EAR-PF:  Quantifying the Difference between Volcanic and Meteorological Lightning: Using Globally Detected Lightning and Multi-Parametric Volcanic Monitoring.

GSTDTAP

项目编号	1855153
	EAR-PF: Quantifying the Difference between Volcanic and Meteorological Lightning: Using Globally Detected Lightning and Multi-Parametric Volcanic Monitoring.
	Cassandra Smith (Principal Investigator)
主持机构	Smith, Cassandra Marie
项目开始年	2019
	2019-09-01
项目结束日期	2021-08-31
资助机构	US-NSF
项目类别	Fellowship
项目经费	174000(USD)
国家	美国
语种	英语
英文摘要	Dr. Cassandra Smith has been granted an NSF EAR Postdoctoral fellowship to carry out research activities at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory. This study investigates hazardous volcanic ash plumes, which pose a danger to aircraft flying over the western US, Alaska, Hawaii as well as globally. Volcanic ash has the potential to damage jet engines and often results in flight delays or cancellations. Ash-bearing volcanic plumes also generate lightning. However, understanding the difference between volcanic and meteorological lightning has not yet been systematically investigated. Can we determine if globally detected lightning is volcanic or meteorological in origin? How do these differences present in the data - i.e. altitude, polarity, or charge strength? Might these differences enable us to measure plume parameters such as plume height, plume travel direction, the ash concentration in the plume, or eruption rate? In summary: how will volcanic lightning supplement current remote sensing methods for volcanic plumes? Dr. Smith will use a combination of a systematic catalog of volcanic lightning events and detailed case studies of the eruptions of 2016/2017 Bogoslof, AK and 2018 Anak Krakatau, Indonesia to investigate these questions. This will allow the scientific community to overcome the observational gap that currently hampers the understanding of volcanic lightning. The PI is engaging in outreach with the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program in order to expose students to volcanology and a greater understanding of their local Alaskan geology. Explosive volcanic eruptions can evolve quickly, producing ash plumes that can reach aircraft cruise altitudes (~10 km) within minutes. Timely warnings depend on rapid characterization of developing ash plumes, and one of the new tools to accomplish that is volcanic lightning. Lightning is a characteristic signal of vigorous, ash-rich eruptions -it results from electrical charging during the creation, collision, and motion of airborne particles. Global lightning networks, both land-based and satellite-based, have begun providing a rich source of data to understand volcanic processes at individual volcanoes. Yet, the scientific community still has an incomplete understanding of how and why volcanic plumes become electrified, and what lightning can tell us about the injection of hazardous ash. This study will test the hypotheses that: (1) volcanic lightning is correlated to eruption source parameters, such as plume height or eruption strength, and (2) it is possible to distinguish meteorological and volcanic lightning for improved eruption detection. Dr. Smith will use spatial and multivariable statistics to integrate satellite, geophysical, and meteorological data for volcanic eruptions at differing latitudes, with particular focus on the 2016/2017 Bogoslof eruption in the Alaskan Aleutians and the 2018 Anak Krakatau eruption in Indonesia. Results from these analyses will explore the utility of volcanic lightning in the rapid characterization of volcanic eruptions and enable its use as a powerful remote-sensing technique for volcanoes on a global scale. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/213416
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Cassandra Smith .EAR-PF: Quantifying the Difference between Volcanic and Meteorological Lightning: Using Globally Detected Lightning and Multi-Parametric Volcanic Monitoring..2019.