Premium
Tropospheric sulfur dioxide observed by the ERS‐2 GOME instrument
Author(s) -
Eisinger Michael,
Burrows John P.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1998gl900128
Subject(s) - ozone monitoring instrument , volcano , sulfur dioxide , environmental science , troposphere , nadir , ozone , zenith , atmospheric sciences , nitrogen dioxide , tropospheric ozone , remote sensing , satellite , solar zenith angle , cloud cover , meteorology , geology , physics , cloud computing , chemistry , seismology , inorganic chemistry , astronomy , computer science , operating system
Since July 1995, the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) onboard ESA's 2nd European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS‐2) provides continuous spectral measurements of nadir backscattered earth radiances and solar irradiances in the UV/visible wavelength range. From these, column amounts of sulfur dioxide have been derived for the December 1996 eruption of Nyamuragira volcano, Zaire, and the ongoing activity of Popocatépetl volcano, Mexico. Maximal column densities of 33 DU for Nyamuragira and 6 DU for Popocatépetl have been found. Popocatépetl results compare well with the activity reported for this volcano. Furthermore, GOME observed enhanced SO 2 over Southeast Europe which is attributed to lignite combustion in local power plants. The results demonstrate a high sensitivity and specificity of this new sensor for sulfur dioxide. For cloud‐free scenes at low solar zenith angles, the detection limit for SO 2 is estimated to be 0.4 DU.