Raikoke & Ulawun

Integrating remote-sensing studies of major eruptions allows comparative assessments of eruption dynamics. I led a multidisciplinary team, including early-career investigators, professors, and USGS scientists, in examining two recent VEI 4 eruptions at the Raikoke and Ulawun volcanoes in the Kuril Islands and Papua New Guinea. We characterized the eruptions with remote infrasound, lightning from a global sensor network, and thermal, ultraviolet, and optical data from a range of satellites, including Sentinel-2, TROPOMI, MODIS, and Himawari-8 (McKee et al., 2021a, 2021b). Our analysis showed the power of combining remote multiparameter data to track variations in eruptive intensity through time.