Validating subglacial volcanic eruption using ground-based C-band radar imagery

Frank Silvio Marzano; Mirko Lamantea; Mario Montopoli; Bjrn Oddsson; Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson

doi:10.1109/TGRS.2011.2167017

Validating subglacial volcanic eruption using ground-based C-band radar imagery

Frank Silvio Marzano^*, Mirko Lamantea, Mario Montopoli, Bjrn Oddsson, Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The main phase of the moderately sized November 2004 eruption of the Grmsvtn volcano, located in the center of the 8100 km ² Vatnajkull glacier, was monitored by the Icelandic Meteorological Office C-band weather radar in Keflavk, 260 km west of the volcano. The eruption plume reached a height of 6-10 km relative to the vent. The distribution of the most distal tephra was measured in the autumn of 2004, while the deposition on the glacier was mapped in the summers of 2005 and 2006. The tephra formed a well-defined layer on the glacier in the region north and northeast of the craters. The total mass of the tephra layer is quantitatively compared with the retrieved values, obtained from an improved version of the volcanic ash radar retrieval (VARR) algorithm. VARR was statistically calibrated with ground-based ash size distribution samples, taken at Vatnajkull, and by taking into account both antenna beam occlusion and wind-driven plume advection. The latter was implemented by using a space-time image phase-based cross-correlation technique. Accuracy of the weather radar records was also reviewed, noting that a large variability in the plume height estimation may be obtained using different approaches. The comparisons suggest that, at least for this subglacial eruption, the surface tephra mass, estimated by using the VARR inversion approach, is in a fairly good agreement with in situ measurements in terms of spatial extension, distribution, and amount.

Original language	English
Article number	6035971
Pages (from-to)	1266-1282
Number of pages	17
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Volume	50
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2011.2167017
Publication status	Published - Apr 2012

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank R. Hannesen (Selex SI Gematronik, Germany) and P. Crochet and S. Karlsdóttir (Iceland Meteorological Office, Iceland) for providing the radar data and Rainbow software products. The contribution of B. De Bernardinis and G. Vulpiani (DPC, Rome, Italy) and E. Picciotti (HIMET, L’Aquila, Italy) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank S. Pavone and S. Barbieri for contributing to the development of the VARR software and the intercomparison analysis. Most of the field-work was done with the support of the Iceland Glaciological Society (JÖRFÍ) during the annual spring trips in June 2005 and 2006. Important facilities were provided by the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The Grímsvötn fieldwork project was funded by The Icelandic Research Fund (Rannís), Landsvirkjun (The National Energy Company), Bílanaust, and Esso.

Funding Information:
Manuscript received February 18, 2011; revised June 11, 2011 and August 10, 2011; accepted August 20, 2011. Date of publication October 6, 2011; date of current version March 28, 2012. This work was supported in part by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC), Rome, Italy, within the IDRA project and in part by the Sapienza University of Rome, Rome.

Other keywords

Ash retrieval
inversion methods
radar meteorology
volcanic eruption clouds
weather radars

Access to Document

10.1109/TGRS.2011.2167017

Cite this

@article{cdcf83d8278649cd9a71f67606b155e5,

title = "Validating subglacial volcanic eruption using ground-based C-band radar imagery",

abstract = "The main phase of the moderately sized November 2004 eruption of the Grmsvtn volcano, located in the center of the 8100 km 2 Vatnajkull glacier, was monitored by the Icelandic Meteorological Office C-band weather radar in Keflavk, 260 km west of the volcano. The eruption plume reached a height of 6-10 km relative to the vent. The distribution of the most distal tephra was measured in the autumn of 2004, while the deposition on the glacier was mapped in the summers of 2005 and 2006. The tephra formed a well-defined layer on the glacier in the region north and northeast of the craters. The total mass of the tephra layer is quantitatively compared with the retrieved values, obtained from an improved version of the volcanic ash radar retrieval (VARR) algorithm. VARR was statistically calibrated with ground-based ash size distribution samples, taken at Vatnajkull, and by taking into account both antenna beam occlusion and wind-driven plume advection. The latter was implemented by using a space-time image phase-based cross-correlation technique. Accuracy of the weather radar records was also reviewed, noting that a large variability in the plume height estimation may be obtained using different approaches. The comparisons suggest that, at least for this subglacial eruption, the surface tephra mass, estimated by using the VARR inversion approach, is in a fairly good agreement with in situ measurements in terms of spatial extension, distribution, and amount.",

keywords = "Ash retrieval, inversion methods, radar meteorology, volcanic eruption clouds, weather radars",

