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| Titel |
Observation of the volcanic plume of Eyjafjallajökull over continental Europe by Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) |
| VerfasserIn |
Selami Yilmaz, Nicole Bobrowski, Harald Flentje, Udo Frieß, Christoph Hörmann, Christoph Kern, Holger Sihler, Leif Vogel, Thomas Wagner, Ulrich Platt |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2011
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 13 (2011) |
| Datensatznummer |
250052171
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The recent eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano (Iceland) and the emitted ash plume which
disrupted commercial air traffic over Europe for an extended period of time has led to an
intense debate on how to improve our ability to quantitatively determine the ash load in the
atmosphere as a function of time and geographical location in the aftermath of future
eruptions. A combination of satellite remote sensing instruments detecting ash and SO2 in
combination with ground-based LIDAR stations can help to constrain atmospheric transport
and meteorology models used to predict ash dispersion. However, multi-axis Differential
Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) represents an additional and often
neglected tool with considerable potential for the quantitative detection of elevated
volcanic ash and SO2 plumes. A MAX-DOAS network performs especially well
during weather conditions in which satellites and LIDAR instruments are impeded
in their effectiveness, e.g. in the case of dense cloud cover (above or below the
plume). We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the DOAS technique, and
explore its potential for monitoring of volcanic ash hazards. Results of ash and SO2
measurements of the Eyjafjallajökull plume as it passed over the city of Heidelberg,
Germany in 2010 are presented as an example of a successful detection of a highly
diluted volcanic plume. SO2 was detected on several days with differential slant
column densities (dSCD) of up to (3.35 ± 0.13) • 1017 molec/cm2. The occurrence of
these high dSCDs is in good agreement with model predictions (FLEXPART),
in-situ background (Schauinsland, Germany) and remote sensing measurements
(GOME-2). Also aerosol extinction profiles and optical depths (AOD) at 477 nm were
retrieved from the MAX-DOAS measurements. The retrieved AOD values of up
to 1.20 ± 0.01 are in good agreement with Sun photometer (Mainz, Germany)
measurements. Additionally, the qualitative comparison of the aerosol extinction profiles
retrieved from MAX-DOAS shows good agreement with the diurnal development of
the range corrected backscatter signal measured by the ceilometer (Rheinstetten,
Germany).
Its relatively low cost and complementary nature in respect to other SO2/ash detection
techniques makes multi-axis DOAS a promising technology in the field of aviation hazard
detection and management. |
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