Transcript novel approaches in high-risk areas

Volcanic Gases measurements:
novel approaches in high-risk areas
Maria Pedone
(Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia – Sezione di Napoli, Osservatorio Vesuviano)
[email protected]
The interpretation of volcanic gas datasets offers key information to build/validate geological
models relevant to a variety of volcanic processes and behaviours, including eruptions.
In recent years, major efforts have therefore been spent to improve our ability to measure volcanic
gas compositions and fluxes. In the last decades, near-infrared room-temperature diode lasers,
though in an experimental phase, are finding applications in volcanic gas studies.
Here, I show the use of the GasFinder 2.0, a commercial tunable diode infrared laser transmitterreceiver unit, in the attempt to measure CO2 concentrations in volcanic gas emissions; and the
opportunity to estimate CO2 fluxes by using novel approaches and models.
Furthermore, I propose new techniques to overcome difficult in quantifying CO2 emissions, both in
discrete and in continuous monitoring.
Overall, the results presented here contribute to improve understanding of the rates of CO2 release
from sub-aerial volcanism, especially in high-risk areas. The observations suggest, in particular, that
the cumulative CO2 contribution from “weakly” degassing volcanoes in hydrothermal stage may
more significant at global scale. Than previously thought.