Seismo-acoustic wavefield of strombolian explosions at Yasur volcano, Vanuatu, using a broadband seismo-acoustic network, infrasound arrays, and infrasonic sensors on tethered balloons

Abstract

Seismo-acoustic wavefields at volcanoes contain rich information on shallow magma transport and subaerial eruption processes and inform our understanding of how volcanoes work. Acoustic wavefields from eruptions are predicted to be directional, but sampling this wavefield directivity is challenging because infrasound sensors are usually deployed on the ground surface. We attempt to overcome this observational limitation using a novel deployment of infrasound sensors on tethered balloons in tandem with a suite of dense ground-based seismo-acoustic, geochemical, and eruption imaging instrumentation. We conducted a collaborative multiparametric field experiment at the active Yasur volcano, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, from 26 July to 2 August 2016. Our observations include data from a temporary network of 11 broadband seismometers, 6 single infrasonic microphones, 7 small-aperture 3-element infrasound arrays, 2 infrasound sensor packages on tethered balloons, an FTIR, a FLIR, 2 scanning Flyspecs, and various visual imaging data; scoria and ash samples were collected for petrological analyses. This unprecedented dataset should provide a unique window into processes operating in the shallow magma plumbing system and their relation to subaerial eruption dynamics.