Development and Testing of a Novel Sulfur Dioxide Sonde

Abstract

Abstract. A novel technique has been developed to measure sulfur dioxide (SO2) using a modification of the existing electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesonde technology. The current sonde-based method to measure SO2 (i.e. the dual-sonde approach) involves launching two ozonesondes together with one of the sondes having a filter to remove SO2 at the inlet. The SO2 profile is determined by taking the difference between the measurements from the two instruments. The dual-sonde method works well in typical tropospheric conditions when [O3] > [SO2] but saturates when [SO2] > [O3] and has large uncertainties in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere that would limit its effectiveness in measuring SO2 from an explosive volcanic eruption. Due to these limitations, several modifications were made to create a single-sonde system that would directly measure SO2 (i.e. the SO2 sonde). These modifications included (1) a positively biased ECC background current, (2) the addition of an O3 removal filter, and (3) the addition of a sample dryer. The SO2 sonde measures SO2 as a reduction in the cell current. There was a strong correlation (r2 > 0.94) between the SO2 sonde and a Thermo 43c analyzer during controlled laboratory tests and pre-flight tests. Varying humidity levels affected the SO2 sonde’s sensitivity (84.6 ± 31.7 ppbv/µA, 1σ = 37 %) during initial field tests, which was resolved by adding a sample dryer upstream of the O3 removal filter and pump inlet. This modification significantly reduced the variability and increased the sensitivity of the SO2 measurements (47 ± 5.8 ppbv/µA, 1σ = 12 %). Field tests included measurements near Kīlauea Volcano (before and during the 2018 eruption of the Lower East Rift Zone), Costa Rica’s Turrialba Volcano, and anthropogenic plumes from the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. This single SO2 sonde system is an effective, inexpensive instrument for measuring both ground-based and vertical profiles of SO2 from anthropogenic and natural sources (i.e. volcanic eruptions) over a wide range of concentrations.