Dr Andrew McGonigle
MSci, DPhil,
Department of Geography
Reader in Volcano Remote Sensing
+44 114 222 7961
Full contact details
Department of Geography
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
-
Andrew has an MSci degree in Theoretical Physics (first class) from the University of St. Andrews and a DPhil in Laser Physics from the University of Oxford.
He then held a NERC Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge before moving to Sheffield in 2005 as a RCUK Academic Fellow. He has subsequently been promoted to Senior Research Fellow, and then Reader.
He serves on the editorial board of the journal Remote Sensing and as an associate scientist of the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.
- Research interests
-
My current work falls within the following three themes:
- Volcano Remote Sensing
- Volcano Atmosphere Interactions
- Other Environmental Sensing
Volcano Remote Sensing
Measurements of the emission rates (fluxes) of gases released from volcanoes to the atmosphere are important indicators of underground conditions and used in eruption forecasting efforts.
Our group has focused on developing the next generation of remote sensing tools for measuring volcanic SO2 fluxes, based on differential optical absorption spectroscopy, and through the use of ultraviolet cameras, to capture data with far higher time resolution and accuracy than possible hitherto.
Present research concerns using these technologies to gain new insights into volcanic processes.
Volcano-Atmosphere Interactions
In addition to supplying important information about underground conditions, volcanic gases also play a number of very important roles, when released to the atmosphere. For instance, emitted SO2 is oxidised to form sulphate aerosol, which cools the Earth by reflecting sunlight back to space, hence countering anthropogenic global warming.
Furthermore, these emissions are significant in respect of global geochemical cycles, for example representing the primary mechanism for the transit of volatiles from the mantle to the atmosphere.
Finally, there is the recent discovery that tropospheric volcanic plumes are host to a series of fascinating and previously unrecognised chemical reactions, in particular, involving the depletion of ozone.
Other Environmental Sensing
In addition to volcanoes I am also interested in a number of other environmental sensing areas. I have developed lasers for monitoring the response of the atmosphere to pollution and have been involved in projects concerning the environmental impacts of power generation and industrial plants, aviation and biomass burning.
Finally, I am interested in the use of UAVs for a host of different environmental monitoring applications.
Field targets include the southern Italian volcanoes, Masaya volcano, Nicaragua and the volcanoes of Papua New Guinea.
- Publications
-
Journal articles
- Author Correction: Combined ground and aerial measurements resolve vent-specific gas fluxes from a multi-vent volcanic system. Nature Communications, 11(1).
- Ultraviolet camera measurements of passive and explosive (Strombolian) sulphur dioxide emissions at Yasur volcano, Vanuatu. Remote Sensing, 12(17).
- Combined ground and aerial measurements resolve vent-specific gas fluxes from a multi-vent volcano. Nature Communications, 11(1). View this article in WRRO
- Low-cost hyperspectral imaging system: Design and testing for laboratory-based environmental applications. Sensors, 20(11). View this article in WRRO
- Glacier algae accelerate melt rates on the south-western Greenland Ice Sheet. The Cryosphere, 14(1), 309-330. View this article in WRRO
- A review on the ability of smartphones to detect ultraviolet (UV) radiation and their potential to be used in UV research and for public education purposes. Science of The Total Environment, 706, 135873-135873.
