Rapid chemical evolution of tropospheric volcanic emissions from Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, based on observations of ozone and halogen-containing gases

Abstract

We report results from an observational and modeling study of reactive chemistry in the tropospheric plume emitted by Redoubt Volcano, Alaska. Our measurements include the first observations of Br and I degassing from an Alaskan volcano, the first study of O3 evolution in a volcanic plume, as well as the first detection of BrO in the plume of a passively degassing Alaskan volcano. This study also represents the first detailed spatially-resolved comparison of measured and modeled O3 depletion in a volcanic plume. The composition of the plume was measured on June 20, 2010 using base-treated filter packs (for F, Cl, Br, I, and S) at the crater rim and by an instrumented fixed-wing aircraft on June 21 and August 19, 2010. The aircraft was used to track the chemical evolution of the plume up to ~30km downwind (2h plume travel time) from the volcano and was equipped to make in situ observations of O3, water vapor, CO2, SO2, and H2S during both flights plus remote spectroscopic observations o...