Natural Hazards

I am currently involved in two large international research projects on natural hazards:

Synthesising large-scale pyroclastic density currents (Massey University, NZ)

PELE, the Pyroclastic flow Eruption Large-scale Experiment, allows generating pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), which are volcanic gas-particle flows that flow down flanks of volcanoes. PELE is fitted with a large array of sensors and samplers to capture data of the internal structure, sedimentation and deposition processes of PDCs.

Generating tsunamis through volcanic surface processes (GNS Science and Massey University, NZ)

Part of the GNS Science New Zealand Beneath the waves programme explores the impact and hazards of eruptions of near-shore volcanoes on the mainland, which range from ash-fall to tsunamis. The PELE system is updated to host a custom built water tank equipped with high-resolution sensors and cameras. This will allow to conduct large-scale experiments that will investigate the generation of tsunamis by PDCs entering a water body.