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Quantifying Effusion Rates at Active Volcanoes through Integrated Time-Lapse Laser Scanning and Photography

Slatcher, N; James, MR; Calvari, S; Ganci, G; Browning, J; (2015) Quantifying Effusion Rates at Active Volcanoes through Integrated Time-Lapse Laser Scanning and Photography. Remote Sensing , 7 (11) pp. 14967-14987. 10.3390/rs71114967. Green open access

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Abstract

During volcanic eruptions, measurements of the rate at which magma is erupted underpin hazard assessments. For eruptions dominated by the effusion of lava, estimates are often made using satellite data; here, in a case study at Mount Etna (Sicily), we make the first measurements based on terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and we also include explosive products. During the study period (17–21 July 2012), regular Strombolian explosions were occurring within the Bocca Nuova crater, producing a ~50 m-high scoria cone and a small lava flow field. TLS surveys over multi-day intervals determined a mean cone growth rate (effusive and explosive products) of ~0.24 m3·s −1 . Differences between 0.3-m resolution DEMs acquired at 10-minute intervals captured the evolution of a breakout lava flow lobe advancing at 0.01–0.03 m3·s −1 . Partial occlusion within the crater prevented similar measurement of the main flow, but integrating TLS data with time-lapse imagery enabled lava viscosity (7.4 × 105 Pa·s) to be derived from surface velocities and, hence, a flux of 0.11 m3·s −1 to be calculated. Total dense rock equivalent magma discharge estimates are ~0.1–0.2 m3·s −1 over the measurement period and suggest that simultaneous estimates from satellite data are somewhat overestimated. Our results support the use of integrated TLS and time-lapse photography for ground-truthing space-based measurements and highlight the value of interactive image analysis when automated approaches, such as particle image velocimetry (PIV), fail.

Type: Article
Title: Quantifying Effusion Rates at Active Volcanoes through Integrated Time-Lapse Laser Scanning and Photography
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/rs71114967
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71114967
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Keywords: lava flow; scoria cone; effusion rate; terrestrial laser scanning; time-lapse photography; Mt. Etna
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10094991
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