UAV-Based Quantification of Dynamic Lahar Channel Morphology at Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala

This study quantified erosional and depositional processes for secondary lahars in Las Lajas drainage at Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala, during the rainy season from May to October 2021. Abundant pyroclastic material from ongoing eruptive activity is remobilized seasonally during heavy precipitation, which can impact infrastructure and populations living near Fuego. Our region of focus was in an agricultural zone 6 to 10 km from the summit, surveyed with an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) quadcopter at monthly intervals. Imagery was processed into overlapping time-lapse structure from motion digital elevation models (DEMs). DEMs were differenced to find volumetric changes as a function of the channel flow path distance (quantified in 500 m sections) to track channel morphology changes over time. The largest measured volume changes were a 490 m(3)/day loss in the upper section (similar to 6 km from summit) and a 440 m(3)/day gain in the lower sections (similar to 10 km from summit). We discussed how the natural channel's constriction and widening of Las Lajas in more distal sections control the behavior and stability of the stream evolution. Above the constriction, the channel is primarily downcutting and meandering within an old flood plain, which had been filled in by pyroclastic materials deposited by the June 2018 paroxysm.

Automated summary

This study quantified erosional and depositional processes for secondary lahars in Las Lajas drainage at Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala. The study found that abundant pyroclastic material from ongoing eruptive activity is remobilized seasonally during heavy precipitation, which can impact infrastructure and populations living near Fuego. The researchers used an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) quadcopter to survey an agricultural zone 6 to 10 km from the summit, and processed the imagery into time-lapse digital elevation models (DEMs) to track channel morphology changes over time.