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Timelines of plume characteristics of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption sequence from 19 December 2021 to 16 January 2022: Himawari-8 observations
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  • Ashok Kumar Gupta,
  • Ralf Bennartz,
  • Kristen E Fauria,
  • Tushar Mittal
Ashok Kumar Gupta
Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Ralf Bennartz
Vanderbilt University/University of Wisconsin -Madison, Vanderbilt University/University of Wisconsin -Madison
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Kristen E Fauria
Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University
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Tushar Mittal
Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology, Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology
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Abstract

The 15 January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) eruption was preceded by large eruptions on 19 December 2021 and 13 January 2022. We present the evolution of umbrella cloud top height for all three major HTHH eruptions using satellite remote sensing. We also determined the umbrella clouds’ radial expansion and volumetric flow rates (VFR) and confirmed that the umbrellas on all three dates contained significant water and ice. Additionally, we identified two umbrella clouds at distinct elevations on 15 January 2022. Specifically, after 05:30 UTC, the strong westward propagation of an upper umbrella (UB) cloud at 31 km ± 1–3km enabled the visibility of the lower umbrella (UA) cloud at 17 km ± 1–2km. The satellite-derived VFR for 15 January 2022 was 5.0 ± 1.0 x 1011 m3s-1, nearly two orders of magnitude higher than the VFRs estimated for the 19 December 2021 and 13 January 2022 eruptions.