This paper provides an overview of the scientific background and the research objectives of the Research Unit “VolImpact” (Revisiting the volcanic impact on atmosphere and climate – preparations for the next big volcanic eruption, FOR 2820). VolImpact was recently funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and started in spring 2019. The main goal of the research unit is to improve our understanding of how the climate system responds to volcanic eruptions. Such an ambitious program is well beyond the capabilities of a single research group, as it requires expertise from complementary disciplines including aerosol microphysical modelling, cloud physics, climate modelling, global observations of trace gas species, clouds and stratospheric aerosols. The research goals will be achieved by building on important recent advances in modelling and measurement capabilities. Examples of the advances in the observations include the now daily near-global observations of multi-spectral aerosol extinction from the limb-scatter instruments OSIRIS, SCIAMACHY and OMPS-LP. In addition, the recently launched SAGE III/ISS and upcoming satellite missions EarthCARE and ALTIUS will provide high resolution observations of aerosols and clouds. Recent improvements in modeling capabilities within the framework of the ICON model family now enable simulations at spatial resolutions fine enough to investigate details of the evolution and dynamics of the volcanic eruptive plume using the large-eddy resolving version, up to volcanic impacts on larger-scale circulation systems in the general circulation model version. When combined with state-of-the-art aerosol and cloud microphysical models, these approaches offer the opportunity to link eruptions directly to their climate forcing. These advances will be exploited in VolImpact to study the effects of volcanic eruptions consistently over the full range of spatial and temporal scales involved, addressing the initial development of explosive eruption plumes (project VolPlume), the variation of stratospheric aerosol particle size and radiative forcing caused by volcanic eruptions (VolARC), the response of clouds (VolCloud), the effects of volcanic eruptions on atmospheric dynamics (VolDyn), as well as their climate impact (VolClim).

中文翻译：

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VolImpact 研究组：重新审视火山对大气和气候的影响——为下一次大火山喷发做准备

本文概述了“VolImpact”研究单元的科学背景和研究目标（重新审视火山对大气和气候的影响——为下一次大火山喷发做准备，FOR 2820）。VolImpact 最近由 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) 资助，于 2019 年春季开始。该研究单位的主要目标是提高我们对气候系统如何响应火山爆发的理解。这样一个雄心勃勃的计划远远超出了单个研究小组的能力，因为它需要来自互补学科的专业知识，包括气溶胶微物理建模、云物理学、气候建模、痕量气体物种、云和平流层气溶胶的全球观测。研究目标将通过建立在建模和测量能力方面的重要最新进展基础上来实现。观测方面取得的进展的例子包括现在每天近乎全球观测来自肢体散射仪器 OSIRIS、SCIAMACHY 和 OMPS-LP 的多光谱气溶胶消光。此外，最近发射的 SAGE III/ISS 和即将到来的卫星任务 EarthCARE 和 ALTIUS 将提供对气溶胶和云的高分辨率观测。ICON 模型系列框架内建模能力的最新改进现在能够以足够精细的空间分辨率进行模拟，以使用大涡旋解析版本研究火山喷发羽流的演化和动力学细节，直至火山对更大规模的影响一般循环模型版本中的循环系统。当与最先进的气溶胶和云微物理模型相结合时，这些方法提供了将喷发直接与其气候强迫联系起来的机会。VolImpact 将利用这些进展来研究火山喷发在所涉及的整个空间和时间尺度范围内始终如一的影响，解决爆炸性喷发羽流的初始发展（VolPlume 项目）、平流层气溶胶颗粒大小的变化和造成的辐射强迫火山喷发 (VolARC)、云的响应 (VolCloud)、火山喷发对大气动力学的影响 (VolDyn) 及其气候影响 (VolClim)。