Abstract

Calibrating volcanic ash fallout from the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
Track: Mining and Geosciences
Authors: Victor Helgason, Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir

The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and Fimmvörðuháls in Iceland presented challenging tasks for GIS users regarding data merging, processing and presentation.

On March 20th, a fissure eruption began in Fimmvörðuháls, a 1000 m high ice free mountain pass between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull (1666 m) and Katla/Mýrdalsjökull (1480 m) in southern Iceland. On April 14th an eruption began in Eyjafjallajökull's ice filled top crater.

These events presented danger to the public, especially farmers living in the lowland around the mountains. Lava streams, eruption plume, flooding, lahars, earthquakes, lightning and dust storms were associated with the eruptions.

An extensive monitoring system exists in this region: GPS and seismic stations, weather stations, web cameras and ash collection points. The eruptions were also studied with satellite data, airborne radars, optical and thermal imagery.