EAGER: The Feasibility of Simulating of Weak Volcanic Shockwaves with Analog Modeling

有关火山口状况的信息可以从大气冲击波的观测中提取出来。对产生激波的爆发现象以及对火山形状和喷发特性的依赖的更好理解，可能会带来获取喷发强度信息的新方法，并为气体/火山灰羽散的浮力预测模型生成所需的初始条件。这个EaGER项目是一项为期一年的可行性研究，将使用一种独特的激波管装置研究火山爆发的实验模拟。利用大气冲击波传播来测量爆炸威力和喷发温度是一种新的、未经测试的方法。如果成功，大气冲击波传播有可能从根本上提高测量爆炸力的准确性。在项目结束时，我们预计能够明确地解决有关震波管实验的可行性问题，以确定火山爆发的规模。所发展的理论将能更精确地预测由大气冲击波传播产生的爆炸威力。提议的研究是跨学科的，代表了密歇根理工大学地球物理和机械工程之间的新合作。它为博士后研究者建立自己的职业生涯提供了重要的机会。该项目将解决一个高风险领域：用激波管实验确定火山喷发规模的可行性。

Information about conditions at a volcano vent can be extracted from observations of atmospheric shock waves. An improved understanding of the burst phenomena that generate shock waves and the dependence upon volcano shape and eruption properties may lead to new methods to access information on the eruption intensity as well as generate the initial conditions required in a buoyancy predictive models of the gas/ash plume dispersion. This EaGER project is a one-year feasibility study that will investigate experimental simulation of a volcanic explosion using a unique shock tube apparatus.Use of atmospheric shock propagation to gauge explosive power and eruption temperature is new and untested. If successful, atmospheric shock propagation has the potential to radically improve the accuracy of measuring explosive power. At the conclusion of the project we anticipate being able to definitively address concerns regarding the feasibility of a shock tube experiment to scale volcanic explosions. The theory developed will enable more precise prediction of explosive power derived from atmospheric shock wave propagation. The proposed research is interdisciplinary and represents a new collaboration between geophysics and mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech. It includes an important opportunity for the postdoctoral investigator to establish his career. The project will address an area of high risk: the feasibility of scaling volcanic eruption with a shock tube experiment.