Phys.org May 30, 2023 The Hunga Tonga Volcano eruption launched waves which generated traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) in the ionosphere, which are known to adversely impact radio applications such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). One such GNSS application is Precise Point Positioning (PPP), which can achieve cm-level accuracy using a single receiver, following a typical convergence time of 30 min to 1 hr. An international team of researchers (Australia, USA – Boston College, Vietnam) used a network of ionosondes located throughout the Australian region in combination with GNSS receivers to explore the impacts of the volcano eruption on the […]
Tag Archives: Tonga eruption
Researchers reveal disturbances of Tonga volcanic eruption
Phyus.org March 3, 2023 The effects of volcanic eruptions on the ionosphere have been well studied, however, evidence for the anticipated upper atmospheric neutral variations and their exact extents of change are rarely available. An international team of researchers (China, Germany, USA – MIT) found dramatic thermospheric disturbances following the 15 January 2022 Tonga eruption. The GRACE-FO and Swarm-C observations from the accelerometers exhibited three successive thermospheric density waves at ∼500 km altitudes propagating concentrically across the globe at 200–450 m/s phase speed and two of the three waves converged at the antipode of the epicenter. A large-scale and long-lasting […]
Models show Tonga eruption increases chances of global temperature rising temporarily above 1.5 C
Phys.org January 25, 2023 On 15 January 2022, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) eruption injected 146 MtH2O and 0.42 MtSO2 into the stratosphere. This large water vapour perturbation means that HTHH will probably increase. An international team of researchers (UK, Austria) estimated the radiative response to the HTHH eruption and derived the increased risk that the global mean surface temperature anomaly shortly exceeds 1.5 °C following the eruption. They showed that HTHH has a tangible impact of the chance of imminent 1.5 °C exceedance (increasing the chance of at least one of the next 5 years exceeding 1.5 °C by 7%), but the level of climate […]
Signals from the ionosphere could improve tsunami forecasts
Phys.org December 12, 2022 Acoustic-gravity waves propagated by the eruption and tsunami caused global complex ionospheric disturbances. Researchers at the University of Washington studied the nature of the perturbations from Global Navigation Satellite System observables over the southwestern Pacific. After processing data from 818 ground stations, they detected supersonic acoustic waves, Lamb waves, and tsunamis, with filtered magnitudes between 1 and 7 Total Electron Content units. Phase arrivals appeared super positioned up to ∼1,000 km from HTHH and were distinct by ∼2,200 km. Within ∼2,200 km, signals had an initial low-frequency pulse that transitioned to higher frequencies. They found the […]
Shockwave caused by Tonga underwater eruption may help scientists predict future tsunamis
Phys.org July 14, 2022 Researchers in Japan believe that it may be possible to predict tsunamis faster by tracking the atmospheric disturbances caused by the airwaves they create and the errors in the positional information supplied by GPS satellites. Examining the errors following eruption they found that it caused waves of air pressure to spread as far as Australia and Japan. These waves oscillated the lower part of the ionosphere and generated an electric field that was then transmitted at high speed to the upper ionosphere. They detected the electron changes much earlier than the air pressure waves that caused […]
Satellite mission finds that Tonga volcanic eruption effects reached space
Phys.org May 10, 2022 Analyzing data from NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission and ESA’s Swarm satellites, an international team of researchers (USA – UC Berkeley, University of Colorado, Germany) found that in the hours after the eruption, hurricane-speed winds and unusual electric currents formed in the ionosphere. Upon reaching the ionosphere and the edge of space, ICON clocked the windspeeds at up to 450 mph. After the eruption, the equatorial electrojet surged to five times its normal peak power and dramatically flipped direction, flowing westward for a short period. According to the researchers this is something we’ve only previously […]
Tongan volcano eruption leaves scientists with unanswered questions [24 minutes]
Nature Podcast February 16, 2022 On the 15th of January, a volcano in the South Pacific Ocean erupted, sending ash into the upper atmosphere, and unleashing a devastating tsunami that destroyed homes on Tonga’s nearby islands. Now scientists are trying to work out exactly what happened during the eruption — and what it means for future volcanic risks. Podcast
Tonga Volcanic Explosion Was Strong Enough to Send Gravitational Waves to the Atmosphere
Nature World News January 22, 2022 Tonga’s population has suffered a huge disaster due to a volcanic eruption and following tsunami on the South Pacific Island country. On January 15, 2022, the volcano that had been erupting since December 2021 burst spectacularly. The shock wave from the blast was so powerful that it was detected as far away as Antarctica according to Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria, which oversees an international network of remote monitoring stations. Even days after the eruption the network can still detect the faint echo of the shock wave as it orbits Earth’s atmosphere. […]