Newsflash
Bonn, 21/03/2024
On 17 March, a volcanic eruption took place on the Reykjanes peninsula of Iceland. Of the four volcanic eruptions registered in the region since December, this has been the largest one so far. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has been tracking the plume of sulphure dioxide (SO2) emitted by the eruption as it is transported towards Europe.
CAMS forecasts of atmospheric composition, based on the assimilation of satellite observations, includes information on the amount of SO2 in the atmosphere, for which volcanic eruptions can be a significant source. The forecasts made for Iceland after the eruption show plumes with increased total column burdens (up to 10 Dobson Units), moving east from the North Atlantic across Ireland and the UK, reaching Scandinavia on Wednesday, traveling across the Baltic and reaching the Baltic States, Poland, and northwestern Russia on Friday.
CAMS Senior Scientist, Mark Parrington, comments: "The previous eruptions didn’t produce much in terms of SO2 emissions which could be observed and assimilated in our system. The amount of SO2 emitted this time has been very clear in the observations and we are closely monitoring the plume as it is transported over northern Europe although we don’t expect there to be any impact on surface air quality or climate."
CAMS Director, Laurence Rouil, comments: “Volcanic eruptions and releases of large amount of sulfur compounds can affect not only the air quality in the region directly affected, but also global processes, such as the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere. The impacts of the volcanic eruptions in Iceland in the atmosphere have not yet been so severe, but it is relevant to keep monitoring the evolution of the situation.”
CAMS SO2 forecasts, initialized from the assimilated satellite observations and assuming an initial injection height of approximately 5 km, predict the plume transport over the next 5 days based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecasting System (IFS). Forecasts are initialized every 12 hours based on new observations. ECMWF implements CAMS on behalf of the European Union. The CAMS forecasts show gaseous SO2 in the atmosphere, but do not provide information on volcanic ash, which is under the responsibility of the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs).
-Ends-
More information on the most recent volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Explore the CAMS total column sulphur dioxide forecasts.
Find out more about fire monitoring in the CAMS Volcano monitoring Q&A.
Notes to Editors
Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space programme, implemented with funding from the EU, which operates six thematic services: Atmosphere, Marine, Land, Climate Change, Security and Emergency. It delivers freely accessible operational data and services, providing users with reliable and up-to-date information related to our planet and its environment. Copernicus is coordinated and managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with the Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies and Mercator Océan, amongst others.
ECMWF operates two services from the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation component: the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). They also contribute to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), which is implemented by the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC). The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by 35 states. It is both a research institute and a 24/7 operational service, producing and disseminating numerical weather predictions to its Member States. This data is fully available to the national meteorological services in the Member States. The supercomputer facility (and associated data archive) at ECMWF is one of the largest of its type in Europe and Member States can use 25% of its capacity for their own purposes.
ECMWF has expanded its location across its Member States for some activities. In addition to an HQ in the UK and Computing Centre in Italy, offices with a focus on activities conducted in partnership with the EU, such as Copernicus, are in Bonn, Germany.
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service website can be found at http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/
The Copernicus Climate Change Service website can be found at https://climate.copernicus.eu/
More information on Copernicus: www.copernicus.eu
The ECMWF website can be found at https://www.ecmwf.int/
If you don’t want to receive further information from Copernicus services implemented by ECMWF, click here to unsubscribe.