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Atmospheric and Ionospheric Signatures Associated with the 15 January 2022 Cataclysmic Hunga-Tonga Volcanic Eruption: A Multi-layer Observation

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Abstract

The Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption occurred on 15 January 2022 generated different modes of atmospheric and ionospheric waves. Using the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite-17 (GOES-17), Aqua and Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite observations, an atmospheric and ionospheric multi-layer study of the Tonga volcano induced signatures over the New Zealand region is performed. The visible and infrared channel data of GOES-17 and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) data from NASA Aqua satellite confirm the presence of a highly convective zone and occurrence of concentric Lamb and gravity waves at lower atmospheric altitudes. The Total Electron Content (TEC) derived from 175 GPS stations covering the entire New Zealand region brings out two dominant modes of Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) having periodicity between 30 and 50 min. These two different modes having the phase speeds of 542 m/s and 354 m/s are allied to atmospheric gravity waves and Lamb wave triggered gravity waves respectively and are observed to propagate towards the south-west direction over the New Zealand region.

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Availability of Data and Materials

GPS data over New Zealand region can be obtained from GeoNet New Zealand (https://www.geonet.org.nz/data/types/geodetic). The 4‐km resolution brightness temperature data are available from NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/GPM_MERGIR_1/summary). AIRS data can be obtained online (http://doi.org/10.17616/R34J42). The GOES-17 data is available online (https://noaa-goes17.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html#ABI-L2-MCMIPF/).

Abbreviations

GOES-17:

Geostationary operational environment satellite-17

GPS:

Global positioning system

AIRS:

Atmospheric infrared sounder

TEC:

Total electron content

TIDs:

Travelling ionospheric disturbances

GES DISC:

Goddard earth sciences data and information services center

GW:

Gravity wave

FTEC:

Filtered TEC

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the New Zealand GeoNet project for providing the data used in this study. K. K. Ajith thanks National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, India for the Research Associate fellowship. A. S. Sunil thank the University Post-Doctoral Fellowships – 2021 of Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India for the research fellowship. Rose Mary Shaju sincerely thank the Cochin University of Science and Technology for research fellowship.

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  1. Dhanya Thomas

    Present address: CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute, Bangalore, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, India

    K. K. Ajith

  2. Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India

    A. S. Sunil, P. S. Sunil & M. S. Rose

  3. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Goa, India

    Priyesh Kunnummal

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Contributions

KKA, ASS, and PSS proposed the topic and conceived and designed the study. KKA, ASS and DT drafted the manuscript and carried out the data analysis. PK and RMS have prepared the 2D TEC map using GeoNet New Zealand GPS-TEC data. PK performed the Lamb wave extraction from the GOES-17 data. All authors actively discussed, reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to K. K. Ajith.

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Ajith, K.K., Sunil, A.S., Sunil, P.S. et al. Atmospheric and Ionospheric Signatures Associated with the 15 January 2022 Cataclysmic Hunga-Tonga Volcanic Eruption: A Multi-layer Observation. Pure Appl. Geophys. 179, 4267–4277 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-022-03172-z

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