Characterization of the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic plume over the Iberian Peninsula by lidar remote sensing and ground-level data collection

In April and May 2010 the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano disrupted air traffic across Europe. The vast economic impact of this event has stirred interest on accurate plume dispersion estimation and detailed ash characterization, in order to establish a more precise threshold for safe aircraft operation. In this work we study the physical and chemical properties of volcanogenic aerosol detected at ground level at several locations over the Iberian Peninsula, nearly 3000 km away from the Icelandic volcano. Between 4 and 14 May, the volcanogenic plume was detected at ground level, identified by an increase in sulfur dioxide, particle mass concentrations, and particulate sulfate concentration, at most EMEP stations as well as at the CIEMAT site (for the sulfate concentration in PM). At the CIEMAT site, the synergic use of Raman lidar and on-site instruments provided relevant information on the evolution and properties of the plume over the central part of the Iberian Peninsula. Aerosol extinction coefficient profiles provided by the lidar station show the presence of remarkable aerosol layers between 6 May and 15 May. Provenance studies using FLEXTRA backtrajectories confirmed that most of the aerosol layers originated in the Eyjafjallajokull eruption. The large suite of semi-continuous instruments present in the latter site allowed a better characterization of the aerosol properties. Size distribution and chemical composition were continuously monitored during the event, revealing a large increase in the aerosol fine mode, in coincidence with increases in ambient sulfate concentration, while the coarse mode remained almost unaltered. These results show that the plume carried mainly fine particles, with sizes between 0.1 and 0.7 mu m in diameter, in contrast with studies of the plume that affected Central Europe in April, where particles with diameters larger than 20 mu m were present in the ash layers. A possible explanation for this can be related to the long distance transport suffered by the plume and by the secondary formation of particulate sulfate from the gaseous sulfur dioxide. The information on volcanic aerosol characteristics after long-range transport provided by this study might contribute to better assess the type of aerosol that reach distant locations. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.