Aeolian Remobilization of Volcanic Ash

Volcanic ash from explosive eruptions pose a variety of hazards both in the atmosphere, with the disruption of air traffic and the potential for climate changes, and on the ground, with significant impacts on health, infrastructure, and the environment.  Sedimentation of the airborne tephra forms loose deposits that can cover very large areas of up to hundreds of kilometers from the source volcano. These deposits are prone to be reworked and resuspended in the atmosphere by aeolian processes, thus reactivating many of the above hazards far away from the eruption source and potentially for years, and even centuries, after an eruption. Ash remobilization events are unrelated to volcanic activity and thus lack the usual precursors of volcanic unrest, posing an additional threat to the volcano observatories that serve a crucial role in monitoring and advising partner agencies during or in anticipation of these events.

The nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) covering the world are tasked with providing guidance to the aviation community on the hazards of airborne ash and rely on State Volcano Observatories (SVOs) for current unrest alerts as well as on the meteorological watch offices for volcanic cloud observations. In the coming years, these VAACs, in conjunction with SVOs, will be tasked with providing guidance on ash remobilization events. Much of the literature on aeolian ash is based on dust erosion, however, there has been advances in recent years on applying these theories specifically to volcanic ash deposits. Nevertheless, monitoring and forecasting ash remobilization events remain elusive. In particular, forecasting strives to identify when conditions might be suitable for remobilized ash to cause a local degradation of air quality and when these phenomena might lead to more regional aviation hazards. Our goal is to collate state of the art studies on the mechanisms, models, and impact of volcanic ash resuspension events globally, to serve as a reference point for future advances in the field.

In this Research Topic, we welcome submissions that address all aspects of remobilization of volcanic ash, including field studies, laboratory experiments, and physic-mathematical simulations, but also forecasting, impacts as well as monitoring techniques. Inputs that combine knowledge from multiple fields, including , but not limited to, volcanology, sedimentology, atmospheric sciences, biology, medicine, engineering, and societal research, are particularly welcome.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Volcanic ash, tephra, remobilization, resuspension, aeolian, particulate

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.