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Twilight IR brightening over India due to EI Chichón's eruption in Mexico

Abstract

We have observed an unusual behaviour in the twilight sky brightness in the near IR region associated with volcanic dust from the EI Chichón eruption in Mexico. Approximately 8 min after sunset the sky brightness increases with time for about 8–10 min in the I band (γeff = 0.87 µm). This may be explained by a variation in the extinction of the illuminating solar radiation during its passage through the aerosol layer before being scattered into the observer's line of sight. Here, we estimate a mean height of 22 km, a thickness of 10 km and a drift speed of 19 km h−1 for the layer over Ahmedabad in June 1982.

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Ashok, N., Bhatt, H., Chandrasekhar, T. et al. Twilight IR brightening over India due to EI Chichón's eruption in Mexico. Nature 300, 620–621 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/300620a0

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