Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO2 and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua

Rachel C.W. Whitty; Melissa A. Pfeffer; Evgenia Ilyinskaya; Tjarda J. Roberts; Anja Schmidt; Sara Barsotti; Wilfried Strauch; Leigh R. Crilley; Francis D. Pope; Harold Bellanger; Elvis Mendoza; Tamsin A. Mather; Emma J. Liu; Nial Peters; Isabelle A. Taylor; Hilary Francis; Xochilt Hernández Leiva; Dave Lynch; Sébastien Nobert; Peter Baxter

doi:10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359

Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO₂ and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua

Rachel C.W. Whitty^*, Melissa A. Pfeffer, Evgenia Ilyinskaya, Tjarda J. Roberts, Anja Schmidt, Sara Barsotti, Wilfried Strauch, Leigh R. Crilley, Francis D. Pope, Harold Bellanger, Elvis Mendoza, Tamsin A. Mather, Emma J. Liu, Nial Peters, Isabelle A. Taylor, Hilary Francis, Xochilt Hernández Leiva, Dave Lynch, Sébastien Nobert, Peter Baxter

^*Corresponding author for this work

Humanities Department

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Abstract

Gas and particulate matter (PM) emissions from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, cause substantial regional volcanic air pollution (VAP). We evaluate the suitability of low-cost SO₂and PM sensors for a continuous air-quality network. The network was deployed for six months in five populated areas (4-16 km from crater). The SO₂sensors failed and recorded erroneous values on multiple occasions, likely due to corrosion, requiring significant maintenance commitment. The PM sensors were found to be robust but data required correction for humidity. SO₂measurements could not be used as stand-alone tools to detect occurrence of VAP episodes (VAPE), but an SO₂/PM correlation reliably achieved this at near-field stations, as confirmed by meteorological forecasts and satellite imagery. Abovebackground PM concentrations reliably identified VAPE at both near-field and far-field stations. We suggest that a continuous network can be built from a combination of low-cost PM and SO₂sensors with a greater number of PM-only sensors.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	33-59
Number of pages	27
Journal	Volcanica
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359
Publication status	Published - 4 Feb 2022

Keywords

Air-quality
Low-cost
Masaya
PM
SO2
Volcano

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Whitty, R. C. W., Pfeffer, M. A., Ilyinskaya, E., Roberts, T. J., Schmidt, A., Barsotti, S., Strauch, W., Crilley, L. R., Pope, F. D., Bellanger, H., Mendoza, E., Mather, T. A., Liu, E. J., Peters, N., Taylor, I. A., Francis, H., Leiva, X. H., Lynch, D., Nobert, S., & Baxter, P. (2022). Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO₂ and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua. Volcanica, 5(1), 33-59. https://doi.org/10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359

@article{4523993adb664c22a8e2faaf5b5245a4,

title = "Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO2 and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua",

abstract = "Gas and particulate matter (PM) emissions from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, cause substantial regional volcanic air pollution (VAP). We evaluate the suitability of low-cost SO2and PM sensors for a continuous air-quality network. The network was deployed for six months in five populated areas (4-16 km from crater). The SO2sensors failed and recorded erroneous values on multiple occasions, likely due to corrosion, requiring significant maintenance commitment. The PM sensors were found to be robust but data required correction for humidity. SO2measurements could not be used as stand-alone tools to detect occurrence of VAP episodes (VAPE), but an SO2/PM correlation reliably achieved this at near-field stations, as confirmed by meteorological forecasts and satellite imagery. Abovebackground PM concentrations reliably identified VAPE at both near-field and far-field stations. We suggest that a continuous network can be built from a combination of low-cost PM and SO2sensors with a greater number of PM-only sensors.",

keywords = "Air-quality, Low-cost, Masaya, PM, SO2, Volcano",

author = "Whitty, {Rachel C.W.} and Pfeffer, {Melissa A.} and Evgenia Ilyinskaya and Roberts, {Tjarda J.} and Anja Schmidt and Sara Barsotti and Wilfried Strauch and Crilley, {Leigh R.} and Pope, {Francis D.} and Harold Bellanger and Elvis Mendoza and Mather, {Tamsin A.} and Liu, {Emma J.} and Nial Peters and Taylor, {Isabelle A.} and Hilary Francis and Leiva, {Xochilt Hern{\'a}ndez} and Dave Lynch and S{\'e}bastien Nobert and Peter Baxter",

