In the USA published in Optics Letters ENEA’s findings on the use of laser radars to measure volcanic gases

Optics Letters (OL), among the top-ranked journals in the Optics category, published in its latest issue findings from the study by ENEA researcher Luca Fiorani, on the use of lidar for measurement of volcanic gases.

With an Impact Factor above 3, OL is the journal of the Optical Society of America, specialized in the rapid dissemination of short peer-reviewed communications of new results, in the areas of optics and photonics. The article “Volcanic CO₂ detection with a DFM/OPA-based lidar” by Luca Fiorani, Simone Santoro, Stefano Parracino, Marcello Nuvoli, Carmine Minopoli and Alessandro Aiuppa, describes the use of laser radars for measuring carbon dioxide in volcanic emissions.

It is well established that volcanic eruptions are preceded by an increase in carbon dioxide; however, measuring volcanic gases at the crater rim is difficult  and dangerous. To improve their short-term forecasting of volcanic eruptions, hoping to be able in a near future to provide early warning, volcanologists turned to the Diagnostic and Metrology Laboratory of ENEA Frascati Research Center for the development of a remote-sensing laser radar capable to rapidly measure carbon dioxide in volcanic plumes.

“It’s a demanding scientific and technological challenge because of the hostile environment, the fast and constant evolution of the target and, most of all – Fiorani explains - the difficulty of generating, accurately, repeatedly and nearly simultaneously, two wavelengths with very narrow emission linewidth”.

Recently the ENEA lidar has worked continuously for a week, providing its first results obtained in a volcanic environment at the solfatara in Pozzuoli, where gas emissions have been scanned horizontally and vertically for the first time.

For more information please contact:

Luca Fiorani, Diagnostic and Metrology Laboratory, ENEA Frascati Research Centre, luca.fiorani@enea.it

Optics Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 6, pp. 1034-1036 (2015)