Thermal Imagery of Erebus Lava Lake Motion and Degassing, 2004-2011

A multi-year, intermittent dataset of thermal infrared images collected by the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory between 2004 and 2011. It captures the active lava lake's surface motion and degassing cycles, with a new autonomous camera system installed in December 2012 for continuous monitoring. The data is hosted by NASA EarthData and was last updated in December 2013.

Use Cases

• Analyzing cyclic surface motion patterns with periods of ~5-18 minutes based on thermal imagery.
• Investigating the link between surface speed, gas composition, and SO2 flux as described in the study.
• Modeling magma exchange and degassing processes based on the timing of gas bubble arrivals relative to motion cycles.
• Studying the impact of explosive events on pulsatory behavior and lake refill dynamics.

Strengths

• Data spans multiple years (2004-2011) for observing long-term volcanic behavior.
• Focuses on a rare, persistent Antarctic lava lake with documented ~10-minute cycles.
• Includes high time-resolution measurements of surface elevation, speed, gas composition, and SO2 flux for unambiguous linkage analysis.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Last updated 2013-12-17 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory, via NASA EarthData.

Collection Method

Thermal infrared camera system monitoring, with an autonomous system installed in December 2012.

Time Range

2004 to 2011 (intermittent), with continuous monitoring from December 2012.

Freshness

Last updated 2013-12-17 00:00:00

Geography

Mount Erebus volcano, Antarctica.