STRATOSPHERIC DUST LOADING FROM EARLY 1981 TO SEPTEMBER 1985 BASED ON THE TWILIGHT SOUNDING METHOD AND STRATOSPHERIC DUST COLLECTIONS

Abstract

Stratospheric aerosol loading from early 1981 to late 1985 was investigated by remote optical measurements using the twilight sounding method and by in situ mineral dust collections. Both experiments tracked the decay of aerosol abundances after the El Chichon eruption. A comparison between the remote optical observations and dust samplings suggests that aerosol maxima in 1985 were probably associated with a minor eruption of the Bezymianny volcano. Considering the different dynamical behavior of volcanic ash and condensed sulfuric acid aerosol, we traced the origin of collected dust to a minor eruption of Una Una volcano. This collected dust that could not be detected by remote sensing techniques against the high background level due to condensed aerosol from El Chichon highlights the complimentary nature of stratospheric dust collections and the twilight sounding method.