Sulfur dioxide emissions from Papandayan and Bromo, two Indonesian volcanoes

• Main Authors: P. Bani, Surono, M. Hendrasto, H. Gunawan, S. Primulyana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2013-10-01
• Series: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
• Online Access: http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/13/2399/2013/nhess-13-2399-2013.pdf

Indonesia hosts 79 active volcanoes, representing 14% of all active volcanoes worldwide. However, little is known about their SO₂ contribution into the atmosphere, due to isolation and access difficulties. Existing SO₂ emission budgets for the Indonesian archipelago are based on extrapolations and inferences as there is a considerable lack of field assessments of degassing. Here, we present the first SO₂ flux measurements using differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) for Papandayan and Bromo, two of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. Results indicate mean SO₂ emission rates of 1.4 t d⁻¹ from the fumarolic activity of Papandayan and more than 22–32 t d⁻¹ of SO₂ released by Bromo during a declining eruptive phase. These DOAS results are very encouraging and pave the way for a better evaluation of Indonesian volcanic emissions.