Impact of volcanic SO2-rich plumes on vegetation health
Megan Udy1, Susanna Ebmeier1, Sebastian Watt2, Andy Hooper1
Affiliations: 1School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK; 2School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Presentation type: Talk
Presentation time: Monday 08:45 - 09:00, Room S150
Programme No: 3.1.2
Abstract
While health and atmospheric effects of volcanic gases have been well studied, the direct impacts of gas laden plumes on their surrounding ecosystems are comparatively understudied. Of particular interest are the impacts of volcanic SO2 on the health of surrounding forests. Although industrial SO2 impacts on vegetation have been studied there is a lack of research in volcanic settings. Here, we present a novel remote sensing method to track vegetation health and recovery at multiple tropical volcanoes. We use optical vegetation indices and radar remote sensing to analyse vegetation health and recovery response post exposure to SO2 rich volcanic plumes. Our data demonstrate a rapid decline in vegetation health (a decrease of up to 0.7 in NDVI), indicating SO2 exposure resulting in damage to the photosynthetic processes of adjacent forests. The post-exposure recovery is rapid (recovering in as little as 5 months), particularly for that level of detected decline in vegetation health, suggesting the damage is dominated by SO2 impacts rather than ash. These rapid recovery rates have potential to provide insight into vegetation resilience in volcanic settings. This method, while enhancing understanding of SO2 related vegetation impacts, is also a novel tool for volcano monitoring as we can detect and map the unique response of vegetation to volcanic SO2. We suggest that this method can aid to safely track plume trajectory and identify areas of concentrated gas exposure, thus understanding the impacts, through time, of volcanic eruptions on their surrounding ecosystems.