Pinatubo Cloud Over Garmisch-Partenkirchen

The explosive eruptions of the Philippine volcano Pinatubo in mid-June 1991 caused the first major perturbation of the stratosphere since the eruption of the Mexican volcano El Chichón in April 1982. Early groundbased, satelliteborne and in situ observations of the Pinatubo eruption cloud were collected by McClelland et al., 1991. Satellite images from July and August did not show a significant transport of volcanic debris to mid-latitudes, the major part of the cloud was reported to be confined in an equatorial band 15°S to 25°N with the densest part in the 20 to 25 km height range and further layers below 20 km.