Christoph Kern
Christoph Kern is a Research Physicist for the USGS Volcano Science Center. His research focuses on measuring volcanic gas emissions and interpreting the results to gain insights into processes occurring within active volcanoes.
Christoph develops and applies remote sensing techniques to measure volcanic gas emissions. These contact-free methods allow gases to be measured from a distance, without the need for putting scientists or instrumentation into harm’s way at the summit of active volcanoes.
In addition to monitoring volcanoes in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Cascades Range, Christoph works with the USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program to provide instrumentation and advice to foreign counterparts. He is currently serving on the Steering Committee of the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC), a global community of volcano observatories and research institutions that runs the largest volcanic gas monitoring network in the world.
Christoph is always striving to find new measurement techniques, retrieval methods, and analysis tools to detect gas signals diagnostic of volcanic unrest. He is also interested in how volcanic gases affect atmospheric chemistry and climate on local, regional, and global scales.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Heidelberg, Germany
Science and Products
The 2014 annual report for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
An interface for simulating radiative transfer in and around volcanic plumes with the Monte Carlo radiative transfer model McArtim
Long period seismicity and very long period infrasound driven by shallow magmatic degassing at Mount Pagan, Mariana Islands
Long period (LP) seismicity and very long period infrasound (iVLP) were recorded during continuous degassing from Mount Pagan, Mariana Islands, in July 2013 to January 2014. The frequency content of the LP and iVLP events and delay times between the two arrivals were remarkably stable and indicate nearly co-located sources. Using phase-weighted stacking over similar events to dampen noise, we find
Monitoring gas emissions can help forecast volcanic eruptions
Quantitative imaging of volcanic plumes — Results, needs, and future trends
Intercomparison of SO2 camera systems for imaging volcanic gas plumes
An automated SO2 camera system for continuous, real-time monitoring of gas emissions from Kīlauea Volcano's summit Overlook Crater
Using SO2 camera imagery and seismicity to examine degassing and gas accumulation at Kīlauea Volcano, May 2010
Estimating the volcanic emission rate and atmospheric lifetime of SO2 from space: a case study for Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i
Decadal-scale variability of diffuse CO2 emissions and seismicity revealed from long-term monitoring (1995–2013) at Mammoth Mountain, California, USA
Development of a portable active long-path differential optical absorption spectroscopy system for volcanic gas measurements
Rapid chemical evolution of tropospheric volcanic emissions from Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, based on observations of ozone and halogen-containing gases
Science and Products
The 2014 annual report for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
An interface for simulating radiative transfer in and around volcanic plumes with the Monte Carlo radiative transfer model McArtim
Long period seismicity and very long period infrasound driven by shallow magmatic degassing at Mount Pagan, Mariana Islands
Long period (LP) seismicity and very long period infrasound (iVLP) were recorded during continuous degassing from Mount Pagan, Mariana Islands, in July 2013 to January 2014. The frequency content of the LP and iVLP events and delay times between the two arrivals were remarkably stable and indicate nearly co-located sources. Using phase-weighted stacking over similar events to dampen noise, we find