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Estimating the volcanic emission rate and atmospheric lifetime of SO 2 from space: a case study for Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i

Steffen Beirle·Christoph Hormann·Malouse Penning de Vries·Stefan Dorner·Christoph Kern·Thomas Wagner
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Abstract

We present an analysis of SO 2 column densities derived from GOME-2 satellite measurements for the Kīlauea volcano (Hawai`i) for 2007–2012. During a period of enhanced degassing activity in March–November 2008, monthly mean SO 2 emission rates and effective SO 2 lifetimes are determined simultaneously from the observed downwind plume evolution and meteorological wind fields, without further model input. Kīlauea is particularly suited for quantitative investigations from satellite observations owing to the absence of interfering sources, the clearly defined downwind plumes caused by steady trade winds, and generally low cloud fractions. For March–November 2008, the effective SO 2 lifetime is 1–2 days, and Kīlauea SO 2 emission rates are 9–21 kt day −1 , which is about 3 times higher than initially reported from ground-based monitoring systems.

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Atmospheric Chemistry and PhysicsArticle
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 19.37933243547929° to 19.45056843698827° latitude; -155.3111457824707° to -155.23029327392578° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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Steffen Beirle, Christoph Hormann, Malouse Penning de Vries, Stefan Dorner, Christoph Kern, Thomas Wagner. 2014-08-19. Estimating the volcanic emission rate and atmospheric lifetime of SO 2 from space: a case study for Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014

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