On 17 June 1996, Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand, produced a sustained andesitic sub-Plinian eruption, which generated a narrow tephra-fall deposit extending more than 200 km from the volcano. The extremely detailed data set from this eruption allowed methods for the determination of total grain-size distribution and volume of tephra-fall deposits to be critically investigated. Calculated total grain-size distributions of tephra-fall deposits depend strongly on the method used and on the availability of data across the entire dispersal area. The Voronoi Tessellation method was tested for the Ruapehu deposit and gave the best results when applied to a data set extending out to isomass values of <1 g m 2 .The total grain-size distribution of a deposit is also strongly influenced by the very proximal samples, and this can be shown by artificially constructing subsets from the Ruapehu database. Unless the available data set is large, all existing techniques for calculations of total grain-size distribution give only apparent distributions. The tephra-fall deposit from Ruapehu does not show a simple exponential thinning, but can be approximated well by at least three straight-line segments or by a power-law fit on semi-log plots of thickness vs. (area) 1/2 . Integrations of both fits give similar volumes of about 410 6 m 3 . Integration of at least three exponential segments and of a power-law fit with at least ten isopach contours available can be considered as a good estimate of the actual volume of tephra fall. Integrations of smaller data sets are more problematic.

[1] We introduce a novel analytical expression that allows for fast assessment of mass flow rate of both vertically-rising and bent-over volcanic plumes as a function of their height, while first order physical insight is maintained. This relationship is compared with a one-dimensional plume model to demonstrate its flexibility and then validated with observations of the 1980 Mount St. Helens and of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. The influence of wind on the dynamics of volcanic plumes is quantified by a new dimensionless parameter (P) and it is shown how even verticallyrising plumes, such as the one associated with the Mount St. Helens 1980 eruption, can be significantly affected by strong wind. Comparison between a one-dimensional model and the analytical equation gives an R 2 -value of 0.88, while existing expressions give negative R 2 -values due to their inability to adapt to different source and atmospheric conditions. Therefore, this new expression has important implications both for current strategies of real-time forecasting of ash transport in the atmosphere and for the characterization of explosive eruptions based on the study of tephra deposits. In addition, this work provides a framework for the application of more complete three-dimensional numerical models as it greatly reduces the parameter space that needs to be explored.

. (2012) 'A review of volcanic ash aggregation.', Physics and chemistry of the earth, parts A/B/C., 45-46 . pp. 65-78. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pce. 2011.11.001 Publisher's copyright statement:Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. AbstractMost volcanic ash particles with diameters < 63 µm settle from eruption clouds as particle aggregates that cumulatively have larger sizes, lower densities, and higher terminal fall velocities than individual constituent particles. Particle aggregation reduces the atmospheric residence time of fine ash, which results in a proportional increase in fine ash fallout within 10s km to 100s km from the volcano and a reduction in airborne fine ash mass concentrations 1000s km from the volcano. Aggregate characteristics vary with distance from the volcano: proximal aggregates are typically larger (up to cm size) with concentric structures, while distal aggregates are typically smaller (sub-millimetre size). Particles comprising ash aggregates are bound through hydro-bonds (liquid and ice water) and electrostatic forces, and the rate of particle aggregation correlates with cloud liquid water availability. Eruption source parameters (including initial particle size distribution, erupted mass, eruption column height, cloud water content and temperature) and the eruption plume temperature lapse rate, coupled with the environmental parameters, determines the type and spatiotemporal distribution of aggregates. Field studies, lab experiments and modelling investigations have already provided important insights on the process of particle aggregation. However, new integrated observations that combine remote sensing studies of 2 ash clouds with field measurement and sampling, and lab experiments are required to fill current gaps in knowledge surrounding the theory of ash aggregate formation. Abstract word count: 222

We present a new general model for the prediction of the drag coefficient of non-spherical solid particles of regular and irregular shapes falling in gas or liquid valid for sub-critical particle Reynolds numbers (i.e. Re < 3 × 105). Results are obtained from experimental measurements on 300 regular and irregular particles in the air and analytical solutions for ellipsoids. Depending on their size, irregular particles are accurately characterized with a 3D laser scanner or SEM micro-CT method. The experiments are carried out in settling columns with height of 0.45 to 3.60 m and in a 4 m-high vertical wind tunnel. In addition, 881 additional experimental data points are also considered that are compiled from the literature for particles of regular shapes falling in liquids. New correlation is based on the particle Reynolds number and two new shape descriptors defined as a function of particle flatness, elongation and diameter. New shape descriptors are easy-to-measure and can be more easily characterized than sphericity. The new correlation has an average error of ~ 10%, which is significantly lower than errors associated with existing correlations. Additional aspects of particle sedimentation are also investigated. First, it is found that particles falling in dense liquids, in particular at Re > 1000, tend to fall with their maximum projection area perpendicular to their falling direction, whereas in gases their orientation is random. Second, effects of small-scale surface vesicularity and roughness on the drag coefficient of non-spherical particles found to be < 10%. Finally, the effect of particle orientation on the drag coefficient is discussed and additional correlations are presented to predict the end members of drag coefficient due to change in the particle orientation

