Development of the muographic tephra deposit monitoring system

Abstract Measurements of volcanic tephra fallout deposits provide useful information about the magnitude and intensity of explosive volcanic eruptions and potential for remobilization of deposits as dangerous volcanic flows. However, gathering information in the vicinity of erupting craters is extremely dangerous, and moreover, it is often quite difficult to determine deposit thickness proximal to volcanic craters because the thickness of the deposit is too great to easily measure; thus, airborne remote sensing technologies have generally been utilized during the intermission between eruptions. As an alternative tool, a muographic tephra deposit monitoring system was developed in this work. Here we report the performance of this system by applying the muographic data acquired at Sakurajima volcano, Japan as an example. By assuming the average density of the deposit was 2.0 g cm−3, the deposit thicknesses measured with muography were in agreement with the airborne results, indicating that volcanic fallout built up within the upper river basin, showed its potential for monitoring the episodic tephra fallouts even during eruptions.

Download Full-text

A Computational Methodology for the Calibration of Tephra Transport Nowcasting at Sakurajima Volcano, Japan

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12010104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 104

Author(s):

Alexandros P. Poulidis ◽

Atsushi Shimizu ◽

Haruhisa Nakamichi ◽

Masato Iguchi

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

High Resolution ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Weather Research And Forecasting ◽

Sakurajima Volcano ◽

Observation Network ◽

Complementary Strategy ◽

Physical Quantities ◽

Do So

Ground-based remote sensing equipment have the potential to be used for the nowcasting of the tephra hazard from volcanic eruptions. To do so raw data from the equipment first need to be accurately transformed to tephra-related physical quantities. In order to establish these relations for Sakurajima volcano, Japan, we propose a methodology based on high-resolution simulations. An eruption that occurred at Sakurajima on 16 July 2018 is used as the basis of a pilot study. The westwards dispersal of the tephra cloud was ideal for the observation network that has been installed near the volcano. In total, the plume and subsequent tephra cloud were recorded by 2 XMP radars, 1 lidar and 3 optical disdrometers, providing insight on all phases of the eruption, from plume generation to tephra transport away from the volcano. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and FALL3D models were used to reconstruct the transport and deposition patterns. Simulated airborne tephra concentration and accumulated load were linked, respectively, to lidar backscatter intensity and radar reflectivity. Overall, results highlight the possibility of using such a high-resolution modelling-based methodology as a reliable complementary strategy to common approaches for retrieving tephra-related quantities from remote sensing data.

Download Full-text

Karst soil erosion monitoring system of underground-river basin based on Remote sensing and GIS

2011 International Conference on Remote Sensing, Environment and Transportation Engineering ◽

10.1109/rsete.2011.5964755 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Kui Wang ◽

Zulu Ma ◽

Jinhua Shao ◽

Desuo Cai ◽

Qiwen Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Monitoring System ◽

River Basin ◽

Remote Sensing And Gis ◽

Karst Soil ◽

Underground River

Download Full-text

An Airborne Remote Sensing Experiment for Catchment-Scale Water Cycle Study in a Typical Inland River Basin of China

IGARSS 2008 - 2008 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium ◽

10.1109/igarss.2008.4779089 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Xin Li ◽

Jian Wang ◽

Mingguo Ma ◽

Zeyong Hu ◽

Tao Che ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

River Basin ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Airborne Remote Sensing ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

Inland River ◽

Inland River Basin

Download Full-text

Volcanically extruded phosphides as an abiotic source of Venusian phosphine

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2021689118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (29) ◽

pp. e2021689118

Author(s):

N. Truong ◽

J. I. Lunine

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Sulfuric Acid ◽

Plate Tectonics ◽

Redox State ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Aerosol Layer ◽

Active Volcanism ◽

The Earth ◽

Explosive Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Venusian Atmosphere

We hypothesize that trace amounts of phosphides formed in the mantle are a plausible abiotic source of the Venusian phosphine observed by Greaves et al. [Nat. Astron., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1174-4 (2020)]. In this hypothesis, small amounts of phosphides (P3− bound in metals such as iron), sourced from a deep mantle, are brought to the surface by volcanism. They are then ejected into the atmosphere in the form of volcanic dust by explosive volcanic eruptions, which were invoked by others to explain the episodic changes of sulfur dioxide seen in the atmosphere [Esposito, Science 223, 1072–1074 (1984)]. There they react with sulfuric acid in the aerosol layer to form phosphine (2 P3− + 3H2SO4 = 2PH3 + 3SO42-). We take issue with the conclusion of Bains et al. [arXiv:2009.06499 (2020)] that the volcanic rates for such a mechanism would have to be implausibly high. We consider a mantle with the redox state similar to the Earth, magma originating deep in the mantle—a likely scenario for the origin of plume volcanism on Venus—and episodically high but plausible rates of volcanism on a Venus bereft of plate tectonics. We conclude that volcanism could supply an adequate amount of phosphide to produce phosphine. Our conclusion is supported by remote sensing observations of the Venusian atmosphere and surface that have been interpreted as indicative of currently active volcanism.

Download Full-text

PILGRIMAGES AND PERSISTENT SOCIAL MEMORY IN SPITE OF VOLCANIC DISASTERS IN THE ARENAL AREA, COSTA RICA

Ancient Mesoamerica ◽

10.1017/s0956536111000265 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 425-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Payson Sheets

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Residential Mobility ◽

Social Memory ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Explosive Eruptions ◽

The People ◽

South Shore ◽

Explosive Volcanic Eruptions ◽

The Village ◽

Ecological Recovery

AbstractAncient Costa Ricans in the Arenal area exhibited extraordinary persistence in landscape use and social memory, in spite of repeated catastrophes caused by explosive volcanic eruptions. The Cañales village on the south shore of Lake Arenal was struck by two large explosive eruptions during the Arenal phase (500 b.c.–a.d. 600). Following ecological recovery, the village was reoccupied after each of these eruptions. I argue that the people who reoccupied the village were direct descendants of pre-disaster villagers due to the fact that they reinstated use of the same path to the village cemetery. While previous interpretations emphasized ecological reasons for village reoccupation, I suggest that a dominating reason for reoccupation was to re-establish contact with the spirits of deceased ancestors in the cemetery. The living and the spirits of the deceased constituted the functioning community. The refugees re-established processional access to their cemetery as soon as possible, perhaps even before the village was reoccupied. Archaeologists rarely discover evidence of ancient pilgrimages. However, the combination of remote sensing and detailed stratigraphic analyses allow them to be detected in the Arenal area. Villagers created and perpetuated social memory by regular linear ritual processions along precisely the same path, in spite of challenging topography and occasional regional disasters obscuring the path. This recognition has implications for the arguments of sedentism versus residential mobility during the Arenal phase.

Download Full-text