note = "Funding Information: RCWW is funded by the Leeds-York Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) NE/L002574/1, in CASE partnership with the Icelandic Meteorological Office. TJR acknowledges ANR Projet de Recherche Collaborative VOLC-HAL-CLIM (Volcanic Halogens: from Deep Earth to Atmospheric Impacts), ANR-18-CE01-11. IAT acknowledges the support of the Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET) and NERC funding through the Oxford Environmental Research DTP (NE/L002612/1). The {"}Unseen but not unfelt: resilience to persistent volcanic emissions (UNRESP){"} project was funded by GCRF NE/P015271/1 and NE/R009465/",

year = "2022",

month = feb,

day = "4",

doi = "10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359",

language = "English",

volume = "5",

pages = "33--59",

journal = "Volcanica",

issn = "2610-3540",

publisher = "Volcanica",

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Whitty, RCW, Pfeffer, MA, Ilyinskaya, E, Roberts, TJ, Schmidt, A, Barsotti, S, Strauch, W, Crilley, LR, Pope, FD, Bellanger, H, Mendoza, E, Mather, TA, Liu, EJ, Peters, N, Taylor, IA, Francis, H, Leiva, XH, Lynch, D, Nobert, S & Baxter, P 2022, 'Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO₂ and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua', Volcanica, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 33-59. https://doi.org/10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO2 and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua

AU - Whitty, Rachel C.W.

AU - Pfeffer, Melissa A.

AU - Ilyinskaya, Evgenia

AU - Roberts, Tjarda J.

AU - Schmidt, Anja

AU - Barsotti, Sara

AU - Strauch, Wilfried

AU - Crilley, Leigh R.

AU - Pope, Francis D.

AU - Bellanger, Harold

AU - Mendoza, Elvis

AU - Mather, Tamsin A.

AU - Liu, Emma J.

AU - Peters, Nial

AU - Taylor, Isabelle A.

AU - Francis, Hilary

AU - Leiva, Xochilt Hernández

AU - Lynch, Dave

AU - Nobert, Sébastien

AU - Baxter, Peter

N1 - Funding Information: RCWW is funded by the Leeds-York Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) NE/L002574/1, in CASE partnership with the Icelandic Meteorological Office. TJR acknowledges ANR Projet de Recherche Collaborative VOLC-HAL-CLIM (Volcanic Halogens: from Deep Earth to Atmospheric Impacts), ANR-18-CE01-11. IAT acknowledges the support of the Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET) and NERC funding through the Oxford Environmental Research DTP (NE/L002612/1). The "Unseen but not unfelt: resilience to persistent volcanic emissions (UNRESP)" project was funded by GCRF NE/P015271/1 and NE/R009465/

PY - 2022/2/4

Y1 - 2022/2/4

N2 - Gas and particulate matter (PM) emissions from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, cause substantial regional volcanic air pollution (VAP). We evaluate the suitability of low-cost SO2and PM sensors for a continuous air-quality network. The network was deployed for six months in five populated areas (4-16 km from crater). The SO2sensors failed and recorded erroneous values on multiple occasions, likely due to corrosion, requiring significant maintenance commitment. The PM sensors were found to be robust but data required correction for humidity. SO2measurements could not be used as stand-alone tools to detect occurrence of VAP episodes (VAPE), but an SO2/PM correlation reliably achieved this at near-field stations, as confirmed by meteorological forecasts and satellite imagery. Abovebackground PM concentrations reliably identified VAPE at both near-field and far-field stations. We suggest that a continuous network can be built from a combination of low-cost PM and SO2sensors with a greater number of PM-only sensors.

AB - Gas and particulate matter (PM) emissions from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, cause substantial regional volcanic air pollution (VAP). We evaluate the suitability of low-cost SO2and PM sensors for a continuous air-quality network. The network was deployed for six months in five populated areas (4-16 km from crater). The SO2sensors failed and recorded erroneous values on multiple occasions, likely due to corrosion, requiring significant maintenance commitment. The PM sensors were found to be robust but data required correction for humidity. SO2measurements could not be used as stand-alone tools to detect occurrence of VAP episodes (VAPE), but an SO2/PM correlation reliably achieved this at near-field stations, as confirmed by meteorological forecasts and satellite imagery. Abovebackground PM concentrations reliably identified VAPE at both near-field and far-field stations. We suggest that a continuous network can be built from a combination of low-cost PM and SO2sensors with a greater number of PM-only sensors.

KW - Air-quality

KW - Low-cost

KW - Masaya

KW - PM

KW - SO2

KW - Volcano

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U2 - 10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359

DO - 10.30909/VOL.05.01.3359

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85125170991

SN - 2610-3540

VL - 5

SP - 33

EP - 59

JO - Volcanica

JF - Volcanica

IS - 1

ER -

Assessing the effectiveness of low-cost air quality monitors for identifying volcanic SO₂ and PM downwind from Masaya volcano, Nicaragua

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