A chronology of the 1991 to 1993 Mount Etna eruption using advanced very high resolution radiometer data: Implications for real‐time thermal volcano monitoring

Abstract

Abstract. Between December 1991 and March 1993 a continuous effusive eruption at MountEtna built a 7.6 km 2 lava flow field. Flows extended to within 1 km of the town of Zafferana before a successful artificial diversion was carried out higher up the volcano. During this eruption the spaceborne advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) acquired 308 images on which the activity could be detected. Since these data can be freely and directly available, such coverage potentially allows regular, real-time monitoring. Ground observations and a flow map that we produced using a SPOT image and electronic distance measurement allowed us to develop and test data extraction techniques. AVHRR radiance maps were consistent with known locations of surface activity. These documented the transition from channel to tube fed phases, the changing threat to Zafferana, and flow diversion. Quantitative analysis of the AVHRR data enabled estimation of active lava area, thermal flux, effusion rates, and total flow field volume. Our estimates for eruption rate and total flow field volume, 5.6 to 7.6 m3/s and 220 x 106 to 300 x 106 m 3, respectively, are in agreement with published ground-based estimates of 5.8 m3/s and 235 x 106 m 3. These correlations demonstrate the high degree of confidence that can now be placed in interpretations of AVHRR time series for eruptions where ground-based data are scanty.

Satellite and Ground Based Thermal Observation of the 2014 Effusive Eruption at Stromboli Volcano

“…Volcanic radiant power (VRP) is also one of the parameters necessary to estimate time averaged lava discharge rates (Section 3.4) and magma flux rates in active lava lakes [54,55]. VRP can be estimated from Stefan-Boltzmann's law [53], from a semi-empirical method based on the relationship between VRP and brightness temperature in the MIR spectrum [56], or using the spectral library approach [57].…”

“…The methodology for obtaining TADR from thermal imagery is based on the work of Pieri and Baloga [59], Crisp and Baloga [60], and Harris et al [54]. It assumes a simple heat budget for an active lava flow.…”

A year of lava fountaining at Etna: Volumes from SEVIRI

“…As a result two methodologies have been applied to extract time averaged discharge rates (TADR) and volumes from geostationary satellite data. The first, as applied to SEVIRI data for Etna's 11-13 January 2011 event by Vicari et al [2011], used the spectral-radiance-to-TADR conversion of Harris et al [1997] to obtain event intensity and volume, a method that boils down to an empirical conversion between active lava area and TADR [Wright et al, 2001;Harris et al, 2007a;Harris and Baloga, 2009]. The second was also applied to SEVIRI data for Etna's 11-13 January 2011 event by Gouhier et al [2012] and used the approach of Yokoyama [1957] to convert the total heat liberated by the lava during cooling (E, in Joules) to the mass or volume of lava required to generate that quantity of heat.…”

Automated volcanic eruption detection using MODIS

“…This high sampling frequency reduces the chance that a ground target will be obscured by clouds and is ideal for monitoring dynamic volcanic phenomena. AVHRR has been used to provide detailed chronologies of effusive eruptions at Mount Etna, Sicily (Harris, Blake, Rothery, & Stevens, 1997;Harris & Neri, in press), and is used by the Alaskan Volcano Observatory (AVO) to routinely monitor the many active volcanoes that exist in the North Pacific region (Dehn, Dean, & Engle, 2000;Schneider, Dean, Dehn, Miller, & Kirianov, 2000).…”