Use of digital aerophotogrammetry to determine rates of lava dome growth, Mount St. Helens, Washington, 2004-2005: Chapter 8 in A volcano rekindled: the renewed eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004-2006

Professional Paper 1750-8
This report is Chapter 8 in A volcano rekindled: the renewed eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004-2006. For more information, see: Professional Paper 1750
By: , and 
Edited by: David R. SherrodWilliam E. Scott, and Peter H. Stauffer

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Abstract

Beginning in October 2004, a new lava dome grew on the glacier-covered crater floor of Mount St. Helens, Washington, immediately south of the 1980s lava dome. Seventeen digital elevation models (DEMs) constructed from vertical aerial photographs have provided quantitative estimates of extruded lava volumes and total volume change. To extract volumetric changes and calculate volumetric extrusion rates (magma discharge rates), each DEM surface was compared to preeruption DEM reference surfaces from 1986 and 2003. Early in the 2004-5 eruption, DEMs documented deforming glacier ice and crater floor that formed a prominent “welt” having a volume of 10×106 m3 and a growth rate of 8.9 m3/s before dacite lava first appeared at the surface on October 11, 2004. Afterward, the rate was initially 5.9 m3/s but slowed to 2.5 m3/s by the beginning of January 2005. During 2005, the extrusion rate declined gradually to about 0.7 m3/s. By December 15, 2005, the new dome complex was about 900 m long and 625 m wide and reached 190 m above the 2003 surface. More than 73×106 m3 of dacite lava had extruded onto the crater floor. Successful application of aerophotogrammetry was possible during the critical earliest parts of the eruption because we had baseline data and photogrammetric infrastructure in place before the eruption began. The vertical aerial photographs, including the DEMs and calculations derived from them, were one of the most widely used data sets collected during the 2004-5 eruption, as evidenced in numerous contributions to this volume. These data were used to construct photogeologic maps, deformation vector fields, and profiles of the evolving dome and glacier. Extruded volumes and rates proved to be critical parameters to constrain models and hypotheses of eruption dynamics and thus helped to assess volcano hazards.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Use of digital aerophotogrammetry to determine rates of lava dome growth, Mount St. Helens, Washington, 2004-2005
Series title Professional Paper
Series number 1750-8
DOI 10.3133/pp17508
Year Published 2008
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Volcano Hazards Program
Description 23 p.
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Larger Work Title A volcano rekindled: the renewed eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004-2006 (Professional Paper 1750)
First page 145
Last page 167
Country United States
State Washington
Other Geospatial Mount St. Helens
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