Volcanic ash impacts on critical infrastructure

Wilson, Thomas; Stewart, Carol; Sword-Daniels, Victoria; Leonard, Graham S.; Johnston, David; Cole, Jim; Wardman, John; Wilson, Glenn D.; Barnard, Scott T.

doi:10.1016/j.pce.2011.06.006

Cited by 274 publications

(229 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The dispersal and fallout of tephra following explosive volcanic eruptions has major impacts on human activities, including the disruption of air transport (Prata and Tupper 2009) and impacts on infrastructure (Wilson et al 2012) and human health (Horwell and Baxter 2006). Mitigating such impacts relies, in part, on accurately forecasting patterns of tephra deposition.…”

Section: Implications and Further Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An example of enhanced tephra deposition driven by topographically induced atmospheric turbulence

et al. 2015

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Spatial variations in the thickness and grain-size characteristics of tephra fall deposits imply that tephra depositional processes cannot be fully captured by models of single-particle sedimentation from the base of the eruption plume. Here, we document a secondary thickness maximum in a ∼9.75 ka tephra fall deposit from Chaitén volcano, Chile (Cha1 eruption). This secondary thickness maximum is notably coarser-grained than documented historical examples, being dominated by medium-grained ash, and an origin via particle aggregation is therefore unlikely. In the region of secondary thickening, we propose that high levels of atmospheric turbulence accelerated particles held within the mid-to lower-troposphere (0 to ∼6 km) towards the ground surface. We suggest that this enhancement in vertical atmospheric mixing was driven by the breaking of lee waves, generated by winds passing over elevated topography beneath the eruption plume. Lower atmospheric circulation patterns may exert a significant control on the dispersal and deposition of tephra from eruption plumes across all spatial scales, particularly in areas of complex topography.

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Section: Implications and Further Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An example of enhanced tephra deposition driven by topographically induced atmospheric turbulence

et al. 2015

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“…Eruptions from most of New Zealand's volcanoes are likely to impact infrastructure of national importance, including many State Highways and road networks, electricity lines and power stations, train lines, water supplies, and sewage facilities (Wilson et al 2012). Additionally, industries important to the local, regional, and national economies may be threatened during future eruptions, including the tourism, agricultural, forestry, and hydrocarbon industries.…”

Section: Overview Of New Zealand's Volcanic Risk Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and Benefits of Standardising Early Warning Systems: A Case Study of New Zealand’s Volcanic Alert Level System

Potter

Scott

Fearnley

et al. 2017

Advances in Volcanology

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Volcano early warning systems are used globally to communicate volcano-related information to diverse stakeholders ranging from specific user groups to the general public, or both. Within the framework of a volcano early warning system, Volcano Alert Level (VAL) systems are commonly used as a simple communication tool to inform society about the status of activity at a specific volcano. Establishing a VAL system that is effective for multiple volcanoes can be challenging, given that each volcano has specific behavioural characteristics. New Zealand has a wide range of volcano types and geological settings, including rhyolitic calderas capable of very large eruptions (>500 km 3 ) and frequent unrest episodes, explosive andesitic stratovolcanoes, and effusive basaltic eruptions at both caldera and volcanic field settings. There is also a range in eruption frequency, requiring the VAL system to be used for both frequently active 'open-vent' volcanoes, and reawakening 'closed-vent' volcanoes. Furthermore, New Zealand's volcanoes are situated in a variety of risk settings ranging from the Auckland Volcanic Field, which lies beneath a city of 1.4 million people; to Mt. Ruapehu, the location of popular ski fields that are occasionally impacted by ballistics and lahars, and produces tephra that falls in distant cities. These wide-ranging characteristics and their impact on society provide opportunities to learn from New Zealand's

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“…the asset is destroyed if it is exposed to the volcanic phenomenon, whatever its intensity) to gradual damage-intensity matrices (e.g. Wilson et al, 2012, where some threshold values of tephra loads are proposed for the vulnerability of utility networks), or even to more elaborate probabilistic fragility functions (i.e. the probability of reaching or exceeding the damage state given the intensity level), as shown in the review by Jenkins et al (2013).…”

Section: Damage Analysis Through Fragility Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the asset is destroyed if it is exposed to the volcanic phenomenon, whatever its intensity) to gradual damage-intensity 345 matrices (e.g. Wilson et al, 2012, ; where some threshold values of tephra loads are proposed for the vulnerability Modelling example of the part of a water supply system, using the object-oriented structure.…”

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confidence: 99%

Potential and limitations of risk scenario tools in volcanic areas through an example at Mount Cameroon

Gehl

Quinet

Cozannet

et al. 2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. This paper presents an integrated approach to conduct a scenario-based volcanic risk assessment on a variety of exposed assets, such as residential buildings, cultivated areas, network infrastructures or individual strategic buildings. The focus is put on the simulation of scenarios, based on deterministic adverse event input, which are applied to the case study of an effusive eruption on the Mount Cameroon volcano, resulting in the damage estimation of the assets located in the area. The work is based on the recent advances in the field of seismic risk. A software for systemic risk scenario analysis developed within the FP7 project SYNER-G has been adapted to address the issue of volcanic risk. Most significant improvements include the addition of vulnerability models adapted to each kind of exposed element and the possibility to quantify the successive potential damages inflicted by a sequence of adverse events (e.g. lava flows, tephra fall, etc.). The use of an object-oriented architecture gives the opportunity to model and compute the physical damage of very disparate types of infrastructures under the same framework. Finally, while the risk scenario approach is limited to the assessment of the physical impact of adverse events, a specific focus on strategic infrastructures and a dialogue with stakeholders helps in evaluating the potential wider indirect consequences of an eruption.

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Volcanic ash impacts on critical infrastructure

Cited by 274 publications

References 27 publications

An example of enhanced tephra deposition driven by topographically induced atmospheric turbulence

An example of enhanced tephra deposition driven by topographically induced atmospheric turbulence

Challenges and Benefits of Standardising Early Warning Systems: A Case Study of New Zealand’s Volcanic Alert Level System

Potential and limitations of risk scenario tools in volcanic areas through an example at Mount Cameroon

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