References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

1680-7324

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-12-11417-2012

A new scheme for sulphur dioxide retrieval from IASI measurements: application to the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of April and May 2010

Carboni

¹ Grainger

¹ Walker

¹ ² Dudhia

¹ Siddans

Sub-Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK

European Space Agency, Harwell Centre, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, UK

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK

03 12 2012

12 23 11417 11434

This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/11417/2012/acp-12-11417-2012.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/11417/2012/acp-12-11417-2012.pdf

A new optimal estimation algorithm for the retrieval of sulphur dioxide (SO2) has been developed for the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) using the channels between 1000–1200 and 1300–1410 cm−1. These regions include the two SO2 absorption bands centred at about 8.7 and 7.3 μm (the ν1 and ν3 bands respectively). The retrieval assumes a Gaussian SO2 profile and returns the SO2 column amount in Dobson units and the altitude of the plume in millibars (mb). Forward modelled spectra (against which the measurements are compared) are based on the Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV) code. In our implementation RTTOV uses atmospheric profiles from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) meteorological data. The retrieval includes a comprehensive error budget for every pixel derived from an error covariance matrix that is based on the SO2-free climatology of the differences between the IASI and forward modelled spectra. The IASI forward model includes the ability to simulate a cloud or ash layer in the atmosphere. This feature is used to illustrate that: (1) the SO2 retrieval is not affected by underlying cloud but is affected if the SO2 is within or below a cloud layer; (2) it is possible to discern if ash (or other atmospheric constituents not considered in the error covariance matrix) affects the retrieval using quality control based on the fit of the measured spectrum by the forward modelled spectrum. In this work, the algorithm is applied to follow the behaviour of SO2 plumes from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption during April and May 2010. From 14 April to 4 May (during Phase I and II of the eruption) the total amount of SO2 present in the atmosphere, estimated by IASI measurements, is generally below 0.02 Tg. During the last part of the eruption (Phase III) the values are an order of magnitude higher, with a maximum of 0.18 Tg measured on the afternoon of 7 May.

References 1

Blumstein, D., Chalon, G., Carlier, T., Buil, C., Hébert, P., Maciaszek, T., Ponce, G., Phulpin, T., Tournier, B., Siméoni, D., PAstruc, Clauss, A., Kayal, G., and Jegou, R.: IASI Instrument: Technical overview and measured performances, Proc. SPIE, 5543, 196–207, 2004.

Bruhl, C. and Crutzen, P J.: MPIC two-dimensional model, in: The atmospheric effects of stratospheric aircraft, vol. 1292 of Ref. Pub., 103–104, NASA, 1993.

Carboni, E. and Grainger, R.: Satellite remote sensing of \chemSO_2 volcanic emission using GOME-2 and IASI data: sensitivity analysis, in: Geophysical Research Abstracts, vol 11, 2009.

Carn, S A., Krueger, A J., Bluth, G. J S., Schaefer, S J., Krotkov, N A., Watson, I M., and Datta, S.: Volcanic eruption detection by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument: a 22-year record of sulfur dioxide and ash emissions, in: Volcanic Degassing, edited by: Oppenheimer, C., Pyle, D M., and Barclay, J., 213, 177–203, Geological Society, London, UK, 2003.

Carn, S A., Strow, L L., de~Souza-Machado, S., Edmonds, Y., and Hannon, S.: Quantifying tropospheric volcanic emissions with AIRS: The 2002 eruption of Mt. Etna (Italy), Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L02301, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2004GL021034doi:10.1029/2004GL021034, 2005.

Carn, S A., Krueger, A J., Arellano, S., Krotkov, N A., and Yang, K.: Daily monitoring of Ecuadorian volcanic degassing from space, J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res., 176, 141–150, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.01.029doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.01.029, 2008.

Clarisse, L., Coheur, P F., Prata, A J., Hurtmans, D., Razavi, A., Phulpin, T., Hadji-Lazaro, J., and Clerbaux, C.: Tracking and quantifying volcanic SO2 with IASI, the September 2007 eruption at Jebel at Tair, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 7723–7734, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-7723-2008doi:10.5194/acp-8-7723-2008, 2008.

Clarisse, L., Hurtmans, D., Clerbaux, C., Hadji-Lazaro, J., Ngadi, Y., and Coheur, P.-F.: Retrieval of sulphur dioxide from the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI), Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 581–594, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-581-2012doi:10.5194/amt-5-581-2012, 2012.

