IDOAS: A new monitoring technique to study the 2D distribution of volcanic gas emissions

Abstract Imaging Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (IDOAS) is an optical remote-sensing method using scattered sunlight as light source. It combines a “pushbroom” imaging spectrometer with the DOAS technique and thus allows imaging two-dimensional trace gas distributions, e.g., in volcanic plumes. The highly sensitive and specific detection of many trace gases simultaneously (specific molecules, not just elements, e.g. SO 2 , BrO, NO 2 , O 3 , HCHO, etc.) is possible, and the temporal and spatial variation of these gases can be measured. The IDOAS system presented here enables the taking of two-dimensional images of trace gas distributions in a volcanic plume with a spatial resolution of 100 pixels horizontally × 64 pixels vertically, each with a field of view of 0.087° in horizontal and 0.208° in vertical directions. Therefore, IDOAS provides useful information about the chemical composition and chemical variability in a volcanic plume and allows studying plume dispersal and chemical transformations. The technique was applied to map the SO 2 distribution in the plume of Mt. Etna volcano for the first time in October 2003.