News

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NOVAC database released for 2005-2016

We are pleased to present a detailed database of SO2 emission rates, plume locations, and meteorological conditions, derived from measurements conducted during the period 2005-2016 at 32 volcanoes in NOVAC. The database is hosted at https://novac.chalmers.se/.

Data presented in this database indicates the magnitude and natural variability of degassing observed at a daily temporal scale.

These data are freely accessible but we expect that proper credit is given to volcano observatories in case of scientific use, as indicated in our Data Use Agreement https://novac.chalmers.se/datauseagreement.

An article describing and analyzing these data was published by the collaboration: Arellano et al. (2021), https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/13/1167/2021/essd-13-1167-2021.html

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MobileDOAS 6.3.1 Released

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  • Option to read and analyze spectra files from a directory (#137)
  • Improved method to determine whether spectrum is dark (#146)
  • Fix traverse display in postflux dialog when passing midnight UTC (#148)
  • Add GPS status, course, and speed to STD files (#151)
  • Fix rounding issue in integration time adjustments (#155)

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Video tutorial library released

To better assist the NOVAC community in times when in-person instruction is not possible, we are launching a video library containing short videos that discuss common issues related to the NOVAC instrumentation and software. The video library can be accessed by clicking the Tutorials tab on the NOVAC website, or by navigating directly to https://novac-community.org/tutorials. We hope to add more content to this library as we are able. If you have any questions about the existing content or would like to request a video on a specific topic that you are interested in, please send an email to one of the NOVAC working-group coordinators or the steering committee.

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We welcome GNS Science to NOVAC

We welcome GNS Science from New Zealand to NOVAC. Through a project lead by Jonathan Hanson and Agnes Mazot, several NOVAC instruments will be installed in New Zealand volcanoes in the near future. Training and tests were done in March, with participation of several technical experts from GNS Science, and support from Cindy Werner (USGS-VDAP/US) and Santiago Arellano.

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NOVAC becomes part of the International Geosciences Programme (IGCP)

NOVAC became part of the International Geosciences Programme (IGCP), a joint research initiative of UNESCO and IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences).  Through the project “Building Global Capacity for the Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change” (2020-2024), we will focus on strengthening local capacities at volcano observatories for the volcanological interpretation of gas remote sensing data. We will identify needs and invite experts to join our effort. The project is lead by Santiago Arellano (Chalmers/SE), Christoph Kern (USGS-VDAP/US), Zoraida Chacón (SGC/CO) and Silvana Hidalgo (IGEPN/EC).

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/earth-sciences/international-geoscience-programme/igcp-projects/geohazards/project-705-new-2020/

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New article compares UV cameras with NOVAC network at Sabancaya

In April 2018, volcano gas geochemists from around the world gathered in Peru for the 6th workshop of the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC). Organized by the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) in collaboration with the Peruvian Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico (INGEMMET), the workshop provided participants with an opportunity to share their experiences in gas monitoring strategies and data interpretation. One area of particular interest to the global community is the applicability of novel low-cost ultraviolet imaging systems for volcanic gas monitoring. A new article by Tehnuka Ilanko and co-authors appearing in the open-access journal Volcanica describes the results of a comparison between PiCam UV cameras and the NOVAC DOAS network, with both techniques being used to measure SO2 emissions from Sabancaya volcano during the NOVAC workshop field trip on 27 April 2018. Mean SO2 emission rates were largely consistent between the two techniques, with remaining differences likely due to wind speed estimates and sampling rate. The study highlights the importance of accurate light dilution and wind speed determination in SO2 retrievals and suggests that co-location of UV cameras with permanent scanning spectrometers would be valuable, especially in providing accurate wind speeds.
https://doi.org/10.30909/vol.02.02.239252

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NOVAC Program 3.1 Released

IMPORTANT! With this release there are two updates users should make in their configuration files: 1) Re-enter credentials for Chalmers FTP upload server in Global Settings and save. This information is now stored in ftplogin.xml. 2) FTP timeout to instrument is now configurable. Default timeout is 5 seconds. Users may want to consider increasing this value, especially where bandwidth to the instrument is limited.

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Bug fixes

  • Set time limit on how much time to spend downloading pak files from one spectrometer (#43)
  • Fix issue with flux data with different UTC date plotted as if it would have the same date (#56)
  • Fix duplicate spectral data entries when ‘Find Optimal Shift’ is checked in ReEvaluation dialog Fit Window tab (#89)

New features

  • Option to show columns for current day plot to support fixed view measurements(#53)
  • Addition of column history tab (#57)
  • Show last 24 hours of data instead of just current UTC day on main tab, overview tab, and instrument tab (#70, #78, #82)
  • Allow configurable FTP timeout to instrument (#76)
  • FTP upload server login information is now stored in a separate ftplogin.xml file
  • Status Message area resizes when window is resized
  • Open application with size maximized

Other

  • Refactoring and separation of shared spectral evaluation code into its own project.
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Mobile DOAS 6.1 Released

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Critical changes

  • Enable configuration and evaluation of second channel for spectrometers that support it (#8)
  • Removed support for text format configuration file.

New features

  • Start GPS – for reading GPS data; in debug mode only
  • Multiple reference files can be addeded or removed simultaneously through evaluation configuration dialogs
  • Legend for real-time route dialog (#67)
  • Remove extended format attributes in STD that were previously coded with 0. (#71)
  • Update Plume Height and Wind Measurement dialogs to read two evaluation logs (#73)
  • Warn user (audio and visual) when GPS connection is lost (#78)
  • Reduce number of spectra collected for characterization of the offset in adaptive mode (#87)
  • Option to disable audio in spectrometer configuration (#88)
  • Alter pitch based on column density, instead of volume, if supported by audio device (#88)
  • Use same tone for negative column values (#88)
  • Limit maximum exposure time in ‘adaptive’ mode to time-resolution of measurement (#100)
  • Support for QE65000 (#101)
  • Support user configurable range for saturation ratio in adaptive mode (#109)

Bug fixes

  • Ensure evaluation configuration dialog updates properly when adding/removing a new fit window
  • Attempt to reconnect when GPS connection is lost (#77)
  • Added GPS lat/lon validation (#81)
  • Fix for bad GPS date in STD files (#86)
  • Fix date in STD file from View Spectrometer Output (#104)
  • Restore ‘Dark’ tab in ReEvaluate dialog (#116)