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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • remote sensing

Index Terms

  • Volcanology: Remote sensing of volcanoes
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Volcanic effects
  • Atmospheric Processes: Remote sensing
  • Volcanology: Atmospheric effects
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: constituent transport and chemistry

Abstract

Measurements of SO2 profiles in volcanic plumes from the NASA Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)

C. Clerbaux

Service d'Aéronomie, IPSL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, UMR7620, Paris, France

Spectroscopie de l'Atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et de Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

P.-F. Coheur

Spectroscopie de l'Atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et de Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

L. Clarisse

Spectroscopie de l'Atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et de Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

J. Hadji-Lazaro

Service d'Aéronomie, IPSL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, UMR7620, Paris, France

D. Hurtmans

Spectroscopie de l'Atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et de Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

S. Turquety

Service d'Aéronomie, IPSL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, UMR7620, Paris, France

K. Bowman

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

H. Worden

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

S. A. Carn

Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Satellite measurements are now recognized as a key element for the early detection and characterization of volcanic eruptions, in particular in the context of aircraft routing. A common tracer of volcanic plumes is sulfur dioxide (SO2), which so far has been measured by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) instruments and multispectral infrared (IR) sounders. Here we report the first SO2 vertical profile retrieved from high spectral resolution thermal infrared nadir radiance spectra and we provide information on both the quantity of gas emitted and its altitude. From the radiance spectra provided by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) aboard the NASA AURA satellite, and owing to the ∼0.1 cm−1 (apodized) spectral resolution, elevated levels of SO2 were measured following volcanic eruptions occurring in 2005 (Manam, Sierra Negra) and 2006 (Rabaul, Nyamuragira). Column values are found to be in good agreement with the data provided by Ozone Mapping Instrument (OMI), a UV-vis instrument also onboard the AURA satellite.

Received 1 August 2008; accepted 8 October 2008; published 22 November 2008.

Citation: Clerbaux, C., P.-F. Coheur, L. Clarisse, J. Hadji-Lazaro, D. Hurtmans, S. Turquety, K. Bowman, H. Worden, and S. A. Carn (2008), Measurements of SO2 profiles in volcanic plumes from the NASA Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L22807, doi:10.1029/2008GL035566.

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