SO2 from Reykjanes volcano reaches Europe

Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula has seen significant volcanic activity this year. The latest eruption, the sixth since last December, took place on 22 August and has sent a plume of sulphur dioxide (SO2) south-eastwards to reach northern and western Europe. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has been monitoring the situation and tracking the atmospheric impacts of the eruption. Let’s take a closer look.

The latest eruption began on the Sundhnúks crater on the Reykjanes Peninsula at 21:26 on 22 August. According to the Icelandic Met Office, the main activity is currently limited to two areas north of Stóra-Skógafell on the peninsula and the intensity of the eruption has decreased.

A photo from a surveillance flight taken by the Icelandic Coast Guard just after noon on 23 August, looking over the northernmost part of the eruption fissure. Credit: Islandic Met Office/Almannavarnir/Björn Oddsson)

CAMS SO2 forecasts since 23 August have been showing a plume of SO2 moving across the North Atlantic reaching northwestern Europe on 24 August and continuing further east in the following days. Satellite observations of the plume height indicate that the highest concentration of SO2 is between 5-8 km in the atmosphere, but the forecasts, and surface measurement sites, have also been showing some increased concentrations of SO2 (up to 20 μg/m3) at ground level.

However, the measured and forecast SO2 concentrations are below the recommended exposure threshold of 350 μg/m3 set down in EU air quality standards. Consequently, the plume is not expected to have major impacts on air quality or on health in the affected region.

Animation of CAMS total column SO2 analyses initialized at 00 UTC on 23 August and valid for 00 UTC on 27 August 2024. Source: CAMS/ECMWF

“The Reykjanes Peninsula has been experiencing increased volcanic activity and eruptions resulting in some large plumes of sulphur dioxide to the atmosphere. In CAMS, near-real-time satellite observations of the plumes allow us to track the SO2 in the atmosphere and analyse the possible impacts on air quality,” CAMS Senior Scientist Mark Parrington said. “The emissions from this episode have not been severe enough to have a significant impact on global atmospheric processes or human health, but documenting and keeping track of every episode is important,” he added.

CAMS forecast SO2 at the surface initialized on 27 August at 00 and valid for 27 August at 12 UTC. Source: CAMS/ECMWF

In addition to other species, CAMS provides near-real time analyses and forecasts of sulphur dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere globally. Volcanic eruptions are major sources of SO2 and the CAMS system assimilates satellite observations, including from Tropomi on the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite and GOME-2 on the EUMETSAT MetOp satellites, to initialize forecasts of the evolution of the plume for the five days following an eruption. CAMS global forecasts are initialized twice a day, and the SO2 concentration levels and trajectories might vary with each update as new observations become available for assimilation.

*CAMS is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) with funding from the European Commission.

Source link : http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/so2-reykjanes-volcano-reaches-europe

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Publish date : 2024-08-27 07:00:00

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