The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths
Tropical volcanic eruptions injecting sulfur into the stratosphere are assumed to not only scatter radiation and cool Earth’s surface but also to alter atmospheric circulation, and in particular to strengthen the stratospheric polar vortex in boreal winter. The exact impact is difficult to estimate...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
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ftpubman:oai:pure.mpg.de:item_3270673 2023-08-27T04:08:00+02:00 The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths Azoulay, A. Schmidt, H. Timmreck, C. 2021-06-16 application/gzip application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-8B38-E http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-972A-0 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-99EA-5 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-55FA-F http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-AE0B-9 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1029/2020JD034450 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-8B38-E http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-972A-0 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-99EA-5 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-55FA-F http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-AE0B-9 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2021 ftpubman https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD034450 2023-08-02T01:44:53Z Tropical volcanic eruptions injecting sulfur into the stratosphere are assumed to not only scatter radiation and cool Earth’s surface but also to alter atmospheric circulation, and in particular to strengthen the stratospheric polar vortex in boreal winter. The exact impact is difficult to estimate because of the small number of well observed eruptions and the high internal variability of the vortex. We use large (100 member) ensembles of simulations with an Earth system model for idealized volcanic aerosol distributions resulting from sulfur injections between 2.5 and 20 Tg. We suggest the existence of a threshold somewhere between 2.5 and 5 Tg(S) below which the vortex does not show a detectable response to the injection. This nonlinearity is introduced partly through the infrared aerosol optical density which increases much stronger than linear with increasing particle size occurring for increasing injection amount. Additionally, the dynamical mechanism causing the vortex strengthening seems not to set in for small aerosol loading. Furthermore, we add to the recent discussion concerning a possible downward propagation of the circulation response leading to a winter warming in Northern Eurasia. At latitudes northward of about 50°N our simulations do show such an average warming pattern that is statistically significant for injections of 10 Tg(S) or more. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe Arctic Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 126 11 |
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Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe |
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ftpubman |
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English |
description |
Tropical volcanic eruptions injecting sulfur into the stratosphere are assumed to not only scatter radiation and cool Earth’s surface but also to alter atmospheric circulation, and in particular to strengthen the stratospheric polar vortex in boreal winter. The exact impact is difficult to estimate because of the small number of well observed eruptions and the high internal variability of the vortex. We use large (100 member) ensembles of simulations with an Earth system model for idealized volcanic aerosol distributions resulting from sulfur injections between 2.5 and 20 Tg. We suggest the existence of a threshold somewhere between 2.5 and 5 Tg(S) below which the vortex does not show a detectable response to the injection. This nonlinearity is introduced partly through the infrared aerosol optical density which increases much stronger than linear with increasing particle size occurring for increasing injection amount. Additionally, the dynamical mechanism causing the vortex strengthening seems not to set in for small aerosol loading. Furthermore, we add to the recent discussion concerning a possible downward propagation of the circulation response leading to a winter warming in Northern Eurasia. At latitudes northward of about 50°N our simulations do show such an average warming pattern that is statistically significant for injections of 10 Tg(S) or more. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Azoulay, A. Schmidt, H. Timmreck, C. |
spellingShingle |
Azoulay, A. Schmidt, H. Timmreck, C. The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
author_facet |
Azoulay, A. Schmidt, H. Timmreck, C. |
author_sort |
Azoulay, A. |
title |
The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
title_short |
The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
title_full |
The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
title_fullStr |
The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
title_sort |
arctic polar vortex response to volcanic forcing of different strengths |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-8B38-E http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-972A-0 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-99EA-5 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-55FA-F http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-AE0B-9 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1029/2020JD034450 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-8B38-E http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-972A-0 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-99EA-5 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-55FA-F http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-AE0B-9 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD034450 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres |
container_volume |
126 |
container_issue |
11 |
_version_ |
1775348712986378240 |