, D. W., Mitchell, D., Allen, M. R., Hall, J. W., Mueller, B., Rajamani, L., and Le Quéré, C.: Solar geoengineering as part of an overall strategy for meeting the 1.5 °C Paris target, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, 376, 20160454, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0454, 2018.
Mills, M. J., Richter, J. H., Tilmes, S., Kravitz, B., MacMartin, D. G., Glanville, A. A., Tribbia, J. J., Lamarque, J.-F., Vitt, F., Schmidt, A., Gettelman, A., Hannay, C., Bacmeister, J. T., and Kinnison, D. E.: Radiative and Chemical Response to Interactive Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosols in Fully Coupled CESM1(WACCM), J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 13061–13078, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027006, 2017.
O'Neill, B. C., Tebaldi, C., van Vuuren, D. P., Eyring, V., Friedlingstein, P., Hurtt, G., Knutti, R., Kriegler, E., Lamarque, J.-F., Lowe, J., Meehl, G. A., Moss, R., Riahi, K., and Sanderson, B. M.: The Scenario Model Intercomparison Project (ScenarioMIP) for CMIP6, Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 3461–3482, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3461-2016, 2016.
Rabitz, F.: Going rogue? Scenarios for unilateral geoengineering, Futures, 84, 98–107, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.11.001, 2016.
Ridley, D. A., Solomon, S., Barnes, J. E., Burlakov, V. D., Deshler, T., Dolgii, S. I., Herber, A. B., Nagai, T., Neely III, R. R., Nevzorov, A. V., Ritter, C., Sakai, T., Santer, B. D., Sato, M., Schmidt, A., Uchino, O., and Vernier, J. P.: Total volcanic stratospheric aerosol optical depths and implications for global climate change, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 7763–7769, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061541, 2014.
Salawitch, R. J., Smith, J. B., Selkirk, H., Wargan, K., Chipperfield, M. P., Hossaini, R., Levelt, P. F., Livesey, N. J., McBride, L. A., Millán, L. F., Moyer, E., Santee, M. L., Schoeberl, M. R., Solomon, S., Stone, K., and Worden, H. M.: The Imminent Data Desert: The Future of Stratospheric Monitoring in a Rapidly Changing World, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 106, E540–E563, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0281.1, 2025.
Schmidt, A., Mills, M. J., Ghan, S., Gregory, J. M., Allan, R. P., Andrews, T., Bardeen, C. G., Conley, A., Forster, P. M., Gettelman, A., Portmann, R. W., Solomon, S., and Toon, O. B.: Volcanic radiative forcing from 1979 to 2015, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 123, 12491–12508, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028776, 2018.
Sellitto, P. and Legras, B.: Sensitivity of thermal infrared nadir instruments to the chemical and microphysical properties of UTLS secondary sulfate aerosols, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 115–132, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-115-2016, 2016.
Sellitto, P., Podglajen, A., Belhadji, R., Boichu, M., Carboni, E., Cuesta, J., Duchamp, C., Kloss, C., Siddans, R., Bègue, N., Blarel, L., Jegou, F., Khaykin, S., Renard, J.-B., and Legras, B.: The unexpected radiative impact of the Hunga Tonga eruption of 15th January 2022, Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 288, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00618-z, 2022.
Sellitto, P., Belhadji, R., Cuesta, J., Podglajen, A., and Legras, B.: Radiative impacts of the Australian bushfires 2019–2020 – Part 2: Large-scale and in-vortex radiative heating, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15523–15535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, 2023.
Sellitto, P., Siddans, R., Belhadji, R., Carboni, E., Legras, B., Podglajen, A., Duchamp, C., and Kerridge, B.: Observing the SO2 and sulfate aerosol plumes from the 2022 Hunga eruption with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), Geophys. Res. Lett., 51, e2023GL105565, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105565, 2024.
Sinnhuber, B.-M., Chipperfield, M. P., Dinelli, B. M., Errera, Q., Friedl-Vallon, F., Funke, B., Godin-Beekmann, S., Hoffmann, A., Holm, E., Höpfner, M., Malavart, A., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Op de beeck, M., Osprey, S., Papandrea, E., Polichtchouk, I., Preusse, P., Raspollini, P., Rhode, S., Riese, M., Sellitto, P., Ungermann, J., Vervalcke, S., Verronen, P. T., Voet, F., and Walker, K. A.: The need for a new comprehensive view of the middle atmosphere – the potential of infrared limb imaging tomography, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0217.1, 2026.
Stevenson, D. S., Johnson, C. E., Collins, W. J., and Derwent, R. G.: The tropospheric sulphur cycle and the role of volcanic SO2, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 213, 295–305, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.213.01.18, 2003.
Taha, G., Loughman, R., Colarco, P. R., Zhu, T., Thomason, L. W., and Jaross, G.: Tracking the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai aerosol cloud in the upper and middle stratosphere using space-based observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL100091, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100091, 2022.
Thompson, D. W., Wallace, J. M., Jones, P. D., and Kennedy, J. J.: Identifying Signatures of Natural Climate Variability in Time Series of Global-Mean Surface Temperature: Methodology and Insights, J. Climate, 22, 6120–6141, https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JCLI3089.1, 2009.
Tilmes, S., Müller, R., and Salawitch, R.: The Sensitivity of Polar Ozone Depletion to Proposed Geoengineering Schemes, Science, 320, 1201–1204, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1153966, 2008.
Tilmes, S.: GeoMIP SSP5 run data, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research [data set], https://doi.org/10.5065/3WEZ-DD73, 2020.
Tilmes, S., MacMartin, D. G., Lenaerts, J. T. M., van Kampenhout, L., Muntjewerf, L., Xia, L., Harrison, C. S., Krumhardt, K. M., Mills, M. J., Kravitz, B., and Robock, A.: Reaching 1.5 and 2.0 °C global surface temperature targets using stratospheric aerosol geoengineering, Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 579–601, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-579-2020, 2020.
United Nations Environment Programme: One Atmosphere: An independent expert review on Solar Radiation Modification research and deployment. Kenya, Nairobi, https://www.unep.org/resources/report/Solar-Radiation-Modification-research-deployment (last access: 8 October 2026), 2023.
Vernier, J.-P., Thomason, L. W., Pommereau, J.-P., Bourassa, A., Pelon, J., Garnier, A., Hauchecorne, A., Blanot, L., Trepte, C., Degenstein, D., and Vargas, F.: Major influence of tropical volcanic eruptions on the stratospheric aerosol layer during the last decade, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L12807, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047563, 2011.
Wrana, F., Niemeier, U., Thomason, L. W., Wallis, S., and von Savigny, C.: Stratospheric aerosol size reduction after volcanic eruptions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9725–9743, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9725-2023, 2023.
Short summary
To counterbalance human-caused global warming, highly controversial geoengineering techniques, based on stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), have been proposed as a complement to climate change mitigation. Possible unilateral SAI deployments or tests are a risk. We show that existing satellite instruments do not have the capability to detect unilateral SAI experiments and we propose a future satellite technique, infrared limb emission sounding, that can provide this missing capability.
To counterbalance human-caused global warming, highly controversial geoengineering techniques,...