author = "Marzano, {Frank Silvio} and Mirko Lamantea and Mario Montopoli and Bjrn Oddsson and Gudmundsson, {Magn{\'u}s Tumi}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank R. Hannesen (Selex SI Gematronik, Germany) and P. Crochet and S. Karlsd{\'o}ttir (Iceland Meteorological Office, Iceland) for providing the radar data and Rainbow software products. The contribution of B. De Bernardinis and G. Vulpiani (DPC, Rome, Italy) and E. Picciotti (HIMET, L{\textquoteright}Aquila, Italy) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank S. Pavone and S. Barbieri for contributing to the development of the VARR software and the intercomparison analysis. Most of the field-work was done with the support of the Iceland Glaciological Society (J{\"O}RF{\'I}) during the annual spring trips in June 2005 and 2006. Important facilities were provided by the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The Gr{\'i}msv{\"o}tn fieldwork project was funded by The Icelandic Research Fund (Rann{\'i}s), Landsvirkjun (The National Energy Company), B{\'i}lanaust, and Esso. Funding Information: Manuscript received February 18, 2011; revised June 11, 2011 and August 10, 2011; accepted August 20, 2011. Date of publication October 6, 2011; date of current version March 28, 2012. This work was supported in part by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC), Rome, Italy, within the IDRA project and in part by the Sapienza University of Rome, Rome.",

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AU - Lamantea, Mirko

AU - Montopoli, Mario

AU - Oddsson, Bjrn

AU - Gudmundsson, Magnús Tumi

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank R. Hannesen (Selex SI Gematronik, Germany) and P. Crochet and S. Karlsdóttir (Iceland Meteorological Office, Iceland) for providing the radar data and Rainbow software products. The contribution of B. De Bernardinis and G. Vulpiani (DPC, Rome, Italy) and E. Picciotti (HIMET, L’Aquila, Italy) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank S. Pavone and S. Barbieri for contributing to the development of the VARR software and the intercomparison analysis. Most of the field-work was done with the support of the Iceland Glaciological Society (JÖRFÍ) during the annual spring trips in June 2005 and 2006. Important facilities were provided by the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The Grímsvötn fieldwork project was funded by The Icelandic Research Fund (Rannís), Landsvirkjun (The National Energy Company), Bílanaust, and Esso. Funding Information: Manuscript received February 18, 2011; revised June 11, 2011 and August 10, 2011; accepted August 20, 2011. Date of publication October 6, 2011; date of current version March 28, 2012. This work was supported in part by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC), Rome, Italy, within the IDRA project and in part by the Sapienza University of Rome, Rome.

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N2 - The main phase of the moderately sized November 2004 eruption of the Grmsvtn volcano, located in the center of the 8100 km 2 Vatnajkull glacier, was monitored by the Icelandic Meteorological Office C-band weather radar in Keflavk, 260 km west of the volcano. The eruption plume reached a height of 6-10 km relative to the vent. The distribution of the most distal tephra was measured in the autumn of 2004, while the deposition on the glacier was mapped in the summers of 2005 and 2006. The tephra formed a well-defined layer on the glacier in the region north and northeast of the craters. The total mass of the tephra layer is quantitatively compared with the retrieved values, obtained from an improved version of the volcanic ash radar retrieval (VARR) algorithm. VARR was statistically calibrated with ground-based ash size distribution samples, taken at Vatnajkull, and by taking into account both antenna beam occlusion and wind-driven plume advection. The latter was implemented by using a space-time image phase-based cross-correlation technique. Accuracy of the weather radar records was also reviewed, noting that a large variability in the plume height estimation may be obtained using different approaches. The comparisons suggest that, at least for this subglacial eruption, the surface tephra mass, estimated by using the VARR inversion approach, is in a fairly good agreement with in situ measurements in terms of spatial extension, distribution, and amount.

AB - The main phase of the moderately sized November 2004 eruption of the Grmsvtn volcano, located in the center of the 8100 km 2 Vatnajkull glacier, was monitored by the Icelandic Meteorological Office C-band weather radar in Keflavk, 260 km west of the volcano. The eruption plume reached a height of 6-10 km relative to the vent. The distribution of the most distal tephra was measured in the autumn of 2004, while the deposition on the glacier was mapped in the summers of 2005 and 2006. The tephra formed a well-defined layer on the glacier in the region north and northeast of the craters. The total mass of the tephra layer is quantitatively compared with the retrieved values, obtained from an improved version of the volcanic ash radar retrieval (VARR) algorithm. VARR was statistically calibrated with ground-based ash size distribution samples, taken at Vatnajkull, and by taking into account both antenna beam occlusion and wind-driven plume advection. The latter was implemented by using a space-time image phase-based cross-correlation technique. Accuracy of the weather radar records was also reviewed, noting that a large variability in the plume height estimation may be obtained using different approaches. The comparisons suggest that, at least for this subglacial eruption, the surface tephra mass, estimated by using the VARR inversion approach, is in a fairly good agreement with in situ measurements in terms of spatial extension, distribution, and amount.

KW - Ash retrieval

KW - inversion methods

KW - radar meteorology

KW - volcanic eruption clouds

KW - weather radars

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Validating subglacial volcanic eruption using ground-based C-band radar imagery

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Other keywords

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