Biggs J, Ebmeier SK, Aspinall WP, Lu Z, Pritchard ME, Sparks RSJ, Mather TA. Global link between deformation and volcanic eruption quantified by satellite imagery.
Nat Commun 2014;
5:3471. [PMID:
24699342 PMCID:
PMC4409635 DOI:
10.1038/ncomms4471]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2013] [Accepted: 02/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
A key challenge for volcanological science and hazard management is that few of the world’s volcanoes are effectively monitored. Satellite imagery covers volcanoes globally throughout their eruptive cycles, independent of ground-based monitoring, providing a multidecadal archive suitable for probabilistic analysis linking deformation with eruption. Here we show that, of the 198 volcanoes systematically observed for the past 18 years, 54 deformed, of which 25 also erupted. For assessing eruption potential, this high proportion of deforming volcanoes that also erupted (46%), together with the proportion of non-deforming volcanoes that did not erupt (94%), jointly represent indicators with ‘strong’ evidential worth. Using a larger catalogue of 540 volcanoes observed for 3 years, we demonstrate how this eruption–deformation relationship is influenced by tectonic, petrological and volcanic factors. Satellite technology is rapidly evolving and routine monitoring of the deformation status of all volcanoes from space is anticipated, meaning probabilistic approaches will increasingly inform hazard decisions and strategic development.
Deformation is often used in volcano monitoring, but the associated hazard is hard to interpret. Biggs et al. analyse 20 years of global satellite data and show a strong statistical link between deformation and eruption, although deformation alone is not necessarily a precursor of imminent eruption.
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