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[1] The April-May 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (Iceland) was characterized by a nearly continuous injection of tephra into the atmosphere that affected various economic sectors in Iceland and caused a global interruption of air traffic. Eruptive activity during 4-8 May 2010 was characterized based on short-duration physical parameters in order to capture transient eruptive behavior of a long-lasting eruption (i.e., total grain-size distribution, erupted mass, and mass eruption rate averaged over 30 min activity). The resulting 30 min total grain-size distribution based on both ground and Meteosat Second Generation-Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (MSG-SEVIRI) satellite measurements is characterized by Mdphi of about 2 and a fine-ash content of about 30 wt %. The accumulation rate varied by 2 orders of magnitude with an exponential decay away from the vent, whereas Mdphi shows a linear increase until about 18 km from the vent, reaching a plateau of about 4.5 between 20 and 56 km. The associated mass eruption rate is between 0.6 and 1.2 × 10 5 kg s −1 . In situ sampling showed how fine ash mainly fell as aggregates of various typologies. About 5 to 9 wt % of the erupted mass remained in the cloud up to 1000 km from the vent, suggesting that nearly half of the ash >7 settled as aggregates within the first 60 km. Particle sphericity and shape factor varied between 0.4 and 1 with no clear correlation to the size and distance from vent. Our experiments also demonstrate how satellite retrievals and Doppler radar grain-size detection can provide a real-time description of the source term but for a limited particle-size range.Citation: Bonadonna, C., R. Genco, M. Gouhier, M. Pistolesi, R. Cioni, F. Alfano, A. Hoskuldsson, and M. Ripepe (2011), Tephra sedimentation during the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption (Iceland) from deposit, radar, and satellite observations,

In 1997 Soufriére Hills Volcano on Montserrat produced 88 Vulcanian explosions: 13 between 4 and 12 August and 75 between 22 September and 21 October. Each episode was preceded by a large dome collapse that decompressed the conduit and led to the conditions for explosive fragmentation. The explosions, which occurred at intervals of 2.5 to 63 hours, with a mean of 10 hours, were transient events, with an initial high-intensity phase lasting a few tens of seconds and a lower-intensity, waning phase lasting 1 to 3 hours. In all but one explosion, fountain collapse during the first 10-20 seconds generated pyroclastic surges that swept out to 1-2 km before lofting, as well as high-concentration pumiceous pyroclastic flows that travelled up to 6 km down all major drainages around the dome. Buoyant plumes ascended 3-15 km into the atmosphere, where they spread out as umbrella clouds. Most umbrella clouds were blown to the north or NW by high-level (8-18 km) winds, whereas the lower, waning plumes were dispersed to the west or NW by low-level (<5 km) winds. Exit velocities measured from videos ranged from 40 to 140 ms-1 and ballistic blocks were thrown as far as 1.7 km from the dome. Each explosion discharged on average 3 x 105m3 of magma, about one-third forming fallout and two-thirds forming pyroclastic flows and surges, and emptied the conduit to a depth of 0.5-2 km or more. Two overlapping components were distinguished in the explosion seismic signals: a low-frequency (c. 1 Hz) one due to the explosion itself, and a high-frequency (>2 Hz) one due to fountain collapse, ballistic impact and pyroclastic flow. In many explosions a delay between the explosion onset and start of the pyroclastic flow signal (typically 10-20 seconds) recorded the time necessary for ballistics and the collapsing fountain to hit the ground. The explosions in August were accompanied by cyclic patterns of seismicity and edifice deformation due to repeated pressurization of the upper conduit. The angular, tabular forms of many fallout pumices show that they preserve vesicularities and shapes acquired upon fragmentation, and suggest that the explosions were driven by brittle fragmentation of overpressured magmatic foam with at least 55 vol% bubbles present in the upper conduit prior to each event.

[1] The Tarawera Volcanic Complex comprises 11 rhyolite domes formed during five major eruptions between 17,000 B.C. and A.D. 1886, the first four of which were predominantly rhyolitic. The only historical event erupted about 2 km 3 of basaltic tephra fall (A.D. 1886). The youngest rhyolitic event erupted a tephra fall volume more than 2 times larger and covered a wider area northwest and southeast of the volcano ($A.D. 1315 Kaharoa eruption). We have used the Kaharoa scenario to assess the tephra fall hazard from a future rhyolitic eruption at Tarawera of a similar scale. The Plinian phase of this eruption consisted of 11 discrete episodes of VEI 4. We have developed an advection-diffusion model (TEPHRA) that allows for grain size-dependent diffusion and particle density, a stratified atmosphere, particle diffusion time within the rising plume, and settling velocities that include Reynolds number variations along the particle fall. Simulations are run in parallel on multiple processors to allow a significant implementation of the physical model and a fully probabilistic analysis of inputs and outputs. TEPHRA is an example of a class of numerical models that take advantage of new computational tools to forecast hazards as conditional probabilities far in advance of future eruptions. Three different scenarios were investigated for a comprehensive tephra fall hazard assessment: upper limit scenario, eruption range scenario, and multiple eruption scenario. Hazard curves and probability maps show that the area east and northeast of Tarawera would be the most affected by a Kaharoa-type eruption.