C-band Dual-Polarization Radar Observations of a Massive Volcanic Eruption in South America

LUCIANO VIDAL; STEPHEN W. NESBITT; PAOLA SALIO; CAMILA FARIAS; M. G. NICORA; M. SOLEDAD OSORES; LUIGI MEREU; FRANK S. MARZANO

IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2017 vol. 10 p. 960 - 974

1939-1404

Abstract?TheeruptionofCalbucovolcanoonApril22?23,2015 is the first volcanic eruption detected by a weather radar in South America. The detection was performed by the first domestically produced Argentinean weather radar, called RMA0 and located at Bariloche International Airport. It is a C-band Doppler dualpolarization system, manufactured by INVAP S.E. as a part of the new radar network of Argentina. The aim of this study is to present analysis of the time evolution of the structure of the volcanicplumeusingpolarimetricobservables.Inordertoexplorethe potentialofthisnewdatasetfortheanalysisoftheCalbucovolcano eruption column and dispersed ash cloud, synthetic backscattering signatures at C-band have been simulated and used to set up a threshold-based algorithm for tephra-type classification. An evaluation of lightning activity and its relationships with the volcanic particle spatial distribution and attendant polarimetric radar signatures are also discussed.