Clerbaux, C., Coheur, P.-F., Clarisse, L., Hadji-Lazaro, J., Hurtmans, D., Turquety, S., Bowman, K., Worden, H., and Carn, S A.: Measurements of \chemSO_2 profiles in volcanic plumes from the NASA Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L22807, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035566doi:10.1029/2008GL035566, 2008.

Clerbaux, C., Boynard, A., Clarisse, L., George, M., Hadji-Lazaro, J., Herbin, H., Hurtmans, D., Pommier, M., Razavi, A., Turquety, S., Wespes, C., and Coheur, P.-F.: Monitoring of atmospheric composition using the thermal infrared IASI/MetOp sounder, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 6041–6054, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-6041-2009doi:10.5194/acp-9-6041-2009, 2009.

Corradini, S., Spinetti, C., Carboni, E., Tirelli, C., Buongiorno, M F., Pugnaghi, S., and Gangale, G.: Mt. Etna tropospheric ash retrieval and sensitivity analysis using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer measurements, J. Appl. Remote Sens., 2, 023 550–023 550–20, http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3046674doi:10.1117/1.3046674, 2008.

Corradini, S., Merucci, L., Prata, A J., and Piscini, A.: Volcanic ash and \chemSO_2 in the 2008 Kasatochi eruption: retrievals comparison from different IR satellite sensors, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00L21, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013634doi:10.1029/2009JD013634, 2010.

European Commission: The Impact of the Volcanic Ash Cloud Crisis on the Air Transport Industry, SEC(2010) 533, 27 April, Brussels., 2010.

Francis, P N., Cooke, M C., and Saunders, R W.: Retrieval of physical properties of volcanic ash using Meteosat: a~case study from the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D00U09, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016788doi:10.1029/2011JD016788, 2012.

Grainger, R. G., Peters, D. M., Thomas, G. E., Smith, A. J. A., Siddans, R., Carboni, E., and Dudhia, A.: Measuring Volcanic Plume and Ash Properties from Space, in Remote-sensing of Volcanoes and Volcanic Processes: Integrating Observation and Modelling, edited by: Pyle, D. M., Mather, T. A., and Biggs, J., The Geological Society Special Publication 380, in press, 2012.

Harrison, R G., Nicoll, K A., Ulanowski, Z., and Mather, T A.: Self-charging of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash plume, Environ. Res. Lett., 5, 024004, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/5/2/024004doi:10.1088/1748-9326/5/2/024004, 2010.

Henney, L., Rodr\'iguez, L., and Watson, I.: A comparison of \chemSO_2 retrieval techniques using mini-UV spectrometers and ASTER imagery at Lascar volcano, Chile, B. Volcanol., 74, 589–594, 10.1007/s00445-011-0552-2, 2012.

Karagulian, F., Clarisse, L., Clerbaux, C., Prata, A J., Hurtmans, D., and Coheur, P F.: Detection of volcanic SO2, ash, and H2SO4 using the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00L02, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012786doi:10.1029/2009JD012786, 2010.

Kearney, C S. and Watson, I M.: Correcting satellite-based infrared sulfur dioxide retrievals for the presence of silicate ash, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D22208, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011407doi:10.1029/2008JD011407, 2009.

Marenco, F., Johnson, B., Turnbull, K., Newman, S., Haywood, J., Webster, H., and Ricketts, H.: Airborne lidar observations of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash plume, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00U05, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016396doi:10.1029/2011JD016396, 2011.

Marzano, F S., Lamantea, M., Montopoli, M., Di~Fabio, S., and Picciotti, E.: The Eyjafjöll explosive volcanic eruption from a microwave weather radar perspective, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 9503–9518, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-9503-2011doi:10.5194/acp-11-9503-2011, 2011.

Matricardi, M.: The generation of RTTOV regression coefficients for IASI and AIRS using a new profile training set and a new line by line database, Tech. Memo. 564, ECMWF Research Dept., http://www.ecmwf.int/publications/library/ecpublications/_pdf/tm/501-600/tm564.pdf, 2008.

Mazzocchi, M., Hansstein, F., and Ragona, M.: The 2010 Volcanic Ash Cloud and Its Financial Impact on the European Airline Industry, CESifo Forum, 11, 92–100, 2010.

