Geochemical Monitoring Network
The permanent network of geochemical monitoring of the Island of São Miguel, Azores archipelago, consists of stations of carbon dioxide (CO2) flow and radon (222Rn).concentration. The CO2 flow stations make measurements with an hourly frequency, and the data are then transmitted to the Azorean Monitoring and Information Center (CIVISA) / Institute for Research in Vulcanology and Risk Assessment (IVAR). The radon concentration measurement is performed at one-hour intervals, and the data is downloaded in situ. These stations are installed in two of the island’s central volcanoes, the Volcano of Fire and the Furnas Volcano, which have associated an important and known emission of gases through their fumarolic fields. This permanent monitoring network has as main objective to monitor the emission of gases of these two volcanic systems, in order to characterize the variations associated with this emission, thus allowing to recognize anomalies that may be associated to a future reactivation of these volcanic systems.
