A novel measurement strategy for volcanic ash fallout estimation based on RTD Fluxgate magnetometers

An innovative solution to measure the fallout of ETNA erupted volcano particles based on Residence Times Difference fluxgate magnetometer is here presented. The approach adopted is based on the exploitation of intrinsic magnetic properties of the emitted particles using a FR4 (Flame Resistant 4) fluxgate structure embedding a high permeability magnetic layer (Metglas (R) ribbon, 1.6 mm thick) between two standard metallized layers. The proposed measurement system, for volcanic ash fallout estimation, represents an innovative direct sensing methodology, different from other current approaches that generally estimate the material in suspension and evaluate the expected fallout by using numerical models, such as satellite imaging, radar observations, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. The experimental set-up is here described and some preliminary results are reported to show the suitability of the approach proposed.