Inverse Problems in Lava Dynamics

: Lava flow and lava dome growth are two main manifestations of effusive volcanic eruptions. Less-viscous lava tends to flow long distances depending on slope topography, heat exchange with the surroundings, eruption rate, and the erupted magma rheology. When magma is highly viscous, its eruption on the surface results in a lava dome formation, and an occasional collapse of the dome may lead to a pyroclastic flow. In this chapter, we consider two models of lava dynamics: a lava flow model to determine the internal thermal state of the flow from its surface thermal observations, and a lava dome growth model to determine magma viscosity from the observed lava dome morphological shape. Both models belong to a set of inverse problems. In the first model, the lava thermal conditions at the surface (at the interface between lava and the air) are known from observations, but its internal thermal state is unknown. A variational (adjoint) assimilation method is used to propagate the temperature and heat flow inferred from surface measurements into the interior of the lava flow. In the second model, the lava dome viscosity is estimated based on a comparison between the observed and simulated morphological shapes of lava dome shapes using computer vision techniques.