ASTER and field observations of the 24 December 2006 eruption of Bezymianny Volcano, Russia

• Published in: Remote Sensing of Environment
• Main Authors: Carter A.J., Girina O.A., Ramsey M.S., Demyanchuk Yu.V.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: 38.37.25 Вулканология; Безымянный; Kamchatka Peninsula; Kamchatka
• Online Access: http://repo.kscnet.ru/215/; https://www.pitt.edu/~mramsey/papers/Carter-etal_2008.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2007.12.001

An explosive eruption occurred at Bezymianny Volcano (Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia) on 24 December 2006 at 09:17 (UTC). Seismicity increased three weeks prior to the large eruption, which produced a 12–15 km above sea level (ASL) ash column. We present field observations from 27 December 2006 and 2 March 2007, combined with satellite data collected from 8 October 2006 to 11 April 2007 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), as part of the instrument's rapid-response program to volcanic eruptions. Pixel-integrated brightness temperatures were calculated from both ASTER 90 m/pixel thermal infrared (TIR) data as well as 30 m/pixel shortwave infrared (SWIR) data. Four days prior to the eruption, the maximum TIR temperature was 45 °C above the average background temperature (−33 °C) at the dome, which we interpret was a precursory signal, and had dropped to 8 °C above background by 18 March 2007. On 20 December 2006, there was also a clear thermal signal in the SWIR data of 128 °C using ASTER Band 7 (2.26 μm). The maximum SWIR temperature was 181 °C on the lava dome on 4 January 2007, decreasing below the detection limit of the SWIR data by 11 April 2007. On 4 January 2007 a hot linear feature was observed at the dome in the SWIR data, which produced a maximum temperature of 700 °C for the hot fraction of the pixel using the dual band technique. This suggests that magmatic temperatures were present at the dome at this time, consistent with the emplacement of a new lava lobe following the eruption. The eruption also produced a large, 6.5 km long by up to 425 m wide pyroclastic flow (PF) deposit that was channelled into a valley to the south–southeast. The PF deposit cooled over the following three months but remained elevated above the average background temperature. A second field investigation in March 2007 revealed a still-warm PF deposit that contained fumaroles. It was also observed that the upper dome morphology had changed in the past year, with a new lava lobe having ...