Global transport of stratospheric aerosol produced by Ruang eruption from EarthCARE ATLID, limb-viewing satellites and ground-based lidar observations
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: . The Atmospheric LIDar (ATLID) instrument of the ESA’s Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) satellite mission launched in May 2024 provides high-resolution vertical profiling of aerosols and clouds at 355 nm. Fully operational since July 2024, ATLID has been witness to a significant perturbation of stratospheric aerosol budget following the eruptions of Ruang volcano (Indonesia) in late April 2024. Using ATLID together with limb-viewing satellite instruments (OMPS-LP and SAGE III), we quantify the stratospheric aerosol perturbation generated by the Ruang eruption and characterize the global transport of volcanic aerosols. To evaluate the ATLID performance in the stratosphere, its data are compared with collocated ground-based lidar observations at various locations in both hemispheres and overpass-coordinated balloon flights carrying AZOR backscatter sonde. The intercomparison with suborbital observations suggests excellent performance of ATLID in the stratosphere and proves its capacity to accurately resolve fine structures in the vertical distribution of stratospheric aerosols. Using various satellite observations, we show that Ruang’s eruptive sequence in April 2024 produced eruptive columns reaching 25 km altitude, and resulted in a doubling of the tropical stratospheric aerosol abundance for several months. The eruption timing in austral Fall and its high-altitude reach fostered efficient poleward transport into the southern extratropics during austral Winter 2024. By the time of the austral Fall 2025, the sulphate aerosols from Ruang have spread across the entire Southern hemisphere and were most probably entrained by the 2025 Antarctic polar vortex, potentially enhancing the polar stratospheric cloud occurrence.
Authors: Sergey Khaykin, Michaël Sicard, Thierry Leblanc, Tetsu Sakai, Nickolay Balugin, Gwenaël Berthet, Stëphane Chevrier, Fernando Chouza, Artem Feofilov, Dominique Gantois, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Arezki Haddouche, Yoshitaka Jin, Isamu Morino, Nicolas Kadygrov, Thomas Lecas, Ben Liley, Richard Querel, Ghasssan Taha, Vladimir Yushkov
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales, Laboratoire de l'Atmosphère et des Cyclones, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Meteorological Research Institute, Université d'Orléans, Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace, École Polytechnique, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, University of Reunion Island, Université Paris-Saclay, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Earth Sciences New Zealand, Goddard Space Flight Center, Morgan State University
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,725
OpenAlex ID: W7123363170