AGU journal highlights -- July 23, 2008(this event techniques that exploit the s...)

Date:7/24/2008

this event, techniques that exploit the strong absorption of infrared radiation by sulfur dioxide have only recently emerged, allowing scientists to reanalyze old data to track volcanic gas clouds. Using the ultraviolet data collected by the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and infrared data collected by the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (on NOAA's Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) Operational Vertical Sounder), Carn et al. tracked sulfur dioxide released by Hekla. They find that the eruption emitted about 0.5 to 0.7 teragrams (trillions of grams) of sulfur dioxide, which later split into three distinct clouds, one of which circled the North Pole for 6 days. The others drifted across eastern Russia, Alaska, and Canada. Through this analysis, the authors show that integrated satellite sulfur dioxide measurements may be used to test air parcel trajectory models used for aviation hazard mitigation. This study also highlights the potential impacts of Icelandic volcanic eruptions on the polar atmosphere and Arctic ozone loss.

Title: Circumpolar transport of a volcanic cloud from Hekla (Iceland)

Authors: S. A. Carn: Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (NASA/University of Maryland Baltimore County), University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A;

A. J. Prata: Atmosphere and Climate Department, Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Kjeller, Norway;

S. Karlsdttir: Icelandic Meteorological Office, Reykjavk, Iceland.

Source: Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres (JGR-D) paper 10.1029/2008JD009878, 2008; http://www.agu.org/journals/pip/jd/2008JD009878-pip.pdf This paper is "in press".

---

3. Frost risks to plants up, and down, in changing climate

As climate warms, scientists expect that the bud-break and blooming cycles of plants will start p
'/>"/>

Contact: Peter Weiss pweiss@agu.org 202-777-7507 American Geophysical Union Source:Eurekalert

0 GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Related biology news :

1. News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
2. Tips from the Journals of the American Society for Microbiology
3. Story ideas from the Journal of Lipid Research
4. Highlights from the September 2007 Journal of the American Dietetic Association
5. AGU journal highlights -- Sept. 6, 2007
6. Springer will publish Journal of Coastal Conservation
7. ESA celebrates 100 years of insect science journals
8. Springer and the New York Botanical Garden Press join forces to publish botanical journals
9. 200 journals join in theme issues on poverty and human development
10. New ETH Zurich article published in scientific journal Nature
11. Media highlights in the November issues of Biophysical Journal