- Degassing at Sabancaya volcano measured by UV cameras and the NOVAC network. Volcanica, 2(2), 239-252. View this article in WRRO
- The PiSpec: A Low-Cost, 3D-Printed Spectrometer for Measuring Volcanic SO2 Emission Rates. Frontiers in Earth Science, 7. View this article in WRRO
- Measuring and Visualizing Solar UV for a Wide Range of Atmospheric Conditions on Hawai’i Island. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(6). View this article in WRRO
- A Rapidly Convecting Lava Lake at Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6. View this article in WRRO
- Dynamics of outgassing and plume transport revealed by proximal Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) measurements at Volcán Villarrica, Chile. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 20(2), 730-750. View this article in WRRO
- Thermal Imaging Metrology with a Smartphone Sensor. Sensors, 18(7), 2169-2169. View this article in WRRO
- The development of a low-cost, near infrared, high-temperature thermal imaging system and its application to the retrieval of accurate lava lake temperatures at Masaya volcano, Nicaragua. Remote Sensing, 10(3). View this article in WRRO
- Combining spherical-cap and taylor bubble fluid dynamics with plume measurements to characterize basaltic degassing. Geosciences, 8(2), 42-42. View this article in WRRO
- Smartphone Spectrometers. Sensors (Switzerland), 18(1), 223-223. View this article in WRRO
- Low-cost 3D printed 1 nm resolution smartphone sensor-based spectrometer: instrument design and application in ultraviolet spectroscopy. Optics Letters, 42(21), 4323-4326. View this article in WRRO
- Ultraviolet Imaging of Volcanic Plumes: A New Paradigm in Volcanology. Geosciences, 7(3). View this article in WRRO
- A novel and inexpensive method for measuring volcanic plume water fluxes at high temporal resolution. Remote Sensing, 9(2). View this article in WRRO
- The dynamics of slug trains in volcanic conduits: Evidence for expansion driven slug coalescence. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 348, 26-35. View this article in WRRO
- A Low-Cost Smartphone Sensor-Based UV Camera for Volcanic SO2 Emission Measurements. Remote Sensing, 9(1). View this article in WRRO
- Ultraviolet Imaging with Low Cost Smartphone Sensors: Development and Application of a Raspberry Pi-Based UV Camera. Sensors, 16(10). View this article in WRRO
- Conduit dynamics and post-explosion degassing on Stromboli: a combined UV camera and numerical modelling treatment. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(10), 5009-5016. View this article in WRRO
- Dynamics of mild strombolian activity on Mt. Etna. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 300, 103-111. View this article in WRRO
- Correlation of oscillatory behaviour in Matlab using wavelets. Computers & Geosciences, 70, 206-212. View this article in WRRO
- High time resolution fluctuations in volcanic carbon dioxide degassing from Mount Etna. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 270, 115-121. View this article in WRRO
- Periodic volcanic degassing behavior: The Mount Etna example. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(18), 4818-4822.
- Passive vs. active degassing modes at an open-vent volcano (Stromboli, Italy). Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 359-360, 106-116.
- UVolc: A software platform for measuring volcanic SO2 fluxes. COMPUTERS & GEOSCIENCES, 40, 194-199. View this article in WRRO
- First volatile inventory for Gorely volcano, Kamchatka. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(6).
- Vulcamera: A program for measuring volcanic SO
2 using UV cameras. Annals of Geophysics, 54(2), 219-221. - UV camera measurements of fumarole field degassing (La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 199(1-2), 47-52.
- Recent advances in ground-based ultraviolet remote sensing of volcanic SO
2 fluxes. Annals of Geophysics, 54(2), 199-208. - Protocols for UV camera volcanic SO2 measurements. J VOLCANOL GEOTH RES, 194(1-3), 55-60.
- Ozone depletion in tropospheric volcanic plumes. Geophysical Research Letters, 37(22).
- Comparison of Low Cost Miniature Spectrometers for Volcanic SO2 Emission Measurements. SENSORS-BASEL, 9(5), 3256-3268. View this article in WRRO
- Influence of sources and meteorology on surface concentrations of gases and aerosols in a coastal industrial complex. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, 20(2), 214-221.
- Spectroscopic capture of 1 Hz volcanic SO
2 fluxes and integration with volcano geophysical data. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(21). - Unmanned aerial vehicle measurements of volcanic carbon dioxide fluxes. GEOPHYS RES LETT, 35(6).
- Total volatile flux from Mount Etna. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(24).
- Ground based ultraviolet remote sensing of volcanic gas plumes. Sensors, 8(3), 1559-1574. View this article in WRRO
- Variable SO
2 emission rates for Anatahan volcano, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Implications for deriving arc-wide volatile fluxes from erupting volcanoes. Geophysical Research Letters, 34(14). - Degassing of gaseous (elemental and reactive) and particulate mercury from Mount Etna volcano (Southern Italy). Atmospheric Environment, 41(35), 7377-7388.
- Measurement of volcanic SO
2 fluxes with differential optical absorption spectroscopy. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 162(3-4), 111-122. - Sources, size distribution, and downwind grounding of aerosols from Mount Etna. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 111(10).
- Sulfur dioxide fluxes from the volcanoes of Hokkaido, Japan. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 158(3-4), 235-243.
