Abstract
AbstractDespite the global threat posed by large‐scale eruptions to communities, to the climate, and to the consequent impacts on the world economy, many active volcanoes still lack of adequate ground‐based instrumentation. Satellite‐based remote sensing has been used to complement volcano monitoring and risk assessment for volcanic ash, but this technique is often limited by weather conditions. In this work, we explore the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) perturbations measured by GNSS to provide additional information and complement conventional monitoring systems. To this end, we measure the GNSS TEC perturbation associated with the acoustic‐gravity waves generated by 22 volcanic explosions. We introduce a new metric—the Ionospheric Volcanic Power Index (IVPI)—to quantify the energy transferred to the ionosphere by volcanic explosions. We evaluate the IVPI against several well‐established metrics from seismic and infrasonic volcano monitoring as well as satellite remote sensing. Our results show that the IVPI successfully correlates with the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) for events larger than VEI 2. Moreover, the IVPI shows strong correlation with both the acoustic source power and the ash plume height, from which depends the style of volcanic activity. Moderate correlation between IVPI and peak ground velocity (PGV) requires further study in order to evaluate the role of different parameters (seismic magnitude, attenuation, style of faulting, crustal structure, etc.). Our results suggest that ionospheric monitoring by GNSS TEC can help to characterize volcanic eruptions, opening new exciting avenues for continuous volcano monitoring and warning systems by remote sensing.
Highlights
Throughout human history, large volcanic eruptions have affected year-to-year variability of the Earth's climate and even triggered crop failures and famines (e.g., Luterbacher & Pfister, 2015; Occhipinti, 2011; Oppenheimer, 2015)
The time series and spectral analysis of the total electron content (TEC) signal recorded by satellite PRN3 with respect to station LNNG (Figures 2c and 2d) show the two different perturbations induced in the ionosphere, and more generally visible in the hodochrone (Figure 2b): the first one traveling at the horizontal speed of ∼1 km/s with origin time corresponding to the time of the flank collapse and a frequency content between 1 and 4 mHz; and the second one, propagating at the same speed (∼1 km/s) but with stronger in amplitude than the first one, appearing around 22:30 in conjunction with the second and stronger pulse and a frequency content below 2 mHz
We evaluated the possibility of exploiting remote sensing techniques based on ionospheric seismology to complement volcanic surveillance
Summary
Throughout human history, large volcanic eruptions have affected year-to-year variability of the Earth's climate and even triggered crop failures and famines (e.g., Luterbacher & Pfister, 2015; Occhipinti, 2011; Oppenheimer, 2015). The eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, on June 1991, produced an estimated 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide, injecting 20 km high plume into the atmosphere (Bluth et al, 1992) which caused a temporarily drop of global temperatures by about 0.5°C from 1991 to 1993. The consequent ash fallout and lahars killed 847 people and caused damages to crops, infrastructures, and personal properties for more than 374 million dollars. A significant goal is to provide timely and reliable information to support the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs). This allows coordination of an appropriately scaled response by relevant organizations to reduce damages and losses and mitigate the consequent economic impact
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