Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai erupts on January 15, 2022. Credit: NOAA and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
The eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in January 2022 was distinctive in noticed science, creating waves that reverberated across the earth and reached 100 km (60 miles) into the ionosphere.
A brand new examine has confirmed that some of the explosive volcanic occasions of the trendy period occurred earlier this yr — the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano on January 15, 2022.
Recently printed within the journal Nature, the examine combines intensive satellite tv for pc knowledge with ground-level observations to indicate that the eruption was distinctive in noticed science in each its magnitude and pace, and within the vary of the fast-moving gravity and atmospheric waves it created. The analysis was led by researchers from the University of Bath.
Atmospheric gravity waves are to not be confused with astrophysical gravitational waves. A gravity wave is a vertical wave. A set off mechanism that causes the air to be displaced vertically is important to provoke a gravity wave. Mountains and thunderstorm updrafts are two examples of set off elements that may trigger gravity waves.
Following a collection of smaller seismic occasions starting in December 2021, Hunga Tonga erupted on January 15 of this yr, producing a vertical plume that prolonged greater than 50 km (30 miles) above the floor of the earth. Heat launched from water and scorching ash within the plume remained the most important supply of gravity waves on earth for the subsequent 12 hours. The eruption additionally produced ripple-like gravity waves that satellite tv for pc observations present prolonged throughout the Pacific basin.
The eruption additionally triggered waves in our environment that reverberated across the planet no less than six instances and reached near their theoretical most speeds – the quickest ever seen inside our environment, at 320 meters per second or 720 miles per hour. The truth {that a} single occasion dominated such a big area is described by the paper’s authors as distinctive within the observational file, and one that may assist scientists enhance future atmospheric climate and local weather fashions.
Dr. Corwin Wright, a Royal Society University Research Fellow primarily based on the Centre for Space, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science on the University of Bath, is the paper’s lead writer. He mentioned: “This was a genuinely huge explosion, and truly unique in terms of what’s been observed by science to date. We’ve never seen atmospheric waves going round the whole world before, or at this speed — they were traveling very close to the theoretical limit.
“The eruption was an amazing natural experiment. The data we’ve been able to gather on it will enhance our understanding of our atmosphere and will help us improve our weather and climate models.”
Co-author Dr. Scott Osprey from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, primarily based inside the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, expects to see further impacts from the Hunga Tonga eruption: “Our study nicely shows how the striking display of global waves is driven by the huge amounts of seawater vaporized during the eruption. However, my gut feeling is that there is more to come from this eruption. As the exceptional amount of water vapor spreads throughout the stratosphere, eyes will turn to the Antarctic ozone hole and just how severe it will be in the spring.”
Researchers from the University of Bath, Oxford University, North West Research Associates, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Forschungszentrum Juelich, AIRES, Sorbonne Université, Virginia Tech, Raytheon Technologies, University of Colorado, and NASA worked on the study.
The researchers received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, Royal Society, NASA, and European Research Council.
The Bath researchers are now focusing on working with colleagues at weather and climate forecasting centers to see how the information gathered from the eruption can be used to make predictions better in the future.
Reference: “Surface-to-space atmospheric waves from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption” by Corwin J. Wright, Neil P. Hindley, M. Joan Alexander, Mathew Barlow, Lars Hoffmann, Cathryn N. Mitchell, Fred Prata, Marie Bouillon, Justin Carstens, Cathy Clerbaux, Scott M. Osprey, Nick Powell, Cora E. Randall and Jia Yue, 30 June 2022, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05012-5
