Continuous measurements of SiF4 and SO2 by thermal emission spectroscopy: Insight from a 6-month survey at the Popocatépetl volcano

Abstract

The processes linked with the emplacement and growth/destruction of a lava dome are of prime importance to understand the stability of such extrusions and assess the associated risks for local populations. During the last couple of decades, ground and space-based spectroscopic techniques have been developed to monitor such processes from a safe distance. Such approaches significantly improved our knowledge about the relationship between the chemical composition of the volcanic gas plumes and both the deep and shallow volcanic processes leading to the different types of explosive activity. The potential of the ground-based thermal emission Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) remained under-exploited due to the difficulty to properly handle the radiative-transfer phenomena. Despite the drawbacks in the complex analytical requirements, this method enables to continuously monitor (day and night) with a high temporal resolution (1 meas/3 min), relevant gas species such as SO2 and SiF4 in the volcanic plumes. Previous studies have related the temporal variations of the SiF4/SO2 ratio in volcanic plumes to the onset of vulcanian explosions. This study reports a 6-month SO2, SiF4 and SiF4/SO2 time series (from January to June 2015) of the Popocatepetl's gas plume obtained from FTIR thermal emission spectroscopic measurements. The infrared spectra were analyzed using the SFIT4 radiative transfer and inverse model, which we have adapted for this application. We obtained highly variable SiF4/SO2 ratios with a mean value of 3.6 × 10− 4, with the highest values (around 3 × 10− 3) measured during the final phase of a lava dome growth (February–March 2015). The rapid SiF4/SO2 variations were more carefully explored and compared for the first time with the seismic activity. A remarkable coincidence between sharp SiF4/SO2 rises and the seismic events are evidenced here.