Field deployment of a man-portable stand-off laser-induced breakdown spectrometer: A preliminary report on the expedition to the Cumbre Vieja volcano (La Palma, Spain, 2021)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2022.106391Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Report on the 2021 scientific expedition to the Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption.

  • Stand-off laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is assessed for volcano monitoring.

  • A new instrument was purpose-designed, built and tested in-situ.

  • A rationale of the instrument development and testing is provided.

  • Preliminary qualitative and semiquantitative results are discussed.

Abstract

This paper reports on the expedition to the Cumbre Vieja volcano (Canary Islands, Spain) in November 2021 to assess stand-off laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for real-time measurements of the lava streams from a safe point. The paper provides insight on the analytical approach to the problem, the rationale of the instrument design and construction carried out in three weeks, the experience with the new-born instrument at the volcano and the preliminary results. Despite the subtle spectral differences among the samples and the signal variability induced by the strong wind gusts at site, a statistical approach to data processing such as PCA, made possible to extract sufficient information and provide a robust classification tool.

Keywords

LIBS
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Stand-off
Remote
Man-portable
Volcanic eruption
Lava

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