The La Fossa cone of Vulcano Island (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy) is a
closed conduit volcano. Today, Vulcano Island is characterized by
sulfataric activity, with a large fumarolic field that is mainly located in the
summit area. A scanning differential optical absorption spectroscopy
instrument designed by the Optical Sensing Group of Chalmers University
of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden, was installed in the framework of the
European project "Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric
Change", in March 2008. This study presents the first dataset of SO2
plume fluxes recorded for a closed volcanic system. Between 2008 and
2010, the SO2 fluxes recorded showed average values of 12 t.d—1 during the
normal sulfataric activity of Vulcano Island, with one exceptional event
of strong degassing that occurred between September and December, 2009,
when the SO2 emissions reached up to 100 t.d—1
