Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik
UP 3: Air Quality, Exposure and Atmospheric Dynamics
UP 3.4: Talk
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 12:15–12:30, MER/0002
Observations of double aerosol layers below an altitude of 30 km with different causes of formation — •Christian Löns1, Ronald Eixmann2, and Christian von Savigny1 — 1University of Greifswald, Germany — 2Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Rostock, Germany
In December 2011, it was possible to observe a second layer with an increased Mie signal above the stratospheric aerosol layer in measurements taken with a Doppler lidar in the southern high latitudes during the collapse of the polar vortex. The signature descends from an altitude of 28 km within a few days and can be observed as a broad aerosol layer after about a week. The signature is also observable in satellite measurements of the aerosol extinction coefficient by OSIRIS and SCIAMACHY. In December 2018, the Kamchatka asteroid, approximately 10 m in diameter, exploded over the Bering Sea. It was the third largest recorded impact on Earth after the Tunguska event and the Chelyabinsk meteor. The expected transport path can be modelled using trajectory analyses. Using measurements of the aerosol extinction coefficient from OMPS-LP, signatures of the Kamchatka asteroid can be observed at an altitude of 26 km one week after its explosion. The signature can be observed on several consecutive days as an increase in the extinction coefficient at an altitude of ∼26-28 km during its transport over the North Atlantic from America towards Europe.
Keywords: aerosol; stratosphere; vortex; meteor; dynamics