Ponente
Descripción
A daily and monthly estimate of sulfur dioxide (SO2) dispersion emitted by the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica was made between January and December 2019 with the help of the AERMOD code. The measured data at the emission source such as topography (digital elevation model of the area around the volcano) and other characteristics of the emission source were included in the computer program. Annual average flux of SO2 emitted by the main vent of the volcano was taken as the emission parameter, which was 119 Mg/day. The modeling of the measured parameters is run to generate pollutant dispersion maps, obtaining as a result the receiving points and the towns with the greatest impact by volcanogenic pollution, according to the month of the year. A meteorological station provided data on wind direction and speed, global radiation, temperature, percentage of relative humidity, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure.
The SO2 dispersion maps show an emission at 360° around the volcano throughout the year, with a predominance of emission towards the west and southwest, where the Central Valley is located, an area that concentrates around 60% of the inhabitants of Costa Rica. Accordingly, to AERMOD, SO2 reached a maximum average concentration of 60 µg/m3day (at less than 2 km from the crater), in April 2019.
With the scatter diagrams, estimates were made of the places with the greatest influence from the pollutant expelled by the Turrialba volcano, even minutes before the possible impact on the communities, which has allowed to warn about possible risks associated with exposure to SO2 emitted by the volcano and to take the necessary precautions to minimize effects on human health.