- BrO formation in volcanic plumes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 70(12), 2935-2941.
- Comparison of COSPEC and two miniature ultraviolet spectrometer systems for SO
2 measurements using scattered sunlight. Bulletin of Volcanology, 68(4), 313-322. - A reassessment of current volcanic emissions from the Central American arc with specific examples from Nicaragua. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 149(3-4), 297-311.
- Volcano remote sensing with ground-based spectroscopy.. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci, 363(1837), 2915-2929. View this article in WRRO
- Mt. Erebus, the largest point source of NO2 in Antarctica. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 39(32), 6000-6006.
- Emission of bromine and iodine from Mount Etna volcano. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 6(8).
- Mt. Erebus, the largest point source of NO
2 in Antarctica. Atmospheric Environment, 39(32), 6000-6006. - Accurate measurement of volcanic SO
2 flux: Determination of plume transport speed and integrated SO2 concentration with a single device. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 6(2). - Plume velocity determination for volcanic SO
2 flux measurements. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(11), 1-4. - H
2 S fluxes from Mt. Etna, Stromboli, and Vulcano (Italy) and implications for the sulfur budget at volcanoes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 69(7), 1861-1871. - Aerosol chemistry of emissions from three contrasting volcanoes in Italy. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 38(33), 5637-5649.
- NO2 emissions from agricultural burning in São Paulo, Brazil.. Environ Sci Technol, 38(17), 4557-4561.
- Aerosol chemistry of emissions from three contrasting volcanoes in Italy. Atmospheric Environment, 38(33), 5637-5649.
- Cerium-doped fluoride lasers. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 40(10), 1430-1440.
- SO
2 depletion in tropospheric volcanic plumes. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(13). - Sulfur, heat, and magma budget of Erta 'Ale lava lake, Ethiopia. Geology, 32(6), 509-512.
- Sulphur dioxide fluxes from Papua New Guinea's volcanoes. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(8).
- Characterization and evolution of tropospheric plumes from Lascar and Villarrica volcanoes, Chile. Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres, 109(21).
- Nitric acid from volcanoes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 218(1-2), 17-30.
- A simple technique for measuring power station SO
2 and NO2 emissions. Atmospheric Environment, 38(1), 21-25. - Sulphur dioxide fluxes from Mount Etna, Vulcano, and Stromboli measured with an automated scanning ultraviolet spectrometer. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 108(B9).
2 S and SO2 concentrations by UV spectroscopy. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(12), 54-51.
Real-time measurement of volcanic H- Size-resolved characterisation of soluble ions in the particles in the tropospheric plume in Masaya volcano, Nicaragua: Origins and plume processing. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry, 46(3), 207-237.
- Optical sensing of volcanic gas and aerosol emissions. Geological Society Special Publication, 213, 149-168.
- Changes in gas composition prior to a minor explosive eruption at Masaya volcano, Nicaragua. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 126(3-4), 327-339.
- A miniaturised ultraviolet spectrometer for remote sensing of SO
2 fluxes: A new tool for volcano surveillance. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 119(1-4), 241-254. - A compact frequency-doubled 10-kHz PRF copper-vapour-laser-pumped dye laser. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics, 76(3), 307-311.
- Primary sulfate aerosol and associated emissions from Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 107(D23).
- Compact 2.5-W 10-kHz Nd:YLF-pumped dye laser.. Appl Opt, 41(9), 1714-1717.
- Walking traverse and scanning DOAS measurements of volcanic gas emission rates. Geophysical Research Letters, 29(20).
- A Ti:sapphire laser end-pumped by a fibre-coupled copper vapour laser. Optics Communications, 209(1-3), 217-221.
- Temperature-Dependent Polarization Effects in Ce:LiLuF.. Appl Opt, 40(24), 4326-4333.
- A 10 kHz Ce:LiSAF laser pumped by the sum-frequency-mixed output of a copper vapour laser. Optics Communications, 193(1-6), 233-236.
- 530-mW 7-kHz cerium LiCAF laser pumped by the sum-frequency-mixed output of a copper-vapor laser.. Opt Lett, 24(4), 232-234.
