title: Unmanned aerial mass spectrometer systems for in-situ volcanic plume analysis.
abstract: Technology advances in the field of small, unmanned aerial vehicles and their integration with a variety of sensor packages and instruments, such as miniature mass spectrometers, have enhanced the possibilities and applications of what are now called unmanned aerial systems (UAS). With such technology, in situ and proximal remote sensing measurements of volcanic plumes are now possible without risking the lives of scientists and personnel in charge of close monitoring of volcanic activity. These methods provide unprecedented, and otherwise unobtainable, data very close in space and time to eruptions, to better understand the role of gas volatiles in magma and subsequent eruption products. Small mass spectrometers, together with the world's smallest turbo molecular pump, have being integrated into NASA and University of Costa Rica UAS platforms to be field-tested for in situ volcanic plume analysis, and in support of the calibration and validation of satellite-based remote sensing data. These new UAS-MS systems are combined with existing UAS flight-tested payloads and assets, such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity, SO2, H2S, CO2, GPS sensors, on-board data storage, and telemetry. Such payloads are capable of generating real time 3D concentration maps of the Turrialba volcano active plume in Costa Rica, while remote sensing data are simultaneously collected from the ASTER and OMI space-borne instruments for comparison. The primary goal is to improve the understanding of the chemical and physical properties of emissions for mitigation of local volcanic hazards, for the validation of species detection and abundance of retrievals based on remote sensing, and to validate transport models.
authors.affiliation: Physics School, GasLab, CICANUM, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica, jorge.andres.diaz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jorge Andres
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pieri
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sorensen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kline-Shoder
authors.forename: C Richard
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Arkin
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fladeland
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bland
authors.forename: Maria Fabrizia
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Buongiorno
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Corrales
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alan
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alegria
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Linick