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Cooling rate of an active Hawaiian lava flow from nighttime spectroradiometer measurementsA narrow-band spectroradiometer has been used to make nighttime measurements of the Phase 50 eruption of Pu'u O'o, on the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. On February 19, 1992, a GER spectroradiometer was used to determine the cooling rate of an active lava flow. This instrument collects 12-bit data between 0.35 to 3.0 microns at a spectral resolution of 1-5 nm. Thirteen spectra of a single area on a pahoehoe flow field were collected over a 59 minute period (21:27-22:26 HST) from which the cooling of the lava surface has been investigated. A two-component thermal mixing model (Flynn, 1992) applied to data for the flow immediately on emplacement gave a best-fit crustal temperature of 768 C, a hot component at 1150 C, and a hot radiating area of 3.6 percent of the total area. Over a 52-minute period (within the time interval between flow resurfacings) the lava flow crust cooled by 358 to 410 C at a rate that was as high as 15 C/min. The observations have significance both for satellite observations of active volcanoes and for numerical models of the cooling of lava flows during their emplacement.
Document ID
19920072822
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Flynn, Luke P.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Mouginis-Mark, Peter J.
(University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
September 4, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 19
Issue: 17 S
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
92A55446
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2468
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1162
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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