The researchers believe that the proposed camera will be more useful to researchers in volcanology who do not have large budgets to conduct field measurements.
Long-term monitoring of volcanoes has become achievable through the development of the SO2 camera, which can monitor sulfur dioxide emissions and then predict future volcanic eruptions, according to the results. New study It was published April 4 in Frontiers in Earth Science.
The proposed tool uses a sensor, not unlike smartphone camera sensors, that has been modified to make it sensitive to ultraviolet light, and thus be able to detect sulfur dioxide. The camera is much less expensive and more effective in this field than previous models that cost more than $20,000.
High accuracy and low cost
Gas emissions are the visual expression of the activity that takes place within the volcano. Since the mid-2000s, ultraviolet and carbon dioxide cameras have become crucial to measuring such emissions.
However, because such procedures require the user to be present during the monitoring process, cameras currently used for monitoring are not suitable for collecting long-term datasets, and are also very expensive.
In the new study, the researchers were able to break these barriers and develop the SO2 camera to measure emission rates from volcanoes continuously without the need to be near the camera, or for the researcher to witness the monitoring process, but rather these measurements can be made through sensors that are highly sensitive to ultraviolet radiation. Which monitors sulfur dioxide emissions very accurately, according to Thomas Wilkes, lead author of the study and a doctoral researcher in physical geography at the British University of Sheffield.
Wilkes explained, in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net via e-mail, that the level of efficiency of the proposed tool and its low cost make it one of the best solutions for use for the purposes of predicting volcanic eruptions, especially since the price of the new design is estimated at only about 5 thousand US dollars, which makes the cost of the parts – some of which are triple printed. Dimensions – less than a quarter of the cost of previous models.
“We also offer easy-to-use and freely available software to control the instrument and process the acquired data in a robust way,” Wilks adds. “The SO2 camera can provide data with higher spatial and temporal resolution.” The system is also energy efficient, with an average power consumption of 3.75 watts, about half of what was required to power previous designs.” The proposed camera also runs on fewer or smaller solar panels or batteries, further reducing the overall cost.
Successful field trials
The researchers believe that the proposed camera will be most useful for volcanology researchers who do not have large budgets to conduct field measurements, and that the tool will be particularly useful in locations where there are few sources of solar energy.
To conduct the field studies and validate the camera’s efficiency, the authors conducted studies on two separate sets of data from Lascar, a volcano in Chile within the central volcanic region of the Andes that spans Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile, as well as data derived from From the “Kilauea” volcano in Hawaii, where the camera has proven efficient in working continuously without interruption, according to the press release published on the “Your Alert” website (EurekAlert).
Despite being cost-effective and easy to use, the researchers noted that there are some limitations to SO2 cameras, such as that they are meteorologically dependent and work best under clear blue skies when the volcanic gas plume moves at a 90-degree angle in the direction of Vision.