Satellite Microwave Observations of the Hunga Tonga Eruption’s Atmospheric Waves

Cazzy Medley
December 20, 2023
Highlights

Figure 1. The local perturbations in observed microwave brightness temperatures from an ascending orbit of (a) MetOp-B AMSU-A channel 14, (b) MetOp-C AMSU-A channel 14, a descending orbit of (c) NOAA-20 ATMS channel 15, and (d) SNPP ATMS channel 15 on January 15, 2022. The black triangle at the center for each panel is the Tonga volcano location. The outermost black-curved lines from the Tonga volcano location correspond to a phase speed of 330 m/s assuming that the perturbation has been generated at the time and location of initial volcanic eruption. From the 2nd outermost black-curved lines to the innermost lines, the phase speeds are 300, 270, and 230 m/s, respectively. The time information in each panel indicates the approximate observation time for the Lamb wave (between 300 m/s and 330 m/s indicated by black right-pointing triangles) and for the lead gravity wave (between 230 m/s and 270 m/s indicated by red right-pointing triangles). Red dots indicate the pixels where the brightness temperature perturbation is larger than 1.2 K.

ESSIC/CISESS scientists Yong-Keun Lee and Christopher Grassotti are authors on a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters describing the first attempt to perform a detailed analysis of the stratospheric impact of the eruption from satellite microwave observations. The other authors on the paper are Neil Hindley from University of Bath and Quanhua (Mark) Liu from NOAA’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research.

The strongest volcanic eruption since the 19th century occurred on January 15, 2022 at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai. It generated unprecedented atmospheric waves not seen before in the satellite era. The researchers used satellite microwave observations from (1) Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) on board the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-20 and the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and (2) Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU)-A on board Meteorological operational satellite (MetOp)-B/MetOp-C to study these waves in the stratosphere immediately after the eruption. The NOAA Microwave Integrated Retrieval System (MiRS) was applied to these microwave observations to produce atmospheric temperature profiles. The atmospheric Lamb wave and fast-traveling gravity waves are clearly revealed in both the brightness temperatures and the MiRS retrieved temperatures, revealing their vertical phase structures.

Lee is an Associate Research Scientist in the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center of the University of Maryland, College Park. He received a B.S. and a M.S. in Atmospheric Science from Seoul National University, and received a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Texas A&M University. He is working on the NOAA Microwave Integrated Retrieval System (MiRS) which is the official operational satellite microwave retrieval algorithm currently being run on data from more than 7 different polar and non-polar orbiting satellites. His interests include remote sensing and data assimilation.

Grassotti is a Senior Faculty Specialist at ESSIC/CISESS. He received a B.S. degree in earth and space science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, USA, in 1982, tan M.S. degree in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA, in 1986, and an M.S. degree in viticulture and enology from AgroMontpellier, Montpellier, France, in 2007. From 1986 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 2005, he was a Research Associate, Senior Research Associate and Staff Scientist with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., Lexington, MA, USA. From 1991 to 1993, he was with the Atmospheric Environmental Service, Environment Canada, Dorval, QC, Canada. Since 2008, he has been with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, College Park, MD, USA.

To access the paper, click here: “The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Volcanic Eruption as Seen in Satellite Microwave Observations and MiRS Temperature Retrievals”.