The 5 April 2003 Explosion of Stromboli: Timing of Eruption Dynamics using Thermal Data

Stromboli’s 5 April 2003 explosion sent an ash plume to 4 km and blocks to 2 km, representing one of the most powerful events over the last 100 years. A thermal sensor 450 m east of the vent and a helicopter-flown thermal camera captured the event dynamics allowing detailed reconstruction. This review links previous studies providing a complete collation and clarification of the actual event chronology, while showing how relatively inexpensive thermal sensors can be used to provide great insight into processes that cannot be observed from locations outside of the eruption cloud. The eruption progressed through four phases, comprised 29 discrete explosions and lasted 373 s. The opening phase (phase 1) comprised ~30 s of precursory ash emission, with stronger emission beginning after 17 s. This was abruptly terminated by the main blast of phase 2 which comprised emission of a rapidly expanding ash cloud followed, after 0.4 s, by a powerful jet with velocities of up to 320 m/s. A second explosive phase (phase 3) began 38 s later and involved ascent of a phoenix cloud and explosive emission above a lateral vent lasting 75 s. This was followed by a 175-s-long phase of weaker, pulsed emission. The eruption was terminated by a series of three explosions (phase 4) sending ash to ~600 m at velocities of 27-45 m/s and lasting 87 s. Together these results have shown that a low energy opening phase was followed by the highest energy phase. Each phase itself comprised groups of discrete explosions, with energy of the explosions diminishing during the two final phases.