Volcanic Carbon Dioxide Emissions (2 of 2) (IMAGE)

Michigan Technological University

Volcanic Carbon Dioxide Emissions (2 of 2)

Caption

This figure shows carbon dioxide measurements at Yasur volcano in Vanuatu on May 30, 2015. Yasur is a very active volcano and among the strongest sources of volcanic gas emissions on Earth. The OCO-2 data (left panel) show a small CO2 enhancement downwind (northwest) of the volcano. The middle panel shows the OCO-2 data rescaled to show the excess carbon dioxide concentration in the volcanic plume above the background concentration in the region. The figure shows that the volcanic signal is very small - only 1 percent above the background atmospheric carbon. This demonstrates why extremely sensitive satellite sensors like OCO-2 are needed to detect localized CO2 sources. The right panel shows the actual carbon dioxide concentrations highlighting the measurement pixels considered part of the volcanic plume.

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Image Credit: NASA JPL

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