Feasibility of measuring volcanic gas composition using sky-scattered sunlight and FTIR spectroscopy

Articles | Volume 19, issue 18

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6145-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-6145-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 18

Research article

|

25 Sep 2026

Research article |

| 25 Sep 2026

Tobias D. Schmitt, Moritz Sindram, Benedikt A. Löw, Lukas Weis, Ralph Kleinschek, Nicole Bobrowski, and André Butz

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Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 24 Mar 2026)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Mar 2026	418	157	26	601
Apr 2026	114	66	7	187
May 2026	25	29	5	59
Jun 2026	9	5	2	16
Jul 2026	19	23	2	44
Aug 2026	17	14	3	34
Sep 2026	65	17	8	90

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Short summary

Monitoring systems for volcanic gases use ultraviolet and visible light, since the sky is brightest there.

We analyzed whether the concept extends to the near-infrared, where CO2 and halogen gases such as hydrogen chloride also absorb.

We find this realistic for the halogen gases at strongly emitting volcanoes, but very difficult for CO2.

We propose pairing it with the ultraviolet instruments already in use.

This could improve our understanding of volcanic processes and eruption risks.