Ground-based analysis of volcanic ash plumes using a new multispectral thermal infrared camera approach

Abstract:

Volcanic plumes are complex mixtures of mineral, lithic and glass fragments of varying size, together with multiple gas species. These plumes vary in size dependent on a number of factors, including vent diameter, magma composition and the quantity of volatiles within a melt. However, determining the chemical and mineralogical properties of a volcanic plume immediately after an eruption is a great challenge. Thermal infrared (TIR) satellite remote sensing of these plumes is routinely used to calculate the volcanic ash particle size variations and sulfur dioxide concentration. These analyses are commonly performed using high temporal, low spatial resolution satellites, which can only reveal large scale trends. What is lacking is a high spatial resolution study specifically of the properties of the proximal plumes. Using the emissive properties of volcanic ash, a new method has been developed to determine the plume’s particle size and petrology in spaceborne and ground-based TIR data. A multispectral adaptation of a FLIR TIR camera has been developed that simulates the TIR channels found on several current orbital instruments. Using this instrument, data of volcanic plumes from Fuego and Santiaguito volcanoes in Guatemala were recently obtained Preliminary results indicate that the camera is capable of detecting silicate absorption features in the emissivity spectra over the TIR wavelength range, which can be linked to both mineral chemistry and particle size. It is hoped that this technique can be expanded to isolate different volcanic species within a plume, validate the orbital data, and ultimately to use the results to better inform eruption dynamics modelling.