Remote Sensing of Volcanic Gases
This project, ongoing since fiscal year 1996, adapts commercially available equipment to remotely determine SO2, HCl, HF, and SiF4 in the gases of volcanic plumes. We are presently working on numerical methods to extract quantitative values for CO2. Equipment used to date are a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) device, a mini-elastic laser (LIDAR) device, and a modified correlation spectrometer (COSPEC). Remotely sensed data are compared with geochemical data obtained from volcanic vents by direct sampling and/or volatile traps. The intent of the work is to obtain real time gas concentrations and concentration ratios for investigations on magma genesis and processes, eruption forecasting, and atmospheric impact/ global climate change. Volcanoes worked on to date include White Island and Ruapehu (New Zealand), Pu’u O’o (Hawaii), Popocatépetl (Mexico), and Etna (Italy). Contacts for this project are Fraser Goff, EES-1 (fraser@lanl.gov) and Steve Love, NIS-2 (splove@lanl.gov).
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Figure Caption: Measuring gas composition and flux at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico in February 1997. SO2 flux by COSPEC reached a maximum of 60,000 tons/day. HCl and HF output by FTIR were approximately 7800 and 1100 tons/day, respectively. Variations in SiF4/SO2 changed dramatically during the few days preceding and immediately after this moderate-sized explosive event. |
Publications:
Goff, F., Janik, C.J., Delgado, H., Werner, C., Counce, D., Stimac, J.A., Siebe, C.,Love, S.P., Williams, S.N., Fischer, T., and Johnson, L., 1998, Geochemical surveillance of magmatic volatiles at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico: Geol. Soc. Amer. 110, 695-710.
Love, S., Goff, F., Counce, D., Siebe, C., and Delgado, H., 1998, Passive infrared spectroscopy of the eruption plume at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico: Nature, 396, 563-566.