Detectability of solid particle injections into the stratosphere with satellite solar occultation instruments

Abstract

Stratospheric aerosol injections (SAI) have been proposed as a potential climate intervention to mitigate some effects of global warming. This method involves the idea of injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere. Other ideas include the injection of solid particles, like alumina and calcite, as these particles absorb less terrestrial infrared radiation and scatter solar radiation more efficiently. The aim of the study is to investigate the detectability of the continuous injection of 5 Tg yr −1 of alumina and calcite with typical satellite solar occultation instruments using SOCOL-AERv2 (SOlar Climate Ozone Links-Atmospheric and Environmental Research Incorporation version 2) model simulation results and the SCIATRAN radiative transfer model. Vertically resolved retrievals of the stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficient at 565 nm demonstrate that, under the assumptions made, it is possible to detect the injection of solid particles into the stratosphere and that the corresponding SAI signals can be distinguished from natural variability under near-background conditions, which is essential for the observational verification of potential SAI perturbations.