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Volcanic gas emission rates measured by solar occultation spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Duffell Hayley,
Oppenheimer Clive,
Burton Mike
Publication year - 2001
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 - 10.1029/2000gl012425
Subject(s) - volcano , plume , flux (metallurgy) , occultation , atmospheric sciences , analytical chemistry (journal) , trace gas , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , environmental science , geology , chemistry , meteorology , physics , environmental chemistry , astrophysics , optics , geochemistry , organic chemistry
We report here the first measurements of volcanic gas fluxes obtained with a Sun‐tracking Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The experiment was carried out at Masaya volcano in Nicaragua, in April 2000, and yields ratios and emission rates for five gases: H 2 O, CO 2 , SO 2 , HCl, and HF. Traverses beneath the plume were made by road 15 km downwind from the summit, and indicate SO 2 and HCl fluxes of 11 and 3 kg s −1 , respectively. These values are a good guide to source strengths since we observed no significant change in SO 2 /HCl ratios (∼3 by mass) between the summit and downwind sites, suggesting negligible removal of SO 2 or HCl from the gas phase prior to observation. Combining the HCl flux, with the ratios of HF/HCl, CO 2 /HCl and H 2 O/HCl determined spectroscopically at the summit, yields fluxes for HF, CO 2 and H 2 O of 0.26, 11 and 160 kg s −1 , respectively. The technique heralds considerable promise for volcano monitoring.