The bright side of the plume: VOlcanic LighTning and Ash plume electrification

ongoing

Pliny the Younger first reported volcanic lightning in his description of the Pompeii eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Yet, to this day we cannot decipher electrification processes and lightning in volcanic plumes. The brightest clue from volcanoes remains a dark gap to fill. Electrostatics permeates our life just as it does in volcanic plumes, driving processes from the micro to the global scale. Charging impacts the way ash is transported, sedimented and remobilized, and how it chemically reacts in the environment. Like in thunderclouds, volcanic lightning can be readily detected from safe distance, allowing for real-time mapping of ash plumes. Pioneering laboratory experiments and multi-parametric measurements at active volcanoes, I showed a link between electrification and first-order source parameters like mass eruption rate, grain-size distribution and overpressure, suggesting that electrical monitoring can also describe the initial conditions and evolving structure of volcanic plumes. Testing this ground-breaking hypothesis requires an unprecedented interdisciplinary approach that merges knowledge and practice of volcanology, atmospheric sciences, electrostatics and electrical engineering. In VOLTA I will deliver a comprehensive 4D electrical model of volcanic plumes and consequently provide a game-changing tool for volcano monitoring. To this end, I will: 1) design new electrostatic sensors to measure real-time electrical activity at target volcanoes, 2) design and build a unique apparatus to constrain the electrification of gas-particle jets in scaled laboratory experiments, 3) quantify the effect of charging/discharging on the ash lifecycle, and 4) generate a multiphysics numerical model of volcanic plumes incorporating fluid dynamics and electrostatics. Beyond volcanology, VOLTA will provide fundamental understanding of electrification processes in dusty environments, relevant to industrial processing, Earth and planetary electricity and the origin of life.