- 10kHz continuously tunable Ce:LiLuF
4 laser. Electronics Letters, 35(19), 1640-1641. - 380-mW 7-kHz cerium LiLuF laser pumped by the frequency doubled yellow output of a copper-vapor-laser. IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 5(6), 1526-1531.
- Hyperspectral Imaging in Environmental Monitoring: A Review of Recent Developments and Technological Advances in Compact Field Deployable Systems. Sensors, 19(14), 3071-3071. View this article in WRRO
- Glacier algae accelerate melt rates on the western Greenland Ice Sheet. View this article in WRRO
- Volcanic Plumes: Impacts on the Atmosphere and Insights into Volcanic Processes. Geosciences, 8(5), 158-158.
- Reply to Kern, C. The Difficulty of Measuring the Absorption of Scattered Sunlight by H2O and CO2 in Volcanic Plumes: A Comment on Pering, et al. “A Novel and Inexpensive Method for Measuring Volcanic Plume Water Fluxes at High Temporal Resolution”, Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 146. Remote Sensing, 9(10), 1040-1040. View this article in WRRO
- First Measurements of Gas Flux with a Low-Cost Smartphone Sensor-Based UV Camera on the Volcanoes of Northern Chile. Remote Sensing, 12(13), 2122-2122.
Conference proceedings papers
- Multi kHz PRF cerium lasers pumped by frequency doubled copper vapour lasers. Advanced Solid State Lasers, 1999.
- Investigation of the polarization flipping behavior observed in a broadly tunable Ce:LiLuF4 laser.. Advanced Solid-State Lasers, 2001.
- Author Correction: Combined ground and aerial measurements resolve vent-specific gas fluxes from a multi-vent volcanic system. Nature Communications, 11(1).
- Research group
-
Current Students
- Tom Wilkes (2015 start)
- Tom Pering (2012 start)
Passive and Active Degassing of CO2 and SO2 from volcanoes using Ultra-Violet Camera Technology
Former students
- Giancarlo Tamburello (2012)
UV camera based insights into the degassing of the Italian volcanoes - Euripides Kantzas (2011)
Ultraviolet protocols for volcanic plume monitoring
- Teaching activities
-
I teach a range of modules at graduate and undergraduate level focused on understanding the Earth system, volcanism and how we use remote sensing to understand both of these.
In teaching I try and make as many links as possible to daily life, and to other germane subjects in geography and beyond to help understanding and really emphasise the unity of knowledge amidst the sometimes confusing modular system.
I also try and include the most up to date and exciting developments in these fields especially in the context of my own research.
I use lecturing and small group teaching styles. I also teach on research skills and try and really make the link between the usefulness of this ability at University but also beyond in every possible career which a Geography graduate may go onto pursue!
In addition to teaching at Sheffield I have been a speaker at the Education Without Borders conference in Dubai and at TEDxMunich.
Andrew teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including:
- GEO101 Physical Systems at the Global Scale
- GEO211 Applied Remote Sensing
- GEO347 Geo-Environmental Project
- GEO352 Geological Hazards
- GEO368 Planetary Geoscience
- GEO6030 Research Design in Physical Geography
- GEO6606 Spatial Techniques for Environmental Analysis
All staff also engage in personal supervision and tutoring of individual students at all three undergraduate levels in the following modules:
- GEO163 (Information & Communication Skills for Geographers)
- GEO263 or GEO264 (Research Design in Human or Physical Geography)
- GEO356 (Geographical Research Project)
- Additional research projects
- Volcano Remote Sensing
-
Gas release from the craters of Mt. Etna
Measurements of the emission rates (fluxes) of gases released from volcanoes to the atmosphere are important indicators of underground conditions and used in eruption forecasting efforts. Our group has focused on developing the next generation of remote sensing tools for measuring volcanic SO2 fluxes, based on differential optical absorption spectroscopy, and through the use of ultraviolet cameras, to capture data with far higher time resolution and accuracy than possible hitherto. Present research concerns using these technologies to gain new insights into volcanic processes.
Recent Research Highlights
Measuring explosive gas release on Stromboli
Captured temporal variations in the passive gas release from Mt. Etna using ultraviolet cameras. These data have been used to unravel, for the first time from the perspective of gas flux data, the short term dynamics of gas transport through magma and passive discharge to the atmosphere in a basaltic volcanic system. An article on this topic will be submitted in due course.We gratefully acknowledge the sponsors of this work, which include: RCUK (Academic Fellowship to AMcG), NERC (Post Doctoral Fellowship to AMcG); the Rolex Awards for Enterprise; the AXA Research Fund (Post Doctoral Fellowship to EPK); the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and the Royal Society.