Merucci, L., Burton, M., Corradini, S., and Salerno, G G.: Reconstruction of SO2 flux emission chronology from space-based measurements, J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res., 206, 80–87, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2011.07.002doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2011.07.002, 2011.

Mona, L., Amodeo, A., D'Amico, G., Giunta, A., Madonna, F., and Pappalardo, G.: Multi-wavelength Raman lidar observations of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic cloud over Potenza, Southern Italy, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 2229–2244, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-2229-2012doi:10.5194/acp-12-2229-2012, 2012.

Nowlan, C R., Liu, X., Chance, K., Cai, Z., Kurosu, T P., Lee, C., and Martin, R V.: Retrievals of sulfur dioxide from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 (GOME-2) using an optimal estimation approach: algorithm and initial validation, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D18301, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD015808doi:10.1029/2011JD015808, 2011.

Petersen, G N., Bjornsson, H., and Arason, P.: The impact of the atmosphere on the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption plume, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D00U07, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016762doi:10.1029/2011JD016762, 2012.

Poulsen, C A., Siddans, R., Thomas, G E., Sayer, A M., Grainger, R G., Campmany, E., Dean, S M., Arnold, C., and Watts, P D.: Cloud retrievals from satellite data using optimal estimation: evaluation and application to ATSR, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 1889–1910, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-1889-2012doi:10.5194/amt-5-1889-2012, 2012.

Prata, A J. and Bernardo, C.: Retrieval of volcanic \chemSO_2 column abundance from atmospheric infrared sounder data, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D20204, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007955doi:10.1029/2006JD007955, 2007.

Prata, A J. and Kerkmann, J.: Simultaneous retrieval of volcanic ash and SO$_(2)$ using MSG-SEVIRI measurements, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L05813, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006GL028691doi:10.1029/2006GL028691, 2007.

Prata, A J., Rose, W I., Self, S., and O'Brien, D M.: Global, long-term sulphur dioxide measurements from TOVS data: A new tool for studying explosive volcanism and climate, in: Volcanism and the Earth's Atmosphere, edited by: Robock, A. and Oppenheimer, C., vol. 139 of Geophysical Monograph Series, American Geophysical Union, 75–92, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/GM139doi:10.1029/GM139, 2003.

Prata, A J., Gangale, G., Clarisse, L., and Karagulian, F.: Ash and sulphur dioxide in the 2008 eruptions of Okmok and Kasatochi: Insights from high spectral resolution satellite measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00L18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013556doi:10.1029/2009JD013556, 2010.

Rauthe-Schöch, A., Weigelt, A., Hermann, M., Martinsson, B G., Baker, A K., Heue, K P., Brenninkmeijer, C. A M., Zahn, A., Scharffe, D., Eckhardt, S., Stohl, A., and van Velthoven, P. F J.: CARIBIC aircraft measurements of Eyjafjallajökull volcanic clouds in April/May 2010, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 879–902, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-879-2012doi:10.5194/acp-12-879-2012, 2012.

Realmuto, V J.: The potential use of Earth Observing System data to monitor the passive emission of sulfur dioxide from volcanoes, Geoph. Monog. Series, 116, 101–115, 2000.

Realmuto, V J., Abrams, M J., Buongiornio, M F., and Pieri, D C.: The use of multispectral thermal infrared image data to estimate the sulfur dioxide flux from volcanoes: a case study from Mount Etna, Sicily, 29 July 1986, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 481–488, 1994.

Realmuto, V J., Sutton, A J., and Elias, T.: Multispectral imaging of sulfur dioxide plumes from the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 15057–15072, 1997.

Rix, M., Valks, P., Hao, N., Loyola, D G., Schlager, H., Huntrieser, H H., Flemming, J., Koehler, U., Schumann, U., and Inness, A.: Volcanic \chemSO_2, BrO and plume height estimations using GOME-2satellite measurementsduring the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in May 2010, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D00U19, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016718doi:10.1029/2011JD016718, 2012.

Rodgers, C D.: Inverse Methods for Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice, World Scientific, River Edge, NJ, USA, 2000.

Rozanov, V., Diebel, D., Spurr, R. J D., and Burrows, J P.: GOMETRAN: a radiative transfer model for the satellite project GOME – the plane parallel version, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 16683–16696, 1997.

