From April 28 to May 2, the 2025 European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU25) convened in Vienna, Austria. Research on stratospheric water vapor changes following the Tonga volcanic eruption by School of Atmospheric Science of CUIT was designated an “EGU Highlight” – the sole featured work in the “Volcano-climate impacts and the stratospheric aerosol layer” session.

The 2022 submarine Tonga eruption triggered a sharp stratospheric water vapor increase, exacerbating global surface warming. Accurately assessing its impact is crucial for understanding climate effects. Professor Chen Quanliang’s team, including Associate Professors Zhou Xin and Li Yang, collaborating with Zhejiang University and the University of Leeds (UK), systematically evaluated three reanalysis datasets’ capability to reproduce vapor changes using Microwave Limb Sounder satellite observations. This revealed the critical role of stratospheric water vapor data assimilation in reanalysis accuracy, providing key insights for improving climate simulations. This achievement represents core progress in the NSFC-Royal Society joint project: “Impact of Tonga eruption-induced stratospheric water vapor surge on global climate: Satellite observations and multi-model simulations”.