UVolc: A software platform for measuring volcanic SO2 fluxes

We present here a novel stand-alone software platform, UVolc, for remotely sensed measurement of volcanic SO"2 emission rates. Such data are important diagnostics of activity conditions, with utility in forecasting measures. This code is made user friendly to enable volcanologists, who are not experts in the underlying physics of spectroscopy, to perform their own measurements. The program provides considerable reduction in errors and far greater operating flexibility than existing analogous code, which, unlike UVolc, can only interface with hardware no longer in manufacture. UVolc will be described here, including a presentation of data collected with this program in the field.

Periodic volcanic degassing behavior: The Mount Etna example

[1] In contrast to the seismic and infrasonic energy released from quiescent and erupting volcanoes, which have long been known to manifest episodes of highly periodic behavior, the spectral properties of volcanic gas flux time series remain poorly constrained, due to a previous lack of hightemporal resolution gas-sensing techniques. Here we report on SO2 flux measurements, performed on Mount Etna with a novel UV imaging technique of unprecedented sampling frequency (0.5Hz), which reveal, for the first time, a rapid periodic structure in degassing from this target. These gas flux modulations have considerable temporal variability in their characteristics and involve two period bands: 40–250…

UV camera measurements of fumarole field degassing (La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island)

Abstract The UV camera is becoming an important new tool in the armory of volcano geochemists to derive high time resolution SO2 flux measurements. Furthermore, the high camera spatial resolution is particularly useful for exploring multiple-source SO2 gas emissions, for instance the composite fumarolic systems topping most quiescent volcanoes. Here, we report on the first SO2 flux measurements from individual fumaroles of the fumarolic field of La Fossa crater (Vulcano Island, Aeolian Island), which we performed using a UV camera in two field campaigns: in November 12, 2009 and February 4, 2010. We derived ~ 0.5 Hz SO2 flux time-series finding fluxes from individual fumaroles, ranging from…

High temporal and spatial resolution UV camera measurements at Stromboli: insights on passive SO2 gas emission, Strombolian eruptions, and puffing.

Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and one of the few where passive degassing persistently coexists with the (non-passive) release of over-pressurized gas pockets during both explosions and gas puffing activity. These transient gas bursting-puffing phenomena are difficult to study by conventional spectroscopic scanning techniques (e.g., DOAS), since these have far too low temporal resolution. Here, we take advantage of the high spatial and time resolution (0.6-1 Hz) of the recently developed UV camera technique to obtain a simultaneous characterisation of all the different forms of SO2 release at Stromboli (including passive degassing, Strombolian eruptions and puffing)…

UV camera measurements of fumarole field degassing (La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island)

Recent advances in ground-based ultraviolet remote sensing of volcanic SO2 fluxes

Measurements of volcanic SO2 emission rates have been the mainstay of remote-sensing volcanic gas geochemistry for almost four decades, and they have contributed significantly to our understanding of volcanic systems and their impact upon the atmosphere. The last ten years have brought step-change improvements in the instrumentation applied to these observations, which began with the application of miniature ultraviolet spectrometers that were deployed in scanning and traverse configurations, with differential optical absorption spectroscopy evaluation routines. This study catalogs the more recent empirical developments, including: ultraviolet cameras; wide-angle field-of-view differential …

Vulcamera: a program for measuring volcanic SO2 using UV cameras

We report here on Vulcamera, a stand-alone program for the determination of volcanic SO2  fluxes using ultraviolet cameras. The code enables field image acquisition and all the required post-processing operations.<br />

Protocols for UV camera volcanic SO2 measurements

Abstract Ultraviolet camera technology offers considerable promise for enabling 1 Hz timescale acquisitions of volcanic degassing phenomena, providing two orders of magnitude improvements on sampling frequencies from conventionally applied scanning spectrometer systems. This could, for instance enable unprecedented insights into rapid processes, such as strombolian explosions, and non-aliased corroboration with volcano geophysical data. The uptake of this technology has involved disparate methodological approaches, hitherto. As a means of expediting the further proliferation of such systems, we here study these diverse protocols, with the aim of suggesting those we consider optimal. In part…

Spectroscopic capture of 1 Hz volcanic SO2fluxes and integration with volcano geophysical data

[1] Here we present a novel spectroscopic approach to capturing, with unprecedented time resolution and accuracy, volcanic SO2 fluxes. This is based on two USB2000 spectrometers, coupled to cylindrical lens telescopes, each collecting light which has transited horizontal sections of the rising plume. We report on field data from Stromboli volcano, in which the entire emission rate from the volcano was measured, as well as flux signatures associated with individual crater explosions. The latter were integrated with seismic and thermal data, demonstrating correlations in both cases, and representing the first such geophysical-geochemical data corroboration on this timescale. Such a holistic e…

Passive vs. active degassing modes at an open-vent volcano (Stromboli, Italy)

Abstract We report here on a UV-camera based field experiment performed on Stromboli volcano during 7 days in 2010 and 2011, aimed at obtaining the very first simultaneous assessment of all the different forms (passive and active) of SO 2 release from an open-vent volcano. Using the unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution of the UV camera, we obtained a 0.8 Hz record of the total SO 2 flux from Stromboli over a timeframe of ∼14 h, which ranged between 0.4 and 1.9 kg s −1 around a mean value of 0.7 kg s −1 and we concurrently derived SO 2 masses for more than 130 Strombolian explosions and 50 gas puffs. From this, we show erupted SO 2 masses have a variability of up to one order of mag…