Blogging the Vog: Now you see it, now you don't

I have just added a new item to the Hawaii Vog Information and Resources page that I published last week. A unit of the NOAA Satellite and Information Service has provided a web page showing a Kilauea SO2 Graphic, a chart that maps the location of the SO2 plume from Kilauea volcano for the current date, and three preceding dates. When the page loads, you will see a map of Hawaii, and below it a bar with the notation "Current; Previous1; Previous2; Previous3." Hover your mouse over SO2 for each of the four days, and a plot of the SO2 plume for that day will appear on the map.

The above graphic is a link from the project's main page, from which you can click on links to other volcanoes around the world. You can also look at global daily composites of three different regions: Tropics, Northern Hemisphere, and Southern Hemisphere. Those are high resolution mosaics, and they take awhile to load, but if you are interested in volcanic emissions, it's worth the wait. My husband noticed that on the image for the Tropics, the SO2 plume from Hawaii's volcano was huge compared to every other location on the map, without exception. It's also quite sobering to note just how far out to sea Kilauea's SO2 plume extends.

Vog (volcano smog) was a problem for the entire state of Hawaii again this past week. The photo at right illustrates the source of that problem. The May 13, 2008 photo, from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), shows the gas and ash plume emitting from Halemaumau crater at the summit of Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island. According to the HVO: "Stagnant surface winds, combined with higher elevation winds, caused the plume to rise straight up and then shear off." [Click on the photo to enlarge it.]

Yes, the plume sheared off, and the vog drifted up the island chain, ultimately affecting all of the populated islands. The haze hung over the islands for days. Today, May 18, the haze is dissipating again, as light trade winds have begun to blow.

I said in an earlier post that, although we all have been living with Kilauea's more or less continuous erupting since 1983, the increase in vog following the opening of the new vent in Halemaumau crater in March has been noticeable. It's not my imagination. Not only has the daily output of emissions increased, as measured by the scientists at the HVO, the resulting vog has been more bothersome. It is affecting the health of residents, not just in areas immediately down wind of the volcano, but across the entire island chain.

On Friday, May 16, an article in the Honolulu Advertiser reported on the rising number of respiratory complaints from residents across the state. In fact, breathing problems were being reported even by people with no history of respiratory ailments.

"We're seeing probably out of every 10 patients, seven have not had symptoms before and the other three have had a history of allergies and this is just making it worse," said Dr. Irving Harper III, a Maui physician specializing in internal medicine and allergy management.

Harper said doctors he's talked with have reported a 20 percent increase in the number of patients they've seen this week. Many of the patients complain of breathing difficulties, runny noses, irritated eyes and sore throats.

Dr. Harper said the vog seems to be affecting healthy people as well as allergy sufferers. He said he's treated lifeguards and others who work outdoors.

"They're younger people, outdoor people who are usually healthy and are presenting with symptoms that you usually don't see," he said. "A lot of them are saying they just don't have the energy level that they used to have and that they're a little short of breath."

Beth-Ann Kozlovich, the development director of Hawaii's chapter of the American Lung Association, said that the Association has been taking calls from people on all the islands, and that many callers are saying this is the worst vog they've ever seen. Ms. Kozlovich also mentioned that people with no history of respiratory problems are suffering.

By the way, those of us who do have a history of respiratory ailments have been staying indoors and puffing on our albuterol inhalers. I'm thinking it's just about time to pay a visit to a relative who lives in Colorado, just for a breath of fresh air!

To read more of what I have written about Kilauea volcano and the vog, click here.

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About the Photo: This USGS photo, taken on May 13, 2008, shows the gas-and-ash plume emitted from Halemaumau crater at the Kilauea summit. To view more photos of Kilauea, visit the Kilauea Images page on the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website.