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VOLCANIC clouds are an important natural hazard to aircraft1, and host chemical reactions that interest both volcanologists2,3 and atmospheric scientists4-6. Ice has been suggested as a possible component of eruption clouds7, but there has been no direct evidence for its presence. Here we report the detection, using a satellite-borne infrared sensor, of ≳ 2 million tonnes of ice in the cloud produced by the September 1994 eruption of Rabaul volcano, in Papua New Guinea. The cloud also contained relatively low levels of sulphur dioxide (80 ± 50 kilotonnes), compared with other stratospheric eruption clouds. The unusual aspects of this cloud may be related to the entry of sea water into the volcanic vent, and its participation in the eruption column. Past eruptions that occurred in similar (coastal) settings, such as those of Krakatau and Santorini, might have had less effect on the atmosphere than their volume alone would suggest, because the presence of ice may decrease the residence time of ash and sulphur in the atmosphere. In addition, the ability of ice to mask the characteristic spectral signature of volcanic ash will increase the difficulty of designing airborne ash detection systems for aviation safety.

SULPHUR dioxide from volcanic eruptions may have a significant effect on the Earth's climate and atmospheric chemistry, and it is therefore important to quantify outgassing rates for all types of volcanic activity. Non-explosive volcanoes (for example, Mount Etna) outgas at relatively constant rates, providing an annual flux of about 9 million tons (Mt) SO2 (ref. 1). By contrast, the outgassing from volcanoes prone to explosive eruptions (such as Mount Pinatubo) is sporadic and much more difficult to quantify. The total annual volcanic SO2 flux is therefore poorly constrained, with ground-based estimates1–8 ranging from 1.5 to 50 Mt–up to onequarter of the estimated current anthropogenic contribution. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer aboard the NASA satellite Nimbus 7 recorded SO2emissions from explosive eruptions from November 1978 to May 1993. We use these data to show that the annual flux from explosive volcanism is of the order of 4 Mt SO2, less than half of the non-explosive output. Thus it seems that the total volcanic emission of SO2 to the Earth's atmosphere is about 13 Mt yr−1, which is only 5–10% of the current anthropogenic flux.

Farman et al.1 have reported a rapid decrease, since their measurements started in 1957, of the total column amount of ozone in late winter and early spring over the Halley Bay station in Antarctica (76° S, 27° W). The decrease was most pronounced in October, early spring in the Southern Hemisphere. They attributed the decrease to the increase in stratospheric chlorine due to chloro-fluorocarbon release, and proposed that the unique conditions of extreme cold and low sunlight in the Antarctic winter and spring enhanced the effect. We report measurements from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) instrument and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite, a Sun-synchronous polar-orbiting satellite which passes any given point on the dayside near local noon. These provide global measurements of ozone from November 1978 to the present which confirm the reported decline of total ozone and show the phenomenon to be regional in extent. The decrease occurs during September as the Sun rises, reaching a minimum in mid-October. Seven years (1979–1985) of October monthly means show a 40% decrease in the ozone minimum and a 20% decrease in the surrounding ozone maximum.

The Backscatter Ultraviolet (BUV) experiment aboard the Nimbus-4 satellite is discussed. This double monochromator experiment measures ultraviolet terrestrial radiance at 12 discrete wavelengths between 2550 A and 3400 A. Approximately 100 scans covering a 230 kilometer square are made between terminator crossings on the daylight side of the earth. A colinear photometer channel with the same field of view is used to derive the Lambert reflectivity of the lower boundary of the scattering atmosphere. The extraterrestrial solar irradiance is measured at the northern terminator. The instrument has currently produced almost three years of nearly continuous data which are being used to infer the high-level ozone distribution and total ozone on a global basis. The high-level ozone data have been verified by independent coincident rocket ozone soundings, and the total ozone values show good agreement with Dobson spectrophotometer determinations as well as those made with the Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer also on Nimbus-4.

The results of 21 rocket flights of Arcas optical ozonesondes were combined to produce estimates of the mean ozone distribution and its variability; these estimates apply to a broad range of latitudes. The flights were launched from sites near the equator to 58 S and to 64 N, in the years from 1965 to 1971. The local-noon mean ozone densities in molecules/cubic centimeter are 7.0 to the 10th power at 50 km, 6.7 x 10 to the 11th power at 40 km, 3.1 x 10 to the 12th power at 30 km, and 3.1 x 10 to the 12th power at 20 km. The range of observed densities is about + or - 30 percent of the mean value at 50 km; + or 40 percent at 40 km; + or - 40 percent at 30 km; and +200 percent, -66 percent at 20 km. The variabilities in this set of observations are much smaller than those indicated by previous measurements.

The ultraviolet earth radiance data from the Backscatter Ultraviolet Experiment on Nimbus 4 have been inverted to infer ozone profiles using a single Rayleigh scattering model. Two methods of solution give essentially the same results. Comparisons of these profiles with simultaneous rocket sounding data shows satisfactory agreement at low and middle latitudes. Vertical cross sections of ozone mixing ratio along the orbital tracks indicate that while the gross characteristics of the ozone field above 10 mb are under photochemical control, the influence of atmospheric motions can be found up to the 4 mb level.