Response of middle atmosphere chemistry and dynamics to volcanically elevated sulfate aerosol: Three-dimensional coupled model simulations

The NASA Langley Research Center Interactive Modeling Project for Atmospheric Chemistry and Transport (IMPACT) model has been used to examine the response of the middle atmosphere to a large tropical stratospheric injection of sulfate aerosol, such as that following the June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The influence of elevated aerosol on heterogeneous chemical processing was simulated using a three-dimensional climatology of surface area density (SAD) developed using observations made from the Halogen Occultation Experiment, Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II, and Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement satellite instruments beginning in June 1991. Radiative effects of the elevated aerosol were represented by monthly mean zonally averaged heating perturbations obtained from a study conducted with the European Center/Hamburg (ECHAM4) general circulation model combined with an observationally derived set of aerosol parameters. Two elevated-aerosol simulations were integrated for 3 1/2 years following the volcanic injection. One simulation included only the aerosol radiative perturbation, and one simulation included both the radiative perturbation and the elevated SAD. These perturbation simulations are compared with multiple-year control simulations to isolate relative contributions of transport and heterogeneous chemical processing. Significance of modeled responses is assessed through comparison with interannual variability. Dynamical and photochemical contributions to ozone decreases are of comparable magnitude. Important stratospheric chemical/dynamical feedback effects are shown, as ozone reductions modulate aerosol-induced heating by up to 10% in the lower stratosphere and 25% in the middle stratosphere. Dynamically induced changes in chemical constituents which propagate into the upper stratosphere are still pronounced at the end of the simulations.