Lidar Observations of the Pinatubo Stratospheric Aerosol Cloud over Frascati, Italy

The Pinatubo eruption of June 1991 introduced large plumes into the local stratosphere. On several occasions, volcanic gases and particles reached altitudes of about 30 km, and spread towards the west. A lidar system has been operating to monitor the evolution of the stratospheric aerosol cloud. The backscattering ratio profiles of eight different measurements were chosen to summarize the most significant occurrences of the event. Since the beginning of the winter planetary wave activity, the Pinatubo cloud integrated backscatter exceeded El Chichon's. In this context, the perturbation generated by El Chichon can only be assumed as a lower limit of the one which will follow the Pinatubo eruption. Observations of the event are still in progress.