Lucy King
Lucy is a foundation scientist whose role is to improve our use of satellite data for monitoring emissions of volcanic sulphur dioxide.
Areas of expertise
- Volcanology
- Satellite detection of volcanic SO2
Current activities
Sulphur dioxide is being increasingly recognised as an important volcanological hazard alongside volcanic ash. Lucy’s work aims to improve our capabilities to monitor emissions of volcanic sulphur dioxide using satellites, since these emissions are hazardous to people and aircraft and can also affect Earth’s climate when injected to high altitudes in the atmosphere.
Career background
Lucy has been working in the Satellite Imagery team since August 2022. Prior to joining the Met Office, they studied at the University of Oxford and gained an integrated Master’s degree in Earth Sciences. Their research project was an investigation of long-term volcanic sulphur dioxide emissions using satellite retrievals developed within the Earth Observation Data Group in the Department of Physics, which use data from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) to detect sulphur dioxide and quantify its concentration and height in the atmosphere. They were also selected as a scholar for VolcanoCamp, a volcanology field course in Tenerife and La Palma run by GeoTenerife in June 2022.