Surface-to-space atmospheric waves from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption

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dc.contributor.authorWright, Corwin J.en
dc.contributor.authorHindley, Neil P.en
dc.contributor.authorAlexander, M. Joanen
dc.contributor.authorBarlow, Mathewen
dc.contributor.authorHoffmann, Larsen
dc.contributor.authorMitchell, Cathryn N.en
dc.contributor.authorPrata, Freden
dc.contributor.authorBouillon, Marieen
dc.contributor.authorCarstens, Justinen
dc.contributor.authorClerbaux, Cathyen
dc.contributor.authorOsprey, Scott M.en
dc.contributor.authorPowell, Nicken
dc.contributor.authorRandall, Cora E.en
dc.contributor.authorYue, Jiaen
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-10T15:05:59Zen
dc.date.available2022-11-10T15:05:59Zen
dc.date.issued2022-09-22en
dc.description.abstractThe January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption was one of the most explosive volcanic events of the modern era(1,2), producing a vertical plume that peaked more than 50 km above the Earth(3). The initial explosion and subsequent plume triggered atmospheric waves that propagated around the world multiple times(4). A global-scale wave response of this magnitude from a single source has not previously been observed. Here we show the details of this response, using a comprehensive set of satellite and ground-based observations to quantify it from surface to ionosphere. A broad spectrum of waves was triggered by the initial explosion, including Lamb waves(5,6) propagating at phase speeds of 318.2 +/- 6 m s(-1) at surface level and between 308 +/- 5 to 319 +/- 4 m s(-1) in the stratosphere, and gravity waves(7) propagating at 238 +/- 3 to 269 +/- 3 m s(-1) in the stratosphere. Gravity waves at sub-ionospheric heights have not previously been observed propagating at this speed or over the whole Earth from a single source(8,9). Latent heat release from the plume remained the most significant individual gravity wave source worldwide for more than 12 h, producing circular wavefronts visible across the Pacific basin in satellite observations. A single source dominating such a large region is also unique in the observational record. The Hunga Tonga eruption represents a key natural experiment in how the atmosphere responds to a sudden point-source-driven state change, which will be of use for improving weather and climate models.en
dc.description.notesC.J.W. is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, reference no. UF160545. C.J.W. and N.P.H. are supported by NERC grant no. NE/S00985X/1. M.J.A. and C.E.R. were supported by a NASA Heliophysics DRIVE Science Center (grant no. 80NSSC20K0628). C.N.M. was supported by NERC Fellowship NE/P006450/1 for work underpinning this research. C.C. and M.B. received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 742909, IASI-FT advanced ERC grant). J.C. was supported by the NASA AIM Small Explorer Program, contract no. NAS5-03132. The Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Tongan Met Office are thanked for provision of surface station pressure data. We thank I. Krisch, N. Kaifler and B. Kaifler (all at the DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany) for assistance with preliminary data analysis, A. Boynard (LATMOS, Paris, France) for providing the H2O IASI data, S. Proud (RAL) for correcting some details of the geostationary imager measurements and E. Gryspeerdt (Imperial College, London, UK) for independent confirmation of the Lamb wave trigger time.en
dc.description.sponsorshipRoyal Society University Research Fellowship [UF160545]; NERC [NE/S00985X/1]; NASA Heliophysics DRIVE Science Center [80NSSC20K0628]; NERC Fellowship [NE/P006450/1]; European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union [742909]; NASA AIM Small Explorer Program [NAS5-03132]en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05012-5en
dc.identifier.eissn1476-4687en
dc.identifier.issn0028-0836en
dc.identifier.issue7928en
dc.identifier.pmid35772670en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/112552en
dc.identifier.volume609en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherNature Portfolioen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectgravity-wavesen
dc.subjectsatellite-observationsen
dc.subjectmount-pinatuboen
dc.subjectexplosionen
dc.subjectdisturbancesen
dc.subjectsimulationsen
dc.subjecttransformen
dc.subjectairsen
dc.titleSurface-to-space atmospheric waves from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruptionen
dc.title.serialNatureen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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