Volcanosonda: A Novel, Lightweight and Low-Cost Instrument for In-Situ Characterization of Volcanic Clouds – A Cross-Comparison Experiment

Abstract. Retrievals of volcanic clouds generated by eruptions are essential for effective emergency management. However, current methods have significant uncertainties due to the challenges of accurately measuring certain critical parameters through remote sensing. To address this, a new lightweight and low-cost multi-gas sensor instrument, called Volcanosonda, has been developed. It is designed to be deployed into volcanic clouds using sounding balloons, enabling in-situ measurements to enhance the characterization of these critical parameters. This work presents the measurements and cross-comparison results from an experiment conducted on Vulcano Island using the Volcanosonda alongside four well-established multi-gas sensor instruments. The results show an overall agreement between the measurements of SO2 and CO2 and the estimated CO2/SO2 ratios.