Numerical model of gas dispersion emitted from volcanic sources

• Main Authors: G. Chiodini, G. Macedonio, A. Costa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) 2005-06-01
• Series: Annals of Geophysics
• Subjects: gas dispersion; volcanic gas; K-theory; computer model
• Online Access: http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/3236

An Eulerian model for passive gas dispersion based on the K-theory for turbulent diffusion, coupled with a mass
 consistent wind model is presented. The procedure can be used to forecast gas concentration over large and complex
 terrains. The input to the model includes the topography, wind measurements from meteorological stations,
 atmospheric stability information and gas flow rate from the ground sources. Here, this model is applied to study
 the distribution of the CO2 discharged from the hot sources of the Solfatara Volcano, Naples, Italy, where the input
 data were measured during a 15 day campaign in June 2001 carried out to test an Eddy Covariance (EC) station
 by Osservatorio Vesuviano-INGV, Naples.