The effect of volcanic plumes on localized precipitation in the tropics

Abstract

Volcanoes affect the atmosphere in many ways by expelling chemical compounds, water, and geologic compounds into the atmosphere, sometimes reaching the stratosphere, altering atmospheric composition and even temperature. The goal of this study was to explore possible correlations between strong volcanic eruptions and precipitation characteristics in the tropics. NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission provided precipitation data covering 1998 through 2017 for spatial, temporal, and statistical analyses. The volcano dataset consisted of 213 eruptions from 43 individual stratovolcanoes. Analysis of precipitation histograms demonstrated little to no statistical significance between precipitation and the presence of a volcanic plume. All-in-all, only 3.76% of precipitation characteristics were statistically significant with 95% confidence, and to the extent this paper analyzed the precipitation characteristics there is no bias toward increased or decreased precipitation in the presence of a volcanic plume in the tropics.