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The SO 2 camera: A simple, fast and cheap method for ground‐based imaging of SO 2 in volcanic plumes
Author(s) -
Mori Toshiya,
Burton Mike
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl027916
Subject(s) - volcano , remote sensing , plume , flux (metallurgy) , measure (data warehouse) , panache , magma , geology , optics , geophysics , computer science , meteorology , physics , seismology , materials science , data mining , metallurgy
SO 2 flux is widely monitored on active volcanoes as it gives a window into the hidden, subsurface magma dynamics. We present here a new approach to SO 2 flux monitoring using ultraviolet imaging of the volcanic plume through carefully chosen filters to produce images of SO 2 column amount. The SO 2 camera heralds a breakthrough in both our ability to measure SO 2 flux at unprecedented frequencies (2 Hz) and at unprecedented accuracy, thanks to the application of correlation techniques to determine wind speed directly from the images and the ability to measure the whole profile simultaneously. In this paper we detail the commercially available pieces required to construct the SO 2 camera, introduce a retrieval scheme to determine SO 2 amounts from the images and present results from a field campaign in November 2005 on Sakurajima volcano, Japan.