Monitoring small scale explosive activity as a precursor to periods of heightened volcanic unrest

Abstract

Volcanic activity can pose a threat to the public and infrastructure. This threat is mitigated by monitoring volcanoes and volcanic activity. In many places this can be hindered by remote location and high cost. Satellite remote sensing is a tool that can be used to safely monitor volcanic activity and aid in the mitigation of hazards and the implementation of hazard preparedness. Small scale explosive activity is often a precursor to periods of heightened volcanic activity. This activity is typified by distinct small explosions that eject hot material onto the flanks of a volcano and can be detected as thermal anomalies by satellite sensors. The aim of this study is to develop a monitoring tool to detect changes in the frequency of small explosions leading up to periods of activity with ash plumes and other volcanic activity. Development of this method was carried out on Stromboli Volcano in Italy, a very reliably eruptive volcano with a wide variety of other monitoring instrumentation collecting data. Once developed, the method was applied to three remote volcanoes in the North Pacific: (1) Chuginadak (Mt. Cleveland) and (2) Shishaldin in Alaska, USA; and (3) Karymsky Volcano in Kamchatka, Russia. The results produced at all four of these volcanoes showed distinct trends in activity, unique to each volcano, prior to periods of heightened eruptive activity. The method provides a baseline for the detection of precursory activity and these trends can be used on other volcanoes undergoing similar types and patterns of eruptive activity.