Abstract
Abstract. We present a multi-sensor archive collecting spatial and temporal information about volcanic SO2 clouds generated by the 11 largest eruptions of this century. The detection and monitoring of volcanic clouds are an important topic for aviation management, climate issues and weather forecasts. Several studies focusing on single eruptive events exist, but no archive available at the moment combines quantitative data from as many instruments. We archived and collocated the SO2 vertical column density estimations from three different satellite instruments (AIRS, IASI and GOME-2), atmospheric parameters as vertical profiles from the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Radio Occultations (RO), and the cloud-top height and aerosol type from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). Additionally, we provide information about the cloud-top height from three different algorithms and the atmospheric anomaly due to the presence of the cloud. The dataset is gathering 206 d of SO2 data, collocated with 44 180 backscatter profiles and 64 764 radio occultation profiles. The modular structure of the archive allows an easy collocation of the datasets according to the users' needs, and the cross-comparison of the datasets shows different consistency of the parameters estimated with different sensors and algorithms, according to the sensitivity and resolution of the instruments. The data described here are published with a DOI at https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2020.016 (Tournigand et al., 2020a).
Highlights
Volcanoes around the world are a constant source of gaseous emissions, both passively, during quiescent times, and actively, during eruptions (Robock, 2015; Carn et al, 2017)
The selected Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) backscatter is collocated with the SO2 estimation from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 (GOME-2), and this combination provides a complete information on the content and vertical structure of the cloud
We have collected 4 535 062 GOME-2 scanning lines covering 182 d, 336 399 IASI scanning lines covering 172 d, 865 AIRS granules covering 122 d, 44 180 CALIOP profiles covering 152 d and 64 764 Radio Occultation (RO) profiles covering 194 d collocated to the VC emitted by 11 different eruptions with Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) ≥ 4
Summary
Volcanoes around the world are a constant source of gaseous emissions, both passively, during quiescent times, and actively, during eruptions (Robock, 2015; Carn et al, 2017). Ge et al (2016) compiled an inventory for daily SO2 emissions in the time frame of 2005–2012 including global volcanic eruptions and eight persistently degassing volcanoes retrieved by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the Aura satellite. The abovementioned datasets provide important information for users mainly needing to assess the climatic impact of SO2 from volcanic sources; none of them allow for mapping the SO2 emissions and related altitude estimations in space and time and the direct testing and comparison of new models and techniques, like GNSS RO, for example. To the best of our knowledge, there is no database to date collecting SO2 maps and volcanic cloud altitude estimations from several instruments, cloud aerosol subtypes and atmospheric properties for explosive eruptions. We believe that the database presented here will help current and future investigations as well as support the development of more accurate retrieval methodologies
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