A UV camera measuring SO2 emissions from the 2009 dome of Redoubt Volcano, June 13, 2015.
Christoph Kern
Christoph Kern is a Research Physicist for the USGS Volcano Science Center. His research focuses on measuring volcanic gas emissions and interpreting the results to gain insights into processes occurring within active volcanoes.
Christoph develops and applies remote sensing techniques to measure volcanic gas emissions. These contact-free methods allow gases to be measured from a distance, without the need for putting scientists or instrumentation into harm’s way at the summit of active volcanoes.
In addition to monitoring volcanoes in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Cascades Range, Christoph works with the USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program to provide instrumentation and advice to foreign counterparts. He is currently serving on the Steering Committee of the Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change (NOVAC), a global community of volcano observatories and research institutions that runs the largest volcanic gas monitoring network in the world.
Christoph is always striving to find new measurement techniques, retrieval methods, and analysis tools to detect gas signals diagnostic of volcanic unrest. He is also interested in how volcanic gases affect atmospheric chemistry and climate on local, regional, and global scales.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Heidelberg, Germany
Science and Products
Sulfur dioxide emission rates from Hawaiian volcanoes, 2018-2022
Airborne Survey of Gas Emissions from Volcanoes in the Cook Inlet and Northern Alaska Peninsula, 2021
Airborne Volcanic Gas Measurements at Iliamna Volcano, Alaska 2004-2017
Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy data acquired during the 2018 rift eruption of Kilauea Volcano
Volcanic Gas Measurements at Mount Cleveland, Alaska 2016
Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy data acquired at Mount Pagan volcano (Mariana Islands) on 6 April 2014
Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy data acquired at Sabancaya Volcano (Peru) on 21 May 2016
Volcanic Gas Measurements at Mount Cleveland, 14-15 August 2015
A UV camera measuring SO2 emissions from the 2009 dome of Redoubt Volcano, June 13, 2015.
Editorial: Remote sensing of volcanic gas emissions from the ground, air, and space
Tracking carbon from subduction to outgassing along the Aleutian-Alaska Volcanic Arc
An algorithm for correction of atmospheric scattering dilution effects in volcanic gas emission measurements using skylight differential optical absorption spectroscopy
Weak degassing from remote Alaska volcanoes characterized with a new airborne Imaging DOAS instrument and a suite of in situ sensors
A new permanent, low-cost, low-power SO2 camera for continuous measurement of volcanic emissions
Estimates of volcanic mercury emissions from Redoubt Volcano, Augustine Volcano, and Mount Spurr eruption ash
Forecasting explosions at Sinabung Volcano, Indonesia, based on SO2 emission rates
A golden era for volcanic gas geochemistry?
Characterizing unrest: A retrospective look at 20 years of gas emissions and seismicity at Iliamna Volcano, Alaska
The petrologic and degassing behavior of sulfur and other magmatic volatiles from the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi: Melt concentrations, magma storage depths, and magma recycling
Synoptic analysis of a decade of daily measurements of SO2 emission in the troposphere from volcanoes of the global ground-based Network for Observation of Volcanic and Atmospheric Change
Quantifying gas emissions associated with the 2018 rift eruption of Kīlauea Volcano using ground-based DOAS measurements
Science and Products
Sulfur dioxide emission rates from Hawaiian volcanoes, 2018-2022
Airborne Survey of Gas Emissions from Volcanoes in the Cook Inlet and Northern Alaska Peninsula, 2021
Airborne Volcanic Gas Measurements at Iliamna Volcano, Alaska 2004-2017
Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy data acquired during the 2018 rift eruption of Kilauea Volcano
Volcanic Gas Measurements at Mount Cleveland, Alaska 2016
Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy data acquired at Mount Pagan volcano (Mariana Islands) on 6 April 2014
Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy data acquired at Sabancaya Volcano (Peru) on 21 May 2016
Volcanic Gas Measurements at Mount Cleveland, 14-15 August 2015
A UV camera measuring SO2 emissions from the 2009 dome of Redoubt Volcano, June 13, 2015.
A UV camera measuring SO2 emissions from the 2009 dome of Redoubt Volcano, June 13, 2015.