Figure - available from: Air Quality Atmosphere & Health
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Histogram of the annual number of vog days (top) and the annual number of each synoptic pattern (bottom) at station Honolulu
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Kīlauea Volcano, located on the Island of Hawai’i, released approximately 3700 t of sulfur dioxide (SO2) per day from April 2009 through 2014. Within the atmosphere, SO2 is oxidized and converted to sulfuric-acid aerosols, and this volcanic smog is commonly referred to as vog. This study focuses on large-scale weather patterns that bring vog to O’a...
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... Further, volcanic emissions such as vog (volcanic smog) emanating from Kīlauea are known to affect the air quality of other islands, including O'ahu . Between 2009 and 2014, Honolulu experienced 7-24 "vog days" per year (Halliday et al., 2019;Tofte et al., 2017) determined that wind from Hawai'i Island blows toward O'ahu 11% of the time. Of note, the presence of fresh/juvenile volcanic glass and size of the fragments up to 300 μm in length (Figure 5b) suggests that they derive from the eruptive fissures in the lower East Rift Zone rather than summit events; summit ash is predominantly older material, as mentioned, and is comparatively fine grained (unpublished data). ...
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmentally acquired opportunistic pathogens that can cause chronic lung disease. Within the U.S., Hawai'i shows the highest prevalence rates of NTM lung infections. Here, we investigated a potential role for active volcanism at the Kīlauea Volcano located on Hawai'i Island in promoting NTM growth and diversity. We recovered NTM that are known to cause lung disease from plumbing biofilms and soils collected from the Kīlauea environment. We also discovered viable Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium abscessus, and Mycobacterium intracellulare subsp. chimaera on volcanic ash collected during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. Analysis of soil samples showed that NTM prevalence is positively associated with bulk content of phosphorus, sulfur, and total organic carbon. In growth assays, we showed that phosphorus utilization is essential for proliferation of Kīlauea‐derived NTM, and demonstrate that NTM cultured with volcanic ash adhere to ash surfaces and remain viable. Ambient dust collected on O'ahu concurrent with the 2018 eruption contained abundant fresh volcanic glass, suggestive of inter‐island ash transport. Phylogenomic analyses using whole genome sequencing revealed that Kīlauea‐derived NTM are genetically similar to respiratory isolates identified on other Hawaiian Islands. Consequently, we posit that volcanic eruptions could redistribute environmental microorganisms over large scales. While additional studies are needed to confirm a direct role of ash in NTM dispersal, our results suggest that volcanic particulates harbor and can redistribute NTM and should therefore be studied as a fomite for these burgeoning, environmentally acquired respiratory infections.
... Oahu, the most heavily populated island, regularly experienced aerosol impacts from K ılauea, despite its location more than 300 km away. Volcanic emissions reach Oahu during episodes of southeasterly surface winds associated with precold frontal conditions, upperlevel disturbances, and Kona low conditions (Tofte et al. 2017). ...
Kīlauea volcano, located on the island of Hawaiʻi, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It was in a state of nearly continuous eruption from 1983-2018 with copious emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) that affected public health, agriculture, and infrastructure over large portions of the island. Since 2010, the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa provides publicly available vog forecasts that began in 2010 to aid in the mitigation of volcanic smog (or “vog”) as a hazard. In September 2017, the forecast system began to produce operational ensemble forecasts.
The months that preceded Kīlauea’s historic Lower East Rift Zone eruption of 2018 provide an opportunity to evaluate the newly-implemented air quality ensemble prediction system and compare it another approach to the generation of ensemble members. One of the two approaches generates perturbations in the wind field while the other perturbs the sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rate from the volcano. This comparison has implications for the limits of forecast predictability under the particularly dynamic conditions at Kīlauea volcano. We show that for ensemble forecasts of SO2 generated under these conditions, the uncertainty associated with the SO2 emission rate approaches that of the uncertainty in the wind field. However, the inclusion of a fluctuating SO2 emission rate, has potential to improve the prediction of the changes in air quality downwind of the volcano with suitable post-processing.
... Much of the work on predicting air pollution has used large-scale physics-based models (Kondratyev and Varotsos, 2001;Morcrette et al., 2009). The University of Hawai'i at Manoa has set up a monitoring and forecasting program using the HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) model (see Businger et al., 2015;Tofte et al., 2017): http://mkwc.ifa.Hawai'i.edu/vmap/hysplit/. This is actually an ensemble of models which uses estimates of volcanic emissions along with forecasts of wind speed and direction to predict the concentrations of SO 2 and sulfate aerosol particles. ...
The Kilauea volcano in Hawai’i has been erupting continuously since 1983. The eruptions are a major source of air pollution. Sulfur oxides released from the volcano react with sunlight, atmospheric gases and aerosols, and convert to fine particles. The resulting volcanic smog, known as vog, is a recognized health hazard. Data sets for volcanic emissions, sulfur dioxide gas and particulate matter are analyzed. Volcanic emissions are available at a daily resolution. Emissions show evidence of nonlinear variability, and intermittent trending over periods of several months. Forecasting tests at horizons of 1-7 days find that emissions can be predicted only with a substantial error. Air quality data is available hourly. Forecasting experiments for SO2 and particulate matter are run over horizons of 1-24 hours and 1-7 days, using time series models. Volcanic emissions were tested as causal inputs in the models for the SO2 and particulate matter data, but were found to increase the forecast error. The daily and hourly SO2 series are predicted more accurately by ARIMAs. The results for particulate matter are more ambiguous. Over short horizons, they are often predicted better by regressions on levels or simple persistence models. At horizons associated with cycles (24 hours, 7 days), ARIMAs and persistence forecasts achieve the most accurate results.
... Travel time from K ılauea to O'ahu depends on wind strength, exact direction, and the location of the plume offshore. According 14 to Tofte et al. (2017Tofte et al. ( , p. 1166: 'The straight-line distance from the vents to Honolulu is about 350 kilometres. A typical wind speed between 4 and 10 m/s would give the vog plume 10-24 hour to reach Honolulu'. ...
The negative consequences of long‐term exposure to particulate pollution are well‐established but a number of studies find no effect of short‐term exposure on health outcomes. The high correlation of industrial pollutants complicates the estimation of the impact of individual pollutants on health. In this study, we use emissions from Kīlauea volcano, which are uncorrelated with other pollution sources, to estimate the impact of pollutants on local emergency room admissions and a precise measure of costs. A one standard deviation increase in particulates leads to a 23‐36% increase in expenditures on ER visits for pulmonary outcomes, mostly among the very young.
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Rapid and unchecked industrialization and the combustion of fossil fuels have engendered a state of fear in urban settlements. Smog is a visible form of air pollution that arises due to the over-emissions of some primary pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrocarbons, SO2, NO, and NO2 which further react in the atmosphere and give rise to toxic and carcinogenic secondary smog components. Smog reduces the visibility on roads and results in road accidents and cancellation of flights. Uptake of primary and secondary pollutants of smog is responsible for several deleterious diseases of which respiratory disorders, cardiovascular dysfunction, neurological disorders, and cancer are discussed here. Children and pregnant women are more prone to the hazards of smog. The worsening menace of smog on one hand and occurrence of pandemic i.e., COVID-19 on the other may increase the mortality rate. But the implementation of lockdown during pandemics has favored the atmosphere in some ways, which will be highlighted in the article. On the whole, the focus of this article will be on the dubious relationship between smog and coronavirus.
