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Editor's Highlight
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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 32,
L19305,
doi:10.1029/2005GL024112,
2005
Monitoring eruptive activity at Mount St. Helens with TIR image data
R. G. Vaughan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA
S. J. Hook
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA
M. S. Ramsey
Department of Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
V. J. Realmuto
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA
D. J. Schneider
Alaska Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Abstract
Thermal infrared (TIR) data from the MASTER airborne imaging spectrometer were acquired over Mount St. Helens in Sept and
Oct, 2004, before and after the onset of recent eruptive activity. Pre-eruption data showed no measurable increase in surface
temperatures before the first phreatic eruption on Oct 1. MASTER data acquired during the initial eruptive episode on Oct
14 showed maximum temperatures of ∼330°C and TIR data acquired concurrently from a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera
showed maximum temperatures ∼675°C, in narrow (∼1-m) fractures of molten rock on a new resurgent dome. MASTER and FLIR thermal
flux calculations indicated a radiative cooling rate of ∼714 J/m2/s over the new dome, corresponding to a radiant power of ∼24 MW. MASTER data indicated the new dome was dacitic in composition,
and digital elevation data derived from LIDAR acquired concurrently with MASTER showed that the dome growth correlated with
the areas of elevated temperatures. Low SO2 concentrations in the plume combined with sub-optimal viewing conditions prohibited quantitative measurement of plume SO2. The results demonstrate that airborne TIR data can provide information on the temperature of both the surface and plume
and the composition of new lava during eruptive episodes. Given sufficient resources, the airborne instrumentation could be
deployed rapidly to a newly-awakening volcano and provide a means for remote volcano monitoring.
Received 19
July
2005;
accepted 9
September
2005;
published 14
October
2005.
Index Terms: 3641 Mineralogy and Petrology: Extrusive structures and rocks; 8419 Volcanology: Volcano monitoring (7280); 8485 Volcanology: Remote sensing of volcanoes; 8494 Volcanology: Instruments and techniques.
Read Full Article (file size: 357751 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Vaughan, R. G., S. J. Hook, M. S. Ramsey, V. J. Realmuto, and D. J. Schneider
(2005),
Monitoring eruptive activity at Mount St. Helens with TIR image data,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
32,
L19305,
doi:10.1029/2005GL024112.
Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.
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