Measurements of Stratospheric Water Vapor at Mauna Loa and the Effect of the Hunga Tonga Eruption

The eruption of Hunga Tonga in January 2022 injected an amount of water vapor into the stratosphere that is unprecedented in the satellite era. In the ensuing months Aura Microwave Limb Sounder measurements showed that this plume of water vapor spread from its original injection site at 20.5 degrees S to Mauna Loa, Hawaii at 19.5 degrees N, where an increase was observed in April by the ground-based Water Vapor Millimeter-wave Spectrometer instruments. Interannual variations in water vapor occur over Mauna Loa due to both dynamical variations in the tropical stratosphere and variations in the amount of water vapor crossing the tropical tropopause, and we place the observed stratospheric water vapor increase from Hunga Tonga into context of these other variations that have been observed since 2013.

Automated summary

The eruption of Hunga Tonga in January 2022 released an unprecedented amount of water vapor into the stratosphere during the satellite era. Measurements from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder revealed the spread of this water vapor plume from its original injection site at 20.5 degrees S to Mauna Loa, Hawaii at 19.5 degrees N. Ground-based Water Vapor Millimeter-wave Spectrometer instruments detected an increase in water vapor in April. The observed stratospheric water vapor increase from Hunga Tonga is placed in the context of other variations since 2013, which include dynamical variations in the tropical stratosphere and variations in water vapor crossing the tropical tropopause.