Saunders, R W., Matricardi, M., and Brunel, P.: An improved fast radiative transfer model for assimilation of satellite radiance observations, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 125, 1407–1425, 1999.

Schumann, U., Weinzierl, B., Reitebuch, O., Schlager, H., Minikin, A., Forster, C., Baumann, R., Sailer, T., Graf, K., Mannstein, H., Voigt, C., Rahm, S., Simmet, R., Scheibe, M., Lichtenstern, M., Stock, P., Rüba, H., Schäuble, D., Tafferner, A., Rautenhaus, M., Gerz, T., Ziereis, H., Krautstrunk, M., Mallaun, C., Gayet, J.-F., Lieke, K., Kandler, K., Ebert, M., Weinbruch, S., Stohl, A., Gasteiger, J., Groß, S., Freudenthaler, V., Wiegner, M., Ansmann, A., Tesche, M., Olafsson, H., and Sturm, K.: Airborne observations of the Eyjafjalla volcano ash cloud over Europe during air space closure in April and May 2010, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 2245–2279, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-2245-2011doi:10.5194/acp-11-2245-2011, 2011.

Sears, T M., Thomas, G E., Carboni, E., Smith, A., and Grainger, R G.: SO2 as a proxy for volcanic ash in aviation hazard avoidance, J. Geophys. Res., under review, 2012.

Stamnes, K., Tsay, S C., Wiscombe, W., and Jayaweera, K.: Numerically stable algorithm for discrete-ordinate-method radiative transfer in multiple scattering and emitting layered media, Appl. Opt., 27, 2502–2509, 1988.

Stevenson, J A., Loughlin, S., Rae, C., Thordarson, T., Milodowski, A E., Gilbert, J S., Harangi, S., Lukács, R., Højgaard, B., \'Arting, U., Pyne-O'Donnell, S., MacLeod, A., Whitney, B., and Cassidy, M.: Distal deposition of tephra from the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 summit eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 117, B00C10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008904doi:10.1029/2011JB008904, 2012.

STFC: Fast transmittance modelling of the MSG and MTG solar channels for cloud retrievals, Tech. rep., Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK, http://www.eumetsat.int/groups/ops/documents/document/pdf_report_fast_trans.pdf, 2011.

Stohl, A., Prata, A J., Eckhardt, S., Clarisse, L., Durant, A., Henne, S., Kristiansen, N I., Minikin, A., Schumann, U., Seibert, P., Stebel, K., Thomas, H E., Thorsteinsson, T., Tørseth, K., and Weinzierl, B.: Determination of time- and height-resolved volcanic ash emissions and their use for quantitative ash dispersion modeling: the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4333–4351, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4333-2011doi:10.5194/acp-11-4333-2011, 2011.

Symonds, R B., Rose, W I., Bluth, G., and Gerlach, T M.: Volcanic-gas studies: methods, results, and applications, Rev. Mineral. Geochem., 30, 1–66, 1994.

Thomas, H E. and Prata, A J.: Sulphur dioxide as a volcanic ash proxy during the April?May 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 6871–6880, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-6871-2011doi:10.5194/acp-11-6871-2011, 2011.

Thomas, H E., Watson, I M., Kearney, C., Carn, S A., and Murray, S J.: A multi-sensor comparison of sulphur dioxide emissions from the 2005 eruption of Sierra Negra volcano, Galapagos Islands, Remote Sens. Environ., 113, 1331–1342, 2009.

Walker, J C., Dudhia, A., and Carboni, E.: An effective method for the detection of trace species demonstrated using the MetOp Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 1567–1580, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-1567-2011doi:10.5194/amt-4-1567-2011, 2011.

Walker, J C., Carboni, E., Dudhia, A., and Grainger, R G.: Improved detection of sulphur dioxide in volcanic plumes using satellite-based hyperspectral infra-red measurements: application to the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D00U16, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016810doi:10.1029/2011JD016810, 2012.

Zehner, C., ed.: Monitoring Volcanic Ash from Space. Proceedings of the ESA-EUMETSAT workshop on the 14 April to 23 May 2010 eruption at the Eyjafjoll volcano, South Iceland, ESA STM-280, European Space Agency, http://dx.doi.org/10.5270/atmch-10-01doi:10.5270/atmch-10-01, 2012.