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Full catalog/MSVOLSO2L4
MSVOLSO2L4·v4·dataset

Sulfur dioxide spewed by volcanoes worldwide, long record

Multi-Satellite Volcanic Sulfur Dioxide L4 Long-Term Global Database V4 (MSVOLSO2L4) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 4 active
In plain English

What it measures. A long-term, worldwide record of sulfur dioxide gas released by volcanic eruptions, with details for each event like the volcano's name, location, date, eruption style, and explosivity.

How it's made. Compiled from ultraviolet and other satellite measurements across many missions (from Nimbus-7 in 1978 onward), combined into a single best-estimate database in a simple text-table format.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for tracking volcanic pollution and its effects on air quality and climate, since volcanic sulfur dioxide turns into climate-affecting sulfate particles. The record reaches back to 1978.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › SULFATE PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › AIR QUALITY › SULFUR OXIDESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › SULFUR COMPOUNDS › SULFUR DIOXIDEHUMAN DIMENSIONS › NATURAL HAZARDS › VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1978-10-31 → ongoing
  • Measured byMeteor-3 (TOMS) · Aura (OMI) · Suomi-NPP (OMPS) · Nimbus-7 (TOMS) · EP-TOMS (TOMS) · Aqua (AIRS) · ADEOS-II (TOMS) · Sentinel-5P (TROPOMI) · NOAA-20 (OMPS)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

Version 4 is the current version of the data set. Older versions are no longer available and have been superseded by Version 4. These data are a part of MEaSUREs 2012 projects. The particular project, "Multi-Decadal Sulfur Dioxide Climatology from Satellite Instruments", is expected to produce SO2 Earth Science Data Record by means of combining measurements from backscatter Ultraviolet (BUV), thermal infrared (IR) and microwave (MLS) instruments on multiple satellites. The data represent best estimates of the volcanic and anthropogenic contribution to global atmospheric SO2 concentrations. Since SO2 is the major precursor of sulfate aerosol, which has climate and air quality impact, SO2 measurements will contribute to better understanding of the sulfate aerosol distributions and its atmospheric impact." The released data file is a long-term database of volcanic SO2 emission derived from ultraviolet satellite measurements from October 31, 1978, to present. Data are in a table format in simple ASCII format: Column Descriptions: Column 1 = Name of volcano. Column 2 = Latitude of volcano. Column 3 = Longitude of volcano. Column 4 = Altitude of volcano (km). Column 5 = Eruption year. Column 6 = Eruption month of year. Column 7 = Eruption day of month. Column 8 = Eruption style: exp = explosive, eff = effusive. Column 9 = Eruption volcanic explosivity index (nd = no data or undetermined). Column 10 = Observed plume altitude (km) where known. Column 11 = Estimated plume altitude (km) above vent: 10 km for explosive, 5 km for effusive. Column 12 = Measured SO2 mass in kilotons (= 1000 metric tons).

Get the data

msvolso2l4_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MSVOLSO2L4",
    version="4",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.