Publications

The Fingerprints of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection in E3SM

Wagman, Benjamin M.; Swiler, Laura P.; Chowdhary, Kamaljit S.; Hillman, Benjamin H.

The June 15, 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption is simulated in E3SM by injecting 10 Tg of SO₂ gas in the stratosphere, turning off prescribed volcanic aerosols, and enabling E3SM to treat stratospheric volcanic aerosols prognostically. This experimental prognostic treatment of volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere results in some realistic behaviors (SO₂ evolves into H₂SO₄ which heats the lower stratosphere), and some expected biases (H₂SO₄ aerosols sediment out of the stratosphere too quickly). Climate fingerprinting techniques are used to establish a Mt. Pinatubo fingerprint based on the vertical profile of temperature from the E3SMv1 DECK ensemble. By projecting reanalysis data and preindustrial simulations onto the fingerprint, the Mt. Pinatubo stratospheric heating anomaly is detected. Projecting the experimental prognostic aerosol simulation onto the fingerprint also results in a detectable heating anomaly, but, as expected, the duration is too short relative to reanalysis data.