The first corroboration of a high time resolution (order 1 Hz) volcanic gas flux and geophysical datasets was performed on Stromboli volcano, demonstrating clear correlation between the gas released in each strombolian explosion and the corresponding seismic and thermal signatures. This integration of data opens the way for more holistic volcanic investigations than possible previously.
McGonigle, A.J.S., Aiuppa, A., Ripepe, M., Kantzas, E.P. and Tamburello, G. (2009). Spectroscopic capture of 1 Hz volcanic SO2 fluxes and integration with volcano geophysical data. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L21309.
doi:10.1029/2009GL040494 Protocols have been defined for the use of the UV camera technology, which has huge potential in volcanology, yet must be applied with due care in order to ensure that meaningful data are acquired – eg: operation with at least two bandpass filters is mandatory.
Kantzas, E.P., McGonigle, A.J.S., Tamburello, G., Aiuppa, A. and Bryant, R.G. (2010). Protocols for UV camera volcanic SO2 measurements. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 194(1-3), 55-60.
doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2010.05.003 The first use of the imaging capacity of ultraviolet cameras to capture emission rates from heterogeneous sources in a fumarole field (La Fossa crater, Vulcano), providing more detailed information that available by simply sampling the bulk plume.
Tamburello, G., Kantzas, E.P., McGonigle, A.J.S., Aiuppa, A. and Guidice, G. (2011). UV camera measurements of fumarole field degassing (La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island), Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 199(1-2), 47-52.
doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2010.10.004 The high temporal resolution of the UV cameras (of order 1 Hz) has been used to study the dynamics of strombolian volcanism, for the first time, by characterising the amount of gas released in active (explosions and puffing) vs. passive ways and through detailed comparison of the gas fluxes with contemporaneously acquired geophysical information. An article on this topic is currently sub judice. -
Volcano-Atmosphere Interactions
-
In addition to supplying important information about underground conditions, volcanic gases also play a number of very important roles, when released to the atmosphere. For instance, emitted SO2 is oxidised to form sulphate aerosol, which cools the Earth by reflecting sunlight back to space, hence countering anthropogenic global warming. Furthermore, these emissions are significant in respect of global geochemical cycles, for example representing the primary mechanism for the transit of volatiles from the mantle to the atmosphere. Finally, there is the recent discovery that tropospheric volcanic plumes are host to a series of fascinating and previously unrecognised chemical reactions, in particular, involving the depletion of ozone.
Recent Research Highlights
In view of the importance of volcanic gas release to the atmosphere in global geochemical cycles and the plumes' radiative and chemical impacts we have performed a number of studies aimed at better quantifying these discharges, particularly at the arc-scale, and in locations such as: Japan, Italy, the Marianas, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, Antarctica and Hawaii. The most recent work to this end concerns volcanism in Kamchatka, from which an article is currently in review.
Ozone loss trace through the plume of Eyjafjallajökull
A seminal breakthrough in volcanology from the last decade has been the observation of bromine monoxide in tropospheric volcanic plumes, whose presence implies the depletion of ozone therein. We have empirically backed this up by reporting observations of ozone holes created by a number of volcanoes, in particular, over the UK during the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland.
Vance, A., McGonigle, A.J.S., Aiuppa, A., Stith, J.L., Turnbull, K., and von Glasow, R. (2010). Ozone depletion in tropospheric volcanic plumes, Geophysical Research Letters, 37, L22802.
doi:10.1029/2010GL044997 - Volcano SO2
-
Thank you for your interest in this code – I hope it helps you.
FIRST
Please download, print and read the installation instructions, using the link (see right)
THEN
Download and install the code according to these instructions
- Other environmental sensing
-
In addition to volcanoes I am also interested in a number of other environmental sensing areas. I have developed lasers for monitoring the response of the atmosphere to pollution and have been involved in projects concerning the environmental impacts of power generation and industrial plants, aviation and biomass burning. Finally, I am interested in the use of UAVs for a host of different environmental monitoring applications.