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Integrating space- and ground-based observations for global monitoring of volcanic gas emissions

Viktor Ixion Mészáros 1, Santiago Arellano1, Marie Boichu2, Raphaël Grandin3, Vitali Fioletov4

  • Affiliations: 1Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden; 2CNRS/Laboratoire d\'Optique Atmosphérique, Université de Lille, Villeneuve d\'Ascq, France; 3CNRS/Institut de physique du globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France; 4Environment and Climate Change, Montreal, Canada

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Monday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 157

  • Programme No: 3.1.49

  • Theme 3 > Session 1

Abstract

Long-term and high-frequency monitoring of volcanic gas emissions is important for tracking changes in volcanic activity and for assessing the impact of volcanism on the environment and the climate system. Observations from satellite-based sensors and ground-based monitoring networks have developed in parallel, particularly in the past 20 years; together, they provide daily, global data on emission rates. However, differences in vertical and cloud sensitivities, and spatial or temporal resolution result in significant uncertainties. This also makes challenging to compare the results from both platforms. We aim to improve the accuracy and consistency of volcanic SO2 flux measurements by combining satellite-based information from the ESA/Sentinel-5 Precursor Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI; global, daily, s. 2018) with data from the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC; 50+ volcanoes, sub-daily, s. 2005), a ground-based network of scanning differential optical absorption spectrometers. Analysis of TROPOMI data is facilitated by the tools of the open-access Volcano Space Observatory, which implements the "disk integration" method for SO2 flux calculation. These results are compared with daily statistics from NOVAC, which uses a scanning "perimeter" integration, and with independent estimates of annual emissions from the open-access NASA SO2 Climatology, derived using a "wind-rotation" method. We assess the results obtained using these methods for a selection of volcanoes with varying levels of activity, plume heights, and latitude. A new approach that integrates information from both platforms is proposed, enhancing both the accuracy and consistency of global and decades-long volcanic gas emission datasets.