Benoit Taisne’s current research focuses on the early anticipation of the style and size of volcanic eruptions. He uses new tomographic methods (muon telescopes) to shed light on two crucial parts of the volcanic system that have so far remained elusive for volcanologists and hazard managers, and which are key inputs for ash dispersal models:
- The structure (i.e. density distribution) and geometry of the volcanic conduit,
- The characteristics of ash columns.
Results from the muon tomography experiments will be complemented by more traditional data and methods from different disciplines like geophysics (seismologic studies), geodesy (GPS studies), and geochemistry (petrology and gas chemistry). All these data will be jointly inverted in near real-time with physics-based models of magma migration to get quantitative values for key physical parameters controlling the eruption style, and hence anticipate the style and size of eruptions to come.