Satellite thermal remote sensing of the volcanoes of Alaska and Kamchatka during 1994-1996, and the 1994 eruption of Kliuchevskoi volcano

• Main Author: Wyatt, W. Christopher
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Fairbanks; Kamchatka; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6717

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2001 The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers on the NOAA polar orbiting satellites were used to routinely observe the volcanoes of Alaska and Kamchatka from May 1994 to July 1996, as part of the monitoring effort of the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The largest eruption observed during this period occurred at Kliuchevskoi Volcano between September 8 and October 2, 1994. Radiative temperature measurements made during this eruption were used to develop quantitative methods for analyzing volcanic thermal anomalies. Several parameters, including maximum temperature, anomalous pixels, and total volcanic signal (TVS), were compared to viewing angle and date. A new quantity, TVS7, may most effectively monitor the temporal evolution of the eruption using thermal data. By combining several observations of the thermal state of the volcano, the general nature of the volcanic activity can be described. These observations may indicate an elevation in temperature twelve to 24 hours before an ash-producing event.