Project description
Laboratory and field investigations to explain lightning in volcanic plumes
One of the most spectacular consequences of the electrification of volcanic plumes is volcanic lightning. However, little is known about the processes of electrification that are responsible for their occurrence. The EU-funded VOLTA project will design a revolutionary, interdisciplinary method enabling studies on volcanic lightning by using detection and real-time mapping of ash plumes from a safe distance. Field observations and measurements will be supported by laboratory experimental modelling and testing of multiphysics, numerical models of volcanic plumes, fluid dynamics and electrostatics. The project objective is to unveil the fundamental processes of electrification in dusty environments. Results aim at enhancing our ability to monitor and mitigate the hazard posed by volcanic explosive eruptions.
Objective
Pliny the Younger first reported volcanic lightning in his description of the Pompeii eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Yet, to this day we cannot decipher electrification processes and lightning in volcanic plumes. The brightest clue from volcanoes remains a dark gap to fill.
Electrostatics permeates our life just as it does in volcanic plumes, driving processes from the micro to the global scale. Charging impacts the way ash is transported, sedimented and remobilized, and how it chemically reacts in the environment. Like in thunderclouds, volcanic lightning can be readily detected from safe distance, allowing for real-time mapping of ash plumes. Pioneering laboratory experiments and multi-parametric measurements at active volcanoes, I showed a link between electrification and first-order source parameters like mass eruption rate, grain-size distribution and overpressure, suggesting that electrical monitoring can also describe the initial conditions and evolving structure of volcanic plumes. Testing this ground-breaking hypothesis requires an unprecedented interdisciplinary approach that merges knowledge and practice of volcanology, atmospheric sciences, electrostatics and electrical engineering. In VOLTA I will deliver a comprehensive 4D electrical model of volcanic plumes and consequently provide a game-changing tool for volcano monitoring. To this end, I will: 1) design new electrostatic sensors to measure real-time electrical activity at target volcanoes, 2) design and build a unique apparatus to constrain the electrification of gas-particle jets in scaled laboratory experiments, 3) quantify the effect of charging/discharging on the ash lifecycle, and 4) generate a multiphysics numerical model of volcanic plumes incorporating fluid dynamics and electrostatics. Beyond volcanology, VOLTA will provide fundamental understanding of electrification processes in dusty environments, relevant to industrial processing, Earth and planetary electricity and the origin of life.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologyvolcanology
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencescomputational sciencemultiphysics
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantHost institution
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany