Publication Abstracts

Stothers 1997

Stothers, R.B., 1997: Stratospheric aerosol clouds due to very large volcanic eruptions of the early twentieth century: Effective particle sizes and conversion from pyrheliometric to visual optical depth. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 6143-6151, doi:10.1029/96JD03985.

Spectral and pyrheliometric measurements of atmospheric transmission were made by staff members of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D.C., and at Mount Wilson, California, during the years 1901-1920. These valuable data are analyzed here with the help of a new inversion method to derive the effective, or area-weighted, radii of stratospheric aerosols formed after three very lage volcanic eruptions in this period. After the great eruptions of Katmai (1912) and Santa Maria (1902), reff remained close to 0.3 µm for at least two years. This near constancy of reff has been duplicated in modern times by the aerosols from El Chichón (1982). Following Ksudach's (1907) eruption, reff grew from 0.2-0.3 µm to 0.4-0.5 µm in about 1 year. Pinatubo's (1991) aerosols grew similarly. Generally speaking, the pyrheliometric optical depth perturbation, as measured for the three early eruptions, is not equal to the optical depth perturbation, but in fact the latter is larger by a factor of about 1.6, at least for reff = 0.25-0.45 µm. Wider physical implications of the present results are discussed.

Export citation: [ BibTeX ] [ RIS ]

BibTeX Citation

@article{st01800s,
  author={Stothers, R. B.},
  title={Stratospheric aerosol clouds due to very large volcanic eruptions of the early twentieth century: Effective particle sizes and conversion from pyrheliometric to visual optical depth},
  year={1997},
  journal={Journal of Geophysical Research},
  volume={102},
  pages={6143--6151},
  doi={10.1029/96JD03985},
}

[ Close ]

RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - st01800s
AU  - Stothers, R. B.
PY  - 1997
TI  - Stratospheric aerosol clouds due to very large volcanic eruptions of the early twentieth century: Effective particle sizes and conversion from pyrheliometric to visual optical depth
JA  - J. Geophys. Res.
JO  - Journal of Geophysical Research
VL  - 102
SP  - 6143
EP  - 6151
DO  - 10.1029/96JD03985
ER  -

[ Close ]

• Return to 1997 Publications

• Return to Publications Homepage