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Rachel Whitty

Rachel Whitty

  • Email: eercww@leeds.ac.uk
  • Thesis title: Tracking and measuring volcanic plumes using drones

Profile

Rachel is a NERC DPT PhD student at the University of Leeds (2017 – ongoing), researching gas and aerosol emissions from volcanoes. She works with low-cost sensors and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones) to measure volcanic emissions.

In 2017, Rachel participated in a field campaign to Nicaragua, where Masaya Volcano has been passively degassing for centuries and impacting the health of local communities. She assisted in the deployment of a network of sensors to investigate the concentrations of volcanic gas and aerosol reaching communities downwind from Masaya Volcano. In 2018, Rachel was involved in emergency-response fieldwork to Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i, during the Lower East Rift Zone eruption which caused island-wide air quality issues. 

Rachel has a first-class MEarthSci degree from the University of Edinburgh (2011 – 2016). Her final masters’ project investigated the use of an infrared camera for analysis of sulphur dioxide from the 2014 – 2015 Holuhraun eruption, Iceland. 

Rachel has been actively involved in outreach throughout her time at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Leeds. She currently works with the STEM “after school club” programme to deliver outreach to local high schools, and in September 2018 presented a “Pub-hD” talk.

 

Affiliation

Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds

 

Collaborations

United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Hawai’ian Volcano Observatory (HVO)

Hawai’i Department of Health 

INETER (Nicaraguan Territorial Studies Institute)

UNRESP (https://vumo.cloud/)

 

Supervisory Team

Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya – University of Leeds

Dr Melissa Pfeffer – Icelandic Meteorological Office

Dr Tjarda Roberts – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Dr Anja Schmidt – University of Cambridge

Dr Barbara Brooks – National Centre for Atmospheric Science 

 

Conference Proceedings

Whitty, R. C. W., Ilyinskaya, E., Mason, E., Wieser P., Liu, E., Schmidt, A., Roberts, T., Brooks, B., Pfeffer, M. A., Mather, T., Edmonds, M., Elias, T., Schneider, D. J., Oppenheimer, C., Dybwad, A., Nadeau, P. A., Kern, C. (2019) SO2 and PM2.5 levels 2007 – 2018 from Kilauea volcano, Hawai’i. Annual Aerosol Science Conference.

Mason, E., Whitty, R. C. W., Ilyinskaya, E., Wieser P., Liu, E., Mather, T., Edmonds, M., Elias, T., Schneider, D. J., Oppenheimer, C., Dybwad, A., Nadeau, P. A., Kern, C. (2019) The 2018 Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone eruption, Hawai’i – following trace elements and pollutants from source to exposed communities. COMET annual meeting.

Whitty, R. C. W., Ilyinskaya, E., Mason, E., Wieser P., Liu, E., Schmidt, A., Roberts, T., Brooks, B., Pfeffer, M. A., Mather, T., Edmonds, M., Elias, T., Schneider, D. J., Oppenheimer, C., Dybwad, A., Nadeau, P. A., Kern, C. (2019) SO2 and PM2.5 levels 2007 – 2018 from Kilauea volcano, Hawai’i. NERC DTP Annual Student Conference, Leeds.

Whitty, R. C. W., Ilyinskaya, E., Mason, E., Wieser P., Liu, E., Edmonds, M., Mather, T., Elias, T., Nadeau, P. A., Kern, C., Schneider, D. J., Oppenheimer, C. (2019) Particle sizes and concentrations of volcanic aerosols of the 2018 Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone Eruption. Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group Meeting; Eruption Processes.

Ilyinskaya, I., Liu, E., Mason, E., Wieser P., Whitty, R. C. W., Edmonds, M., Mather, T., Elias, T., Nadeau, P. A., Kern, C., Schneider, D. J., Oppenheimer, C. (2018) Size-resolved chemistry of volcanic aerosol from the 2018 Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone eruption: traced from source to exposed communities. American Geophysical Union; Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology.

Whitty, R. C. W., Ilyinskaya, E., Roberts, T., Pfeffer, M., Brooks, B. and Schmidt, A. (2018) Tracking and measuring volcanic plumes using drones. Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group Meeting; Explosive Ideas, 63.

Simmons, I. C., Whitty, R. C. W., Pfeffer, M. A., Thomas, H., Galle, B., Calder, E., Arellano, S., and Prata, F. (2016) UV and IR measurements of sulphur dioxide emissions during and after the 2014-2015 Bárðarbunga eruption, Iceland. European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016, Vienna. Abstract No. EGU2016-8764

 

Publications

Whitty, R. C. W., Ilyinskaya, E., Mason, E., Wieser, P. E., Liu, E., Schmidt, A., Roberts, T., Pfeffer, M. A., Brooks, B., Mather, T. A., Edmonds, M., Elias, T., Schneider, D. J., Oppenheimer, C., Dybwad, A., Nadeau, P. A., and Kern, C. (in review) Spatial and Temporal Variations in SO2 and PM2.5 Levels from 2007-2018 Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i.

Crilley, L. R., Singh, A., Kramer, L. J. Shaw, M. D., Alam, M. S., Apte, J. S., Bloss, W. J., Ruiz, L. H., Fu, P., Fu, W., Gani, S., Gatari, M., Ilyinskaya, E., Leis, A. C., Ng’ang’a. D., Sun. Y., Whitty, R. C. W., Tue, S., Toung, S., Pope, F. D. (in review) Effects of aerosol composition on the performances of low-cost optical particle counter correction factors.  

Pfeffer, M.A., Bergsson, B., Barsotti, S., Stefánsdóttir, G., Galle, B., Arellano, S., Conde, V., Donovan, A., Ilyinskaya, E., Burton, M., Aiuppa, A., Whitty, R. C. W., Simmons, I. C., Arason, P., Jónasdóttir, E. B., Keller, N. S., Yeo, R. F., Arngrímsson, H., Jóhannsson, P., Butwin, M. K., Askew, R. A., Dumont, S., von Löwis, S., Ingvarsson, P., La Spina, A., Thomas, H., Prata, F., Grassa, F., Giudice, G., Stefánsson, A., Marzano, F., Montopoli, M., Mereu, L. (2018) Ground-Based Measurements of the 2014--2015 Holuhraun Volcanic Cloud (Iceland). Geosciences; 8, 29.

 

Demonstrating Roles

2019 and 2018: SOEE1570 Geology – demonstrator for undergraduate lab practicals (minerals, rock samples and thin sections)

2019: SOEE2096/2107 Geology field and mapping skills Assynt field course – demonstrator for 2-week undergraduate mapping trip to Assynt, North-West Scotland.

2019: SOEE1570/1575 Ingleton – demonstrator for undergraduate fieldtrip to Ingleton

2018: SOEE2620 Explosive Volcanism – demonstrator for undergraduate weekend fieldtrip to Scafell Caldera, Lake District

 

 

Qualifications

  • <p>First Class MEarthSci with Honours Geology and Physical Geography, University of Edinburgh</p> <p

Research groups and institutes

  • Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics