Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik

UP 2: Atmosphäre

UP 2.7: Talk

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 11:15–11:30, G/gHS

Retrieval of BrO at Tungurahua volcano and the NOVAC network — •Simon Warnach¹, Peter Lübcke¹, Nicole Bobrowski¹, Santiago Arellano², Bo Galle², Silvana Hidalgo³, Leif Vogel⁴, Florian Dinger¹, and Ulrich Platt¹ — ¹Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany — ²Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden — ³Instituto Geofisico, Escuela Politecnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador — ⁴Earth Observation Science, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

The composition of volcanic gas emissions, in particular the ratio of BrO/SO₂, can yield information about magmatic processes.

The evaluation of the long-term data collected at the 30 volcanoes monitored in the Network for Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC) can help to obtain a better understanding of the BrO/SO₂ ratio and its correlation to magmatic processes. However, the evaluation for BrO proves difficult for volcanoes with low gas emissions.

In this work we introduce an improved BrO retrieval, which is able to measure BrO and determine the BrO/SO₂ ratio at volcanoes with low gas emissions. Using a high resolution, SO₂ free solar spectrum to identify the spectra influenced by volcanic gas, the BrO retrieval can be improved to gain a better signal-to-noise and a more precise BrO value.

The effects of our new retrieval technique will be demonstrated on data collected by NOVAC instruments at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador, which is part of the NOVAC network since 2007.