HVO geochemist measuring gas compositions during 2011 Kamoamoa erup...

HVO gas geochemist uses a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to measure volcanic gas compositions emitted during the 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano. The instrument measures the infrared energy from the hot lava fissure as it passes through, and is absorbed by, the volcanic plume along an open atmospheric path. Individual gas species, including sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, hydrogen chloride and others, absorb light energy and can be quantified within different wavelength regions of the energy spectrum.