Ground-based and airborne in-situ measurements of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic aerosol plume in Switzerland in spring 2010 ...

• Main Authors: Bukowiecki, Nicolas, Zieger, Paul, Weingartner, Ernest, Jurányi, Zsófia, Gysel, Martin, Neininger, Bruno, Schneider, Boris, Hueglin, Christoph, Ulrich, Andrea, Wichser, Adrian, Henne, Stephan, Brunner, Dominik, Kaegi, Ralf, Schwikowski, Margit, Tobler, Leonhard, Wienhold, Frank G., Engel, Ilana, Buchmann, Brigitte, Peter, Thomas, Baltensperger, Urs
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus 2011
• Subjects: 550 - Geowissenschaften; Eyjafjallajökull; Iceland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.26041/fhnw-9656; https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/46592

The volcanic aerosol plume resulting from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland in April and May 2010 was detected in clear layers above Switzerland during two periods (17–19 April 2010 and 16–19 May 2010). In-situ measurements of the airborne volcanic plume were performed both within ground-based monitoring networks and with a research aircraft up to an altitude of 6000 m a.s.l. The wide range of aerosol and gas phase parameters studied at the high altitude research station Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.) allowed for an in-depth characterization of the detected volcanic aerosol. Both the data from the Jungfraujoch and the aircraft vertical profiles showed a consistent volcanic ash mode in the aerosol volume size distribution with a mean optical diameter around 3 ± 0.3 μm. These particles were found to have an average chemical composition very similar to the trachyandesite-like composition of rock samples collected near the volcano. Furthermore, chemical processing of volcanic sulfur dioxide into sulfate ...