Abstract
Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano took place on 13–14 April 2010, and created an ash cloud moving towards densely populated areas in Europe. Dispersion models show that the cloud appeared over Poland at noon on 16 April. Measurements of optical properties of the atmospheric aerosols by the Cimel Sun Photometer (optical thickness and volume size distribution) and lidar (backscatter coefficient) at Belsk (52° N, 21° E) for the period 15–26 April 2010 are examined to find volcanic ash in the atmosphere over the site. Thin aerosol clouds, linked to the volcanic eruption, were found below 5 km, and their optical thickness (at 500 nm) varied only slightly in the range of a few hundredths. The optical depth of the aerosol clouds in the 5–7.5 km layer was less than 0.01.
Acknowledgements
This work is partially supported by the European Commission under grant EARLINET-ASOS contract number RICA-025 991. We thank the PI investigator Brent Holben for establishing and maintaining the AERONET station at Belsk.