Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors Could Predict Volcanic Eruptions
Quick Look
- A UK company, VolcanoTech, has developed a low-cost air quality sensor using a modified smartphone camera and Raspberry Pi.
- These sensors detect sulphur dioxide, a key indicator of imminent volcanic eruptions, and are being deployed in countries like Ecuador and Indonesia, offering a cheaper alternative to existing systems.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Air quality sensors are used for weather forecasts and can also warn of volcanic eruptions by detecting sulphur dioxide emitted by rising magma. Communities in vulnerable areas often cannot afford these sensors.
Weather forecasts now include air quality warnings and cities have networks of air quality sensors driving real-time maps online.
Similar air quality sensors can warn of an imminent volcanic eruption. Just as a fizzy drink releases carbon dioxide when the pressure is released, rising magma emits dissolved sulphur dioxide as it rises. So a big increase in this gas warns that a volcanic eruption may be imminent.
Unfortunately the communities that most need these sensors cannot always afford them. A low-cost alternative developed by VolcanoTech, a company spun out from the University of Sheffield, is changing that.
VolcanoTech’s Pi-cam uses a smartphone camera modified to see in ultraviolet wavelengths, with a simple Raspberry Pi processor to interpret the results. This is able to read the fluorescence from sulphur dioxide; the more UV, the higher the level of gas. A network of such sensors costs a fraction of the price of comparable systems. VolcanoTech systems are already installed in Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, and Indonesia, with planned sites in Costa Rica and Argentina.
Large, low-cost sensor networks driven by commercial technology could transform air quality monitoring. Instead of having scattered data points, future meteorologists and vulcanologists might see a comprehensive picture, helping them to understand changes in air pollution as well as the risk of a volcanic eruption.
Open Questions
- What is the long-term reliability of these low-cost sensors?
- How will maintenance be handled in remote locations?
