Photometry at Cerro Tololo, Chile: effects of mount agung eruption

Abstract

Extinction effects of the volcanic dust injected into the stratosphere by the violent eruption of Mount Agung, Bali, 17 March 1963, were studied. Visual extinction coefficients were measured photoelectrically for 153 nights during the period from March 1963 to September 1964. The data indicate that the dust is now widely dispersed and that its effects may persist for several more years. A study of the wavelength dependence of the extinction shows that the dust is a neutral scattering agent. The total global amount of airborne volcanic material is crudely estimated at 1012 grams as of September 1964.