Tracking the pumice rafts from the Fukutoku-Okanoba submarine volcano with Satellites and a Lagrangian Particles trajectory model

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 193; p. 115254
• Main Authors: Iskandar, Mochamad Riza, Park, Young-Gyu, Kim, Kwangseok, Jin, Hyunkeun, Seo, Seongbong, Kim, Yong Hoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Fukutoku-Okanoba; Particle tracking; Pumice rafts; Satellites; Wind effects; Pumice rafts; Satellites; Fukutoku-Okanoba; Particle tracking; Wind effects
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115254

On August 13th, 2021, the Fukutoku-Okanoba, a submarine volcano in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, erupted. Satellites detected various pumice rafts that had drifted westward to reach southern Japan over two months. To cope with the potential danger from pumice rafts, predicting their trajectories is crucial. Using a Lagrangian particle tracking model, the trajectories of the rafts were investigated. The model results showed strong sensitivity to the windage coefficient of pumice rafts, which is uncertain and could cause significant errors. An optimal windage coefficient was estimated by comparing the model results with satellite images using a skill score based on the distance between simulated particles and the nearest observed rafts divided by the travel distance of the particles. The optimal windage coefficients ranged between 2 and 3 % and produced pathways comparable to the observations from satellites. The simulation results showed that the pumice rafts moved from Fukutoku-Okanoba toward the Ryukyu Islands for approximately two months prior to being pushed by the north-easterly wind toward Taiwan against the Kuroshio. The methods presented here may become a valuable tool in managing coastal hazards due to diverse marine debris. •Pumice raft pathways from Fukutoku-Okanoba were assessed using Lagrangian particle tracking simulation and satellite images•The optimal windage coefficient for pumice rafts was estimated using a skill score approach•Particles that were tracked using the optimal windage coefficient show reasonable consistency with the satellite datasets