The Evolution of the Hunga Hydration in a Moistening Stratosphere

Abstract The 2022 Hunga eruption caused unprecedented stratospheric hydration. Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements show that the stratospheric water vapor mass remains essentially unchanged as of early 2024 and that the Hunga hydration occurred atop a robust (possibly accelerating) moiste...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: L. Millán, W. G. Read, M. L. Santee, A. Lambert, G. L. Manney, J. L. Neu, M. C. Pitts, F. Werner, N. J. Livesey, M. J. Schwartz
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024
Subjects:
hunga
moistening
trend
HTHH
water vapor
Geophysics. Cosmic physics
QC801-809
Antarctic
Antarc*
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110841
https://doaj.org/article/acb9c5c7d6634428af32caf29a72e39f
Description
Summary:Abstract The 2022 Hunga eruption caused unprecedented stratospheric hydration. Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements show that the stratospheric water vapor mass remains essentially unchanged as of early 2024 and that the Hunga hydration occurred atop a robust (possibly accelerating) moistening trend in the stratosphere. Enhanced by the excess Hunga water vapor, dehydration via polar stratospheric cloud sedimentation in the 2023 Antarctic vortex exceeded climatological values by ∼50%. Simple projections based on modeled exponential decay illustrate that the timing of the return to humidity levels that would have been expected absent the Hunga hydration depends on the ongoing stratospheric water vapor trend. With the Hunga hydration compounding an underlying moistening trend, the stratosphere could remain anomalously humid